Ella Pawhker

Tim taught Ella to say her last name yesterday, and she caught on rather quickly. We had to catch her on the move in order to get video of it, because otherwise she just wants to see herself on camera instead of providing the means to the end. :)

We have had a lazy, lovely, rainy day. I'm trying not to think about going back to school a week from Friday...

Finally an update!

After several busy, busy months, I am finally getting around to updating. We have had a wonderful summer which has included buying and moving into a new house in the small community of Holcomb. Tim has taken a new job as a middle school reading teacher here, and I will continue to work in Garden City which is only about 6 miles away. We are all enjoying the new house, especially Ella, who has lots more room to run and play. Her calling in life may be an activities director, as she has engaged Tim and I in many activities over the last couple of weeks, including games of Hide and Seek and hopping, knee-walking, and running races in the basement. She delights much more in standing between Tim and I and telling us to "GO!" than she does in participating! Ella's vocabulary continues to grow, and she constantly amazes us with the things she says. She uses several 2 and 3 word phrases, and on Sunday said, "Mama, read to me." She loves to eat (for the time being-this status may change tomorrow...) and is enthusiastic about her food. "Mmm! Chocolate!" were the words that came out of her mouth when I asked her if she wanted to make brownies this weekend. She LOVES to be outside. If there were a stronger word than love to describe how she feels about being outside, I would use it. Rain or 100+ degree temperatures can't keep her inside. She especially loves to be out at Grammy and Papa's house where she can see the cows, kitties, and Gus the dog. Here are several pictures from our summer thus far--hopefully I will update again soon!

Silly girl in the tub

Pretty in her 4th of July dress

Waiting for the parade to start...

A family self-portrait while waiting for the fireworks to start.

My new room!
(Much to her mama's dismay, Ella loves the monkeys that were already on the walls...)

Going down the slide by herself at the Holcomb Elementary playground.

Bubbles!

Goofy Girl

So I never got my Christmas pics posted...if you would like to see some, email me and I will Shutterfly some to you. Ella is almost 17 months old and crazy as ever. She makes us laugh everyday! She continues to add new words to her vocabulary, and has started using a couple of two and three word phrases. This week's additions have been: "Ho (Hello), Papa!" when playing with my cellphone or one of her phones and "Some mo' Elmo!" when cruising the toy aisle at Target and she spied a whole collection of Sesame Street toys. She loves Elmo, playing outside, balla, and climbing on and off (and on and off...) her chairs.

This is the new face we make when the camera comes out:

An afternoon at the zoo

We took advantage of the 70 degree February day yesterday to go to the zoo. Ella LOVED it! She especially loved the monkeys, playing with the dirt in the cracks of the sidewalk, and "pushing" her stroller--daddy really got a work out with that one.

In honor of Inauguration Day...

Ella says Obama (or mama--you decide).



Christmas pictures, etc. to come soon--I promise.

So much to be thankful for...

It has again been too long between posts, but life has been a flurry of activity since before Thanksgiving. Ella continues to make us smile (and laugh) on a daily basis, though her new "trick" of screaming to get my attention leaves a little something to be desired... :) She has 4 new teeth, and recently moved into a big-girl carseat. She loves to dance, in fact, on the daily note that came home from the babysitter on Friday it said, "We sang Christmas songs today, and Ella was the bell ringer and dancer!" This pretty much sums up her personality right now...

We had a great Thanksgiving, spending time with lots of family.

Ella and second cousin Payton checking out the pantry.

A feeble attempt at a family picture...

Ella sporting Uncle Nate's headband

Ella, Brock, and Uncle Nate

Playing in the snow for the first time as a toddler.

Ella and her playmate, Gus. They are good buddies!

Cheesing it up for the camera while decorating the tree!

Fun on the Farm and Halloween

So I guess tomorrow turned into 5 days...Anyway, two weeks ago we went to Weskan for Grammy Cindy's birthday. We had a great time and Ella got to spend a lot of time outside. She loves running around out there, playing with Gus and the kitties, and looking at the cows. She also got to play on the playground equipment for the first time and thought it was pretty fun!







Ella was such fun this halloween! Tim and I had Parent/Teacher Conferences, so we only had to work for a few hours Friday morning, and Grammy was here to watch Ella because our babysitter was moving to a new house. We started out in a bit of a dilemma because the monster costume that we had bought Ella was WAY too hot for the 78 degree October day that we were having, but we got creative and Ella became a butterfly--and a darn cute one at that! She and Grammy got to go the Halloween costume parade at the library in the morning, then we had neighbor kids visiting throughout the afternoon to bring Ella treats. Friday night, Ella trick or treated at several friends' houses and did great. We worked on her saying, "Boo!" when people opened the door, but she just didn't want to do it on cue...

Happy Halloween!

At the library

Trick or Treating at babysitter Tiffany's new house

Fly, little butterfly!