Elli and Madison sharing ear phones. How cute.
Look at the spread at my grandma's house. It is always a great Thanksgiving feast. Notice however, we are no where to be seen. Brent, Elli and I as well as my cousin Brandi and her family are now banned to the kid's table. At least we aren't far from everyone else. And, we do get served first:)
Elli and I put up a christmas tree today while Brent was practicing for the church christmas program. We had a great time with the christmas music, lights, and ornaments. Elli was determined to help me carry some of the boxes with the ornaments in them. This box gave her a little trouble, so she ended up pushing it all the way over to me. I think it took me longer to decorate this tree than any other I have done. One ornament on, two ornaments off with, "Mommy, look at this one. Is it pretty?"
Elli was taking her baby for a car ride. Note the sunglasses, hands on wheel, baby in car seat, and Elli checking the road:) Who taught her to act like this?
Gonga bought Elli a little Chirtmas Tree for her room. She was so very excited about it and kept carrying it around like it was toy. We took it up to her room and plugged it in. She loves it! When we put her to bed, she cried when we turned it off. How do you explain to a little girl that this tiny little tree could catch on fire in the middle of the night? Well, you don't. She eventually stopped crying after several verses of "her" song, "Amazing Grace." Sleep well baby girl.
This year we let Elli pick out some toys for a little girl for the Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes. We went to the store and she helped pick some toys. She picked out a baby first, then some head bands, and a toy kaleidascope(sp?) We filled in some other items and then went home to pack the box. Elli started filling the box, but as you can see, the baby is still clutched in her hands. She was very reluctant to give up the doll, so we had to explain several times that this was for a little girl that doesn't have any babies at all. Elli finally relented and put the baby in the box as well. She keeps wanting to look at the pictures we have at church of the kids getting boxes. She says, "We give toys to the girl? It's her birthday present?" Hopefully she will begin to grasp the meaning of giving and remember this special time.
What a beautiful afternoon to rake leaves in early Nov. Elli loved using the rake, but was unsure about jumping in the leaves. She didn't like getting dirty I guess. She is a princess you know:) Anyway, she did help rake with the one tree we have in our yard now. It took all of ten minutes, but it was fun all the same. Maybe next year we'll have two trees again. Our front tree fell down when the hurricane came to Ohio!
The first weekend in Nov. Uncle Kyle and Aunt Meg came over and did some fun science experiments with Elli. He did this huge bubble with dry ice and dish soap, he made small bubbles that she could hold in gloved hands, and he did worms under the black light so they glowed neon green. It was great and Elli loved it!!!
Elli taking a baby to another little boy who was crying.
Elli started preschool at the Presbyterian Church in Cedarville this week. Wed Oct 29 was her first day. She was so excited. She wanted to walk up there by herself. She got really excited looking in the windows and said, "I see kids! I see a lady!" I cried while Elli helped another little boy who was crying by saying to him, "Hey boy, you want a baby?" She had a great time and will tell you all about it if you have the chance to ask.
The Raymond kids, Lily, Caroline, and Andrew with Elli, the princess mouse aka...Angelina Ballerina.
Elli getting ready to walk in the parade. She didn't know quite what to think. She was so serious most of the day, but did at least smile and wave to the judges.
Last night at the pier.
So sleepy. She had to be held for our whole beach walk because she was sleepy.
Elli was continually trying to get the birds to come to her. She was saying, "Birds come here. Come back here birds," as they tried to escape.
Elli's first ride on a ferris wheel. The mechanism was so loud though she rode it with her ears covered. Still, how cute is she?!
She wanted to ride the carousel twice. Once on a horse, next on a giraffe. We found this miniature sized amusement park one night in Destin and Elli thought it was great, so did we. She handed her tickets to the ride operators and didn't even wave good-bye to us as they strapped her in. Our brave litle girl.
Elli carryng her toys to the beach.
Beautiful sunset down on the pier.
I really liked this picture of our feet. Elli was not happy about being "placed" for this picture, but thankfully it was of her foot prints and not her sour face.
A king sized bed all to herself and she loved it!!! "I sleep in my big, big girl bed. Want to go to the beach?" (How we woke up each day:)
Elli making a castle with daddy. 
Brent's caption for this, "Are we on vacation yet?" We were so excited to finally be there that we changed our clothes immediately and ran out to the beach. What a fun way to spend our days.
On Oct 12, we went for the Brown family annual tradition to the Pumpkin Barn. We got a family picture again, and Elli got to ride a horse. She LOVED it. She also really liked feeding the horse some peppermints. Such a fun day with great weather!
We all met at Youngs for fun, pumpkins, dinner, and of course chasing kids who are soon to outnumber adults:)
Grammy gave Elli one of her favorite flowers from her birthday bouquet, a yellow rose.
Elli hugging Grampy as we were getting ready to leave.
We went to visit my grammy and grampy on Thursday. Elli wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" to Grammy. (not just because she sings it to anyone who will listen, but also because Grammy just turned 83!) Pictures were a little rough because Elli didn't want them to hold her, so she chose to sit in the chair. We made their day exciting though as we came, we spilled milk, we spread cracker crumbs about, and then we left! We love you Grammy and Grampy.
Elli loves to "ride" her bike. She gets on, I push a few steps, then she gets off. She likes to ring the bell and push her babies too. She still doesn't get that you are supposed to push with your legs and make the pedals go. She is cute though isn't she? This bike was a garage sale purchase many times over then given to Elli by our neighbors. A perfect first bike for a girl who doesn't know how to ride:)
Elli petting "Coconut the friendly horse". She loves animals and tried to pet all of them. (pigs, horses, cows, donkey, llama, ducks, peacocks, and even the stray cats)
Smile guys.
We go to the pumpkin patch every year as a family. (We went with just the three of us last weekend, but the rest of my immediate family will be going again on Sunday, so check back for more pics:) The Pumpkin Barn has lots of pumpkins, photo ops, and animals. When you put that with a little girl who loves all three, it makes for a great ime!
Elli riding the cans again. She was so excited to give the lady her ticket all by herself and go for a big ride. She is such a serious little girl though. This is her returning from the trip. Brent waved to her and she smiled and took her hand off the wheel to wave. She got really scared though and put her super serious face back on and re-gripped the wheel like nothing else:)
What is a trip to Young's without ice cream cones! We saw the goats as always, sheep, El Pacas, and angora rabbits. They are having a Wool Gathering so we got to see all kinds of neat things today. Elli really loves the animlas and also enjoyed watching people spin yarn and shear sheep. What a great day!
" I help. I essited" (I'm excited.)
"Daddy, new pincess sheets for my big girl bed."
Elli couldn't wait to sleep in it. We have been talking about getting a big girl bed all week and she told everyone she was getting it on Saturday. Here she is testing it out. As I write this blog post though, she is currently in her bed, "napping." I have heard her read to her babies, jump on the bed, and now she is singing to her stuffed animals. We'll see how tonight goes.
Dad and Brent cutting it up with a chain saw. Poor tree.
We tried to save our tree but as you can see, it was being ripped up by the roots! The wind pulled the stakes right out of the ground as well. We are thankful for not losing power though and for the opportunity to have a slumber party with our friends:)
Thank you Aunt Leah fro Elli's new Bengals outfit. She was so excited to see them on TV that she said, "Mommy, Bengals on TV. Get my dress!" We cheered them on despite the awful score. Go Bengals Go!
The team boat racing well but coming in second by a hair!
We went to Rocky Fork Lake last Saturday to watch Papa's boat race. Papa doesn't race but works with a team that races hydroplane boats. It was a good day and Elli did well. We didn't go to the pits with the rest of the family though. Uncle Matt, Elli and I stayed back to watch the races from the cool shade by the side of the lake.
Dad looking for some good ears.
Elli, "Papa, I'm stuck here. I need a little help." Elli was ready to help Papa find some corn on his land by Cesar's Creek. It was a little muddy, hot, and buggy, but Elli seemed to enjoy looking for corn. We got about 12 ears but aren't sure what kind it is. We'll know better tonight:) Dad lets a farmer farm his land to keep it from growing into a weed field. We just wanted to taste the produce.
Aunt Jenna Labor Day Wekeend at the fountain at The Greene.
Aunt Megan on a visit after church one evening.
Aunt Heather at a Dragon's Game.
At Aunt Leah's neighborhood pool for a fun visit. 
We thought you'd enjoy seeing Elli all decked out, or can you see her? The camo does the job:) The baby doll adds a nice touch doesn't it?
