Having fun with Aunt Becca and Aunt Anna

We had the chance to have my youngest two sisters, Anna and Becca, drive out with us and stay with us in Ohio for a month. Ella LOVED waking up every morning and seeing her aunts asleep on the floor. She LOVED having them sit in the back of the car with her and she LOVED all the attention that she got! We miss them a whole bunch!!
Our adventure started out rough when we lost power for 3 days. We did a lot of driving in the car and playing games in the car with the air conditioner! We also did a lot of swimming and eating ice. Becca also had to spend a night in the hospital. We thought she had appendicitis. Luckily the tests came back negative (the second time) and we were able to go home.
After the few hiccups, we were able to enjoy the rest of time exploring Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky. Here are some (a lot..) pictures of all the fun times!

Woodland Cemetery (Wright Brothers Graves, Highest Point in Dayton is also at the cemetery)

 Carillon Bell Tower











Columbus Ohio Temple and the Largest Picnic Basket!

 Enjoying the afternoon at the Fountains

 Watching the Geese, ducks, and turtles at the pond.

 Young's Dairy Farm

National Air Force Museum

 Camping and Hiking

Cincinnati Zoo, Newport Aquarium, and Swimming at the YMCA in Kentucky

Ford Mansion in Michigan

Wegerzyn Gardens with Grandma!

We had such a fun time with Anna, Becca, and Grandma when she finally came out! Thanks for coming to visit us!!! We love and miss you!

Another Month Older and Wiser!

Ella is now 8 months old. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone! It seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital anxiously waiting to meet my precious little girl!
Ella has 2 bottom teeth and 1 top tooth is coming in! She bites everything!! She tries SO hard to crawl. Aunt Anna and Aunt Becca have been working with her every morning to get her to crawl. She will get up on her arms or her legs but not at the same time. She does scoot backwards.
She just figured out that she can wave to you when you say hi. She waves with her whole arm. It is pretty cute!
This morning she tried eating yogurt bites for the first time. She wasn't able to figure out how to get them off her hand and into her mouth (they would stick to her hands). But, that will come!
She is sleeping through the night! Hallelujah!

Enjoy some pictures that Aunt Anna took!

7 Months old and our Lake Powell Trip

 Little Ella is now 7 months old! Her little personality is so cute! She loves to laugh-especially when someone sneezes! She thinks that is hilarious! She is always smiling and talking. She will talk to me all day long.Her favorite song is "I am a Child of God". She loves when we hum this song to her at night!

 While we were in Utah we had the chance to go with Darrin's family to Lake Powell! We had a great time but it was so hot! Ella loved spending time with her cousin Lily! They were so cute together.

Here are a few pictures from the trip! We spent a lot of time in the lake (yes with the fish....even I got in the water....it was too hot not to!!), swimming in the blow up pool on the house boat, relaxing, and enjoying the company.

Swimming in her pool

Lookin good in the Shades!

Swimming with cousin Lily!

Mom and Ella Swimming in the lake! Yes mom got in the lake with the fish!! :)

Dad and Ella

Darrin Getting ready to Ski

Darrin Skiing

Hiking Connie's Crack

Connie's Crack

Connie's Crack

Ella and Mom

Ella's Cute Hair

Driving the House Boat

Eating Food from Ella's Kitchen

The Brothers with their babies!

Our Utah Adventures

We have been in Utah for a few weeks now and have had a busy but very fun time with family and friends. We arrived the end of May and were able to celebrate Aunt Emily graduating from Viewmont High School! Go Vikings!! We are proud of her and her hard work. We wish her luck in her next adventure at BYU.

Emily is on the end looking at the Camera...not a very good picture!

Salt Lake Temple

June brought bridal shower parties, yard work, pedicures, more yard work, and hanging out with family.
Darrin and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on June 10. We celebrated on Friday night and Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa and all the aunts watched Ella while we stayed in Salt Lake for the night. We stayed at "The Inn on the Hill." We were able to walk through the new City Creek and took a tour of the Conference Center. We loved spending time on Temple Square and an evening together but we missed our little Ella.


Conference Center

On June 14 we were able to celebrate Grandpa Burnham's 80 birthday! It was a fun evening with family and friends in the park.

June 15 was the big day! My little brother Patrick got married. It was a wonderful day! They were married in the Salt Lake Temple by Elder Kjar (the same sealer who sealed me and Darrin). They had a luncheon at the Joseph Smith building and then a great wedding reception in my parents backyard. We were so glad the weather cooperated!

Father's day came and Ella gave her dad a cute picture and a hiking backpack so she can go with him on hikes!

That night we took Ella to Primary Children's Hospital. She woke up on the 15 with a fever and we thought maybe she was teething. As the weekend went on, the fever went away but she had a really runny nose and a cough that was getting worse. They were checked her and decided that she had the start of RSV. The doctors were not too concerned as long as we watched her and brought her back if anything changed. She is slowly getting better. Her cough is not as bad and she is becoming her happy self again. We are so grateful to family and friends who prayed for her! Thank you!

 We also got to go to the zoo with Aunt Becca and Aunt Emily. Ella loved the bears! We also went to our other Aunt Becca's work and got to hold the kangaroo Mady.

We head off for Lake Powell tomorrow and then back home to Ohio next week. We have loved our time with family but we are looking forward to seeing our "family" back in Ohio!

6 Months Old!

Ella is now 6 months old! I can't believe how fast it has gone.
She is now:
*25.5 inches (34 percentile)
*13.7 pounds (10 percentile)
*Head circumference is 43.3 cm (80 percentile)

She has one tooth that has poked through and one on the way.
She is rolling all over the place, laughing, talking, and sitting.
She just had her first experience of baby food. She ate green beans. She seemed to like them at first but as she continued to eat them, she would get a sour face- we think she has moms taste buds!
She loves:
*looking at pictures on the walls
*talking walks in her stroller
*playing with her friend Cole when he comes over
*giving kisses and getting kisses
*sucking on her toes

She is such a joy to have in our home. It is such a neat experience to be able to watch and raise this little girl that came from our Heavenly Father just a little while ago.

5 Months Old!

Ella is now 5 months old. She is weighing in at 11 pounds 15 ounces. It is amazing what a little bit of rice cereal can do!

She is able to sit up with support. She has found her toes and loves to suck on them and pull off her socks. She laughs, talks, and smiles all day long! Everywhere we go everyone always comments on how cute she is and how much she looks like a real baby doll.