Aunt Leah's BIrthday!

Elli helped make Leah's cake this year. She did the sprinkles.

The sisters and Elli. She wanted to jump in at the last minute.

One of Leah's presents has this sparkly grass in the bag. Elli quickly had it all over the place. It was fun watching her spin, roll, and play in it.

Some of Leah's nice gifts. She got some prety new things to wear for the spring and summer.

Brent, Elli, and I spent the night at Leah and Matt's house, even though they stayed out late, but the rest of the family met at Leah's house Sunday morning. We went to her church and then went back to Leah's for Asung's food (Asung was our friend from India who taught us how to make this yummy dish), presents, cake, and playing games. Thank you Leah for having us all over for a very fun day.

Young's March 14

It doesn't get whole lot better than blue ice cream. She of course got it everywhere, but who cares when it is that good.

She really liked this tractor. She pretended to take her friends and babies for a ride.

Elli has been asking if we can go eat ice cream and play with goats. She loves to do this in the summer. The baby goats are adorable as well as those little cows. We were showing her a couple of the mommy goats that looked ready to give birth at any moment. We explained that they had babies in their tummy and maybe the next time we come we can see the babies. Right after that conversation, a very large man walked by and Elli said, "Mommy, does he have a baby in his tummy too?" Goodness.
As we pulled out of the parking lot she said, "Oh the goats. I miss them. They will be sad when I leave." We assured her we would come back another time.

Spring Break Days 3-5

Day 5-I can't get this in the right order ever! We went to COSI. We had a blast! Elli loved it. She kept walking around saying, "where are we going now?" She especially enjoyed the frog display. God made some amazing frogs. They were a good reminder of his creativity and sense of humor.

Elli and I are in the rocket ship at Cosi. Elli got in and started patting her legs like the Little Einsteins. She was so excited! We sang the theme song several times.

Look at Elli and Brent lifting the car with the pulley! This was pretty cool.

A huge water table. Elli was in heaven! She played in here for about 30 minutes, then she also played in the other play area about as long. She loves to play in water. Wearing the little rain coat only added to her excitement. She was squealing and laughing at all the things she was doing.

Elli participated in the static electricity show. She walked passed all the big kids to be on stage. She grabbed this man's hand and was first in line to get the shock. After about 3 charges, she let go of his hand and said she was all done. She walked off the stage with a big smile!

One-on-one attention for playing with really strong magnets. Elli loved it. She opened her mouth really wide and said things like, "See that mommy?" "Wow. That is amazing." I asked her who made the magnets and she said God. Then she said, "God is so amazing!"

Day 4- we practiced her name and went to visit my friend Tiffany with her two precious children. Elli of course wanted nothing more than to play with the baby. However, the baby had a different plan and slept most of the time. It was fine with Tiffany and I because we had some great adult conversation!

Day 3 was full of playing at home. We played hide-and-seek, tents, babies, chase Fergi, and lots of other things. We ended the day with Puggles.

Spring Break was great.

Spring Break Day 2

Today, we had another great day. I was able to go back to my Tuesday morning Bible Study and learn more amazing things about Jesus and his role in the specific plan for all of our lives. Elli and I then joined some friends at the mall for lunch and playing. This day was not a repeat of yesterday as Elli was playing with friends. (she seems to be more aggressive and not as kind hearted) She went to the dentist with me where she helped me have a good appointment but slapped those hands across her mouth and refused to let the dentist take a peak. Oh well. Next time. This evening we went to Aunt Meg and Uncle Kyle's house for dessert. We had a great time visiting and watching Elli! She was a wild girl after the chocolate and ice cream. We got tired watching her play!

Spring Break Day 1

Elli wanted to exercise after I did, so we went to Rolandia to play on the indoor play place. Elli was hilarious. We had a great time running, sliding, wrestling, chasing, and hiding. There was a birthday party there though so there were several other children that we didn't know. Elli still thought she was in charge. She was telling the kids where to slide, how to do things, and even helped them when they were sad. She would say things like, "You can play with me", "are you okay?", "want to go on this slide?", etc. There was a little boy crying so Elli went over to him, patted his back and asked what was wrong. He said he wanted his mommy, so Elli said "just a minute." She goes to the side and yells down at all the moms sitting there, "Excuse me ladies. This boy needs his mommy." Sure enough, his mommy came running! We had a great time playing together and it was fun to see Elli's little personality come out. She seems to have a heart to help others feel loved and welcomed. Sound familiar?