Ellie's Birthday

Ellie turned three on March, 19. Ellie is a precocious 3-year-old. She has been very into the Little Einsteins for a few months and hums classical songs all day long. I love how much she loves music and singing. We threw her a Little Einsteins party and it was a huge success. 

My sister-in-law Abby made this awesome rocket cake. It seemed a shame to have to cut it!

Ellie found one of her presents early and opened it. On an episode of Little Einsteins there are some snapping turtles and Ellie has been using one of Brian's old glasses cases and calling it a "snapping turtle" for several weeks. I decided to get her a real snapping turtle and she loved it. It is the perfect size for her little hand and she wore it all day and for many days after.

She got a snapping dinosaur too.

You know it is birthday success when Ellie has to sleep with every toy that she got.

These last 3 years with Ellie have been such a fun adventure. She has such energy and love for life. She is definitely coming into her own and is more challenging in some ways, but she is also my best little friend all day long. We love our Ellie.

February 2016

Snow biking. Nothing keeps Brian from biking!

Brian had a conference in Houston and Connor and I tagged along to visit Emily and her family. I was stressed about the flight, but it went better than I expected.

Connor loved his cousins.

And Brian and I were even to go out and spend some time together while Emily watched Connor.

These tamales were amazing.

Took a walk along the bayou on a beautiful afternoon while Brian was busy with his conference.

We survived the trip home as well, even with a major delay in Las Vegas which meant we didn't get home until after midnight. 

January 2016

2016 started off well with our traditional New Year's Eve party. Jenny and Mark hosted this year and it was a blast. January continued with a trip to California, snow, and the passing of Brian's sweet grandfather Gerald Porter. 

The pie in the face game was a big hit.

Ellie loved popping balloons. She didn't even care what was inside.

We got out for a few hours to cross country ski. It felt so nice to get out in the beautiful weather.

Connor started eating more solids and finally started liking it.

Ellie started a little tumbling class. 

Her favorite part though is eating candy at the end of class using the token she earns. She and Beckett have a great time.

We headed off to California, ready for some warmer weather.

Brian, Connor, Corey, and Corey Jr. It was so fun to see Corey and Patricia and Connor's new little buddy! They are only a few weeks apart. 

We loved the aquarium at Long Beach.

We all enjoyed the Getty Museum, even though Ellie got in trouble for touching a 17th century cabinet.

Ellie refused to take this creepy mask off and wore it the rest of the time.

Eric and Shelby met us that night at Corey and Patricia's

The next morning we headed to an amazing breakfast on Malibu Beach.

Brian's grandpa Gerald Porter passed away at the end of January. Thankfully we were able to go see him the day of his passing. He was an amazing man with a huge heart. He loved his large family: 12 children, dozens of grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. He loved the gospel as well and I am grateful that I am able to be a part of his family. We will miss Grandpa Porter but know that we will see him again someday.

We got more snow in January and enjoyed sledding on our steep front yard: the only thing it is good for!