Dinner, friends, and the aquarium

The sun is setting behind us as we wait for the dolphin show outside the aquarium. It is beautiful. Notice Elli's new little Mexican dress purchased at the market today in Playa Del Carmen. I am wet because I was splashed by a shark while I was petting it.

Elli saw the jelly fish first, but was enjoying checking out all the fish. She was so excited to find things in the tanks, like a seek-and-find game:)

This is the result of waking up at 6:12 in the morning and spending a big day shopping and playing. She slept the whole way home.

Brent's cousin Carolyn and her husband Ray and daughter Adalai were on vacation here in Cancun as well. They leave tomorrow but wanted to meet up. So, we rented a car and met them in Playa Del Carmen for a day of eating and shopping. Adalai and Elli played well together, even though both had their shy moments. Elli took on her usual mothering and Adalai was fairly compliant:) They enjoyed playing in the sand on the beach, running ahead of us to look at shops, and generally getting into things. Ben and Jerry's ice cream was a highlight as well as each getting to pick out a 3-D puzzle. Fun day.

Last night we ate at J.C.Captains Steak and Seafood. I had lobster tacos and Brent had grouper. Both dishes were very good. The restaurant looked like a grass hut and was on the lagoon. They gave a mosquito repellant a tad too late for me:) Elli put on a show, though quietly like we asked, and won over the folks around us. One couple just fell in love with her and kept talking to her. After dinner, we went into Cancun and went to Burger King since Eli refused to eat any of our meals for dinner. We did get some of the culture of the town though and had fun with our rental car for 24 hours:) Late night, early morning.

The Westin Lagunamar, Cancun Feb 27-March 5

The Westin Lagunamar from the ocean.

On the beach. There is a 6 foot drop from the upper beach, to the ocean. There are places to get down, but it is strange. We found lots of shells too.

We are standing right in front of our resort. Such a pretty place. There are grass huts all over the beach line for poeple to sit under when the sun gets to be too much. You know I won't be caught under one of these:) Too much sun?

Check out that face. She is carzy! The pools are infinity pools which makes it look like they go right into the ocean. Love the look of that. Elli was confused when we were swimming in it. She thought we were going into the ocean too:)

We arrived Sat at 1:00ish. It was beautiful outside, but oh so windy. We were freezing! Elli was awake all day doing well on the planes, except for her ears didn't pop and she cried a little during the landing. She finally fell asleep after an unpleasant and long wiat to simply get out of the airport! She slept in my arms through the check in time and woke up when I laid her on the bed, of course. So we went straight to the pool and froze because of the wind. We ate a yummy italian dinner and all went to bed at 8:00 Cancun time. Elli did however wake up this morning at 6:40. Today though is very warm, little to no wind, and the vacation begins...

Good-bye Birthday Party

No, it was not Elli's birthday, but Meredith had several candles so each little girl got their chance to blow out the candle on their piece of cake. This was a Strawberry Shortcake party which brought back many memories of my childhood. Funny how things come back around:)

Eileen helped Meredith blow out her candle after the traditional Happy Birthday song. What a fun day.

Elli went to Meredith's birthday party which took place the day before they would be moving to Alabama. Elli will miss her friend. She has asked several times why Meredith had to move, and wonders why she will not be at church anymore. We will keep in touch though with pictures and facebook thanks to the age of technology:) Thank you for sharing your big day with us Meredith!

Too cute for words

Last night Brent prayed for dinner. When he was finished, Elli said, "Oh no. We forgot to pray for the food. Jesus, thank you for our food. Amen. Whew, that was a close one!"

This morning, we were talking about Jesus and how he forgives our sins and other things (this is a fairly common conversation with Elli). I asked her why Jesus came, and she said to die for our sins. I asked her if he was still dead and she told me that he was not dead, but that he raised from the dead and is in heaven. Then she told me she would like to die anytime because then she could be with Jesus. I of course didn't like the thought of her dying, but she has the right perspective. Then, she said Jesus could do everything because he is God. I asked if she could do everything. She told me "no" but that she could do yoga and a flip over. I guess those things count for something?

Elli's first "Have a friend spend the night" Night

One of the most exciting things was the two of these girls getting a bath in our big tub!

Settling in for the night. They went to bed at about 9:20 and fell asleep at about 10:00. Not too bad for two giggly girls:)

Breakfast of eggs and a bagel with cinamon. Yummy! Elli is a hugger so she couldn't help giving Lily hugs all night and all day. (except when they were fighting over a toy. these two often act like sisters with their arguments)

It wouldn't be a sleep-over without a princess movie. When Lily saw that Elli had a new movie, The Swan Princess, (from my parents for Valentines Day) she really wanted to watch it. When the movie was over, Elli said to Lily during the song for the credits, "Lily, this is our song. Want to dance?" They were both dressed in tutus and proceeded to do ballet all over the house! It was a very fun night and the girls did quite well. hey want to do it again, but Lily said she wants to stay two nights. We'll see:)

All Dressed Up

We were all dressed up for the Valentine's Dinner at church and wanted a picture. We had already come ustairs to get Elli in bed, but since the camera was easy to set up on the dresser with the timer, we got our picture here. So fun to have a reason to get dressed up!

Elli wanted a picture of just the girls. She was being so sweet!

Just can't get enough of those snow playing pictures

We discovered that icy snow makes even the front yard slope a great sledding spot.

At least this time when she fell down she was smiling!

Fergi got in on the fun too. She was getting some kisses from Elli.

Snow Ice Cream

I need a tip on how to keep the snow out of her gloves when she plays. Any ideas?

The dumping of the snow to turn it into ice cream.

The eating of the snow ice cream!

We have discovered a new treat. Several friends have talked about making snow ice cream so Elli and I looked it up on the computer and made some of our own. We couldn't resist the chocolate syrup on top. How delicious!

A Trip in the Snow

Inside the restaurant after dinner.

And outside. Look at the snow:)

Lance and Lana posing in the snow.

Elli loves to eat snow as I have mentioned before. She loved being able to stick her tongue out and catch the snow flakes.

And here we are in the snow. I canceled class for tomorrow morning because I am a little nervous to drive in all this snow by myself, so Elli and I will be playing lots more in this white stuff!

We all wanted to get out and about, even in the 6+ inches of snow. So, we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Surprise, no wait!

Stories that need posting

The replacement dozen of flowers arrived the next day after Brent called to say there were a few problems with the first. Look how pretty they are. Elli thinks she has the best daddy who got his girls such beautiful flowers. I agree.

One day Elli and I were talking about all the people we love. We named as many people as we could then I asked her who we love best. I was looking for the response of "God" but instead she replied, "Uncle Devin."

Elli is quite the social butterfly, she must get that from Brent:), so needless to say, now that we have Lance and Lana here she is loving it! Here she is brushing Lana's hair and wearing the 4th or 5th new outfit for the day. This is the type of "dress" Elli's wears nearly all the time. She loves the sleeping gowns and wears them to play in, not really to sleep in:)

Brent, Lance, Kyle, and Devin all played basketball in high school under Coach Jim Brown. He retired from coaching this year after 23 years and the school threw a surprise recognition evening for him. All the brothers were able to go as well as about 50 others. Quite a legacy of players.

Elli opened her Valentine's gift from us (a red polka dot "dress" and a coloring book). Lana asked if there was anything left in the bag for her. Elli replied, "You can have the receipt."

Elli is really into reading all the letetrs she sees around the house, driving in the car, in the grocery store, etc. She then tells you what she just read, (ex. on a cereal box, "P-O-S-T says cereal.) So, she got a sweet little teddy bear from Brent's Aunt Laurie and Uncle Jim with little hearts on it that say "love", "kiss", and "hug." Elli read "L-O-V-E" and said, "heart language." Love that little girl.

Valentine's Day Gift

My pretty roses. (Notice the new handles in the background on the cabinets)

Giving me a Valentine smile.

She thought posing with the tree would make a great picture:) See her little roses? So proud.

Brent ordered some pretty roses for me for Valentine's Day. When they arrived today I was so excited. However, when I opened them, I saw that three of them were broken and one was already dying. So, the broken ones I put in a vase for Elli, and told her daddy got some for both of us. Well that was the best idea ever. She carried them around the rest of the day. She is very proud of her roses as you can see in the pictures. (Thankfully, when Brent called the company and told them the state of the roses, they decided to send me another dozen.) Thank you Brent for the thought and gesture. Happy Valentine's Day to you too, a little early.

Snow Day Trials and Smiles

So my day started with the decision to cancel class or not. I decided to go, but I took Elli to my mom's house so I wouldn't be out and about with her in the car. I fish-tailed and skidded my way into work and then got stuck twice on my way home. Once at the end of my mom's street where two people shoveled me out. Then, here, in my own drive-way. So, I put a movie on for Elli and started shoveling myself out:0 After shoveling, I made this cool igloo. So proud of myself for this one.

Elli and her friend Emilie went inside to play in it.

We then went over to the neighbor's house and helped build a snow slide and igloo there. Such fun. We are waiting though for the ice to form so the slide will be slippery.

Look at the smile on her face. I love having Elli to play with me in the snow. Half the time I think it takes me getting out there for her to see how fun it is, but then her smile takes over and we are both laughing and having tons of fun:)

Hide-N-Seek

This is a picture of Elli "hiding" from me after I hid in this same spot:)

We play lots of games throughout the day. I have mentioned several of them over these years in posts, but this post is devoted to Hide-n-seek. Elli really enjoys playing and I like it as well. However, I usually hide first and then Elli hides next, right where I was. Sometimes though she'll say, "Mommy, you count and I will hide in my closet." Then, I hardly finish counting before she starts yelling, "I am in the closet!" I think she may still get a little nervous about the whole hiding thing, so maybe that is why we play it this way. Either way, she sqeals with laughter when she finds me or when I find her:) She actually still hides her eyes from me and thinks she is hiding. I would love it if she never outgrew that! ...to the days of playing games...

The Bunny Hunt

Mommy, I see the tracks. The bunny is hiding in there.

Pretty smile in the midst of hunting for bunnies who left tracks in the snow. Look how pretty those snow covered trees are:)

It wouldn't be a day in the snow without eating some:)Snowball fight! Love that smile. Pure happiness here.

My little snow angel's angel. What a fun day in the snow. We never found the bunnies, but we sure did have fun time looking for them.

The Cabinets get a Makeover

For Christmas I got several gift cards that I decided to use towards handles for our kitchen cabinets. They were a long time in coming and now they are all done. Brent did an awesome job with a little help from his dad.

Ellianna Ballerina

Elli wanted to wear the best ballerina outfit she had when her Aunt Leah came to watch her ballet class. Isn't she so cute?

Can I have a cracker?

At church Sunday night we celebrated the Lord's Supper. Elli wanted to know why she couldn't take it. I explained again that it is for those who know who Jesus is, believe what he says, and have asked for him to forgive them of their sins. (I try to refrain from saying, ask Jesus into her heart as that wording doesn't really describe what she is doing and it is confusing.) So she then says to me, "Mommy I asked Jesus to forgive my sins." I agreed that she had, so I asked her to tell me who Jesus was. She got very serious and said, "Mommy, Jesus is God." I was tearing up at her sincerity and wondering if maybe Elli was ready to participate in the Lord's Supper. Then, she looked up and said, "So, can I have a cracker?" Maybe we'll wait a little longer:)

The Many Looks of Princess Ellianna

Elli posing for a picture in her "hand-me-down" flower girl dress from her cousin Callie.

Ballerina tutu with princess shoes and balloon.

Another hand me down dress was needed in order to use her new stamp pads for our school craft:)

Elli has the ability to make friends wherever we go. She has won over a bagger at Kroger whom she calls, "Pastor Mike." (He is not a pastor:) He often will give her a balloon, but this day he gave her a special pink balloon and some princess shoes. As you can see she was ecstatic!

Another funny story of Elli's ability to make friends is that when we walk into our bank, everyone literally stops what they are doing to say, "hi, Elli." They offer her cookies, sometimes she heads to the back room to get special treats, and she even has the chance to choose her flavor of sucker before leaving. (whoever can find the request first yells out, "I found it!") Oh brother!