Meeting Ella for the first time

There were three very important people who hadn't gotten a chance to meet Ella yet.  My grandma, dad, and step-mom have all been in Arizona and were anxiously waiting to meet our little girl!

 Gavin was so excited that my step-mom would play checkers with him.  To say he is good at checkers is an understatement.  We just taught him a few weeks ago and now he is winning every game.  Seriously... once I realized how good he was, I am trying my best to beat him.  Unsuccessfully.  He is SIX people, this is crazy!!

 Reading books with grandpa!

 Then my grandma came over to meet Ella!  Doesn't she look amazing for 86??  Amazing.  I seriously hope I inherit these genes.  ;)

 I love this picture of my mom with Ella.

 Checkers!  Another win for Gavin! 

 Casey helping Grammy weed and plant flowers.  How lucky am I??

Ella feeding my mom's dog

 Casey showing Tutu the pictures on his keychain

 Smelling flowers with Grammy

 These were both such special visits!  I don't get to see my dad, step-mom, and grandma all too often... mostly just during the summer!  It was so great to see them and introduce Ella to the rest of her family.

Mother's Day

I felt so blessed that my hubby was home for Mother's Day!

It was absolutely GORGEOUS so we even got to go out on our boat!

Ella had her crocs on and was ready to go.  ;)

 WOOHOO!!

 It was a little chilly though (or so I heard ;)

 I was pretty sure Ella was going to love it... and she did!

 Daddy helped her feel safe...

Hydrating!

 Daddy love

  It was too cold for wakeboarding, so we just had a little picnic and hung out.

 Putting his sunglasses on Ella

 One blessed momma!

 At church, each child had a flower for their mom.  Jacob said, "Look mommy!  The more kids you have, the more flowers you get!!"  Ha!

 Casey kept saying, "Look!  I spelled C-A-S-E-Y for you mommy!" when I was reading the card.

So grateful for sleeping in and breakfast in bed and thoughtful gifts and time with family.  

I felt loved and special for sure.

Somebody special

This is Lexi, the super special daughter of a super special friend.  She waited a long, much anticipated, year to meet little Ella.  She was beyond excited for us to bring her home. 

Lexi saves all of her clothes and gives all of her toys to Ella.  She is the best pseudo-big sister!  She even put a picture of Ella on her super star collage about family.

Instead of playing house, where she has a baby in her tummy... Lexi plays house where she adopts children from all over the world.  She is adorable.

My friend bought them both matching shoes... and Lexi always coordinates for them to wear the shoes on the same day.  :0)

So last week was Lexi's birthday.

She spent almost the entire time with Ella.

 Except when big sister Kailey decided to steal her for a bit.  ;)

 This was another girl at the party who was so sweet with Ella!
Gotta love the little tiara.  ;)

 Big girl!!

 Lexi gave Ella her Fabulous birthday sash.

Lexi had a dance party in the backyard!  There was a stage, karaoke, freeze dancing, the limbo, serenading, birthday raps, my friend's infamous yummy cake... so. much. fun!!

 Ella absolutely adores my friend Wendi!!

 Limbo!

 Casey didn't quite get the concept.  ;)

 Dancing with her big brother!

Such a beautiful, fun day for a beautiful, fun girl!!