Trip to New York- July 2011

This July, Ellie and I flew to New York (with my mom, dad, Krissy, and Dan) to visit my mom's side of the family. Esteban, AJ, and Mikey all had to work... and were missed! We flew up EARLY Thursday morning, checked into my parents hotel and took a 3 hour nap...Ellie needed a nap which turned into everyone falling asleep, it was great!

Dan and Ellie sharing a "nack" at the hotel

Once we were rested, we went over to my Grandpa's house. My Uncle Jim and Grandpa were there, cousin Timmy and Aunt Gail stopped by later. Aunt Gail brought Ellie a new toy (Teapot set) to play with, which she loved! Friday we visited and then went to the 3rd Annual William St. George Memorial Tournament (in memory of my Uncle Billy). For those of you not familiar with firemen, these tournaments are so much fun to watch...here are a few pictures of the drills. My cousin Timmy competed, which was awesome to watch as well.

Ellie, me, Mom, and Krissy with Grandpa before the tournament

Baldwin Tomcats

Tim in action

We met my cousin Liz's daughter, Cassidy, for the first time....so cute watching the girls interact together!

Ellie and her buddies, Teagan and Keelin

Little ladies getting into bug spray

Sisters/Cousins = Georgia girls

Cousins

Liz and I with our girls and my mom

Sweet Teagan and Ellie

"cheeeese"

Priceless

Vaught Family

Saturday, we had a family cookout/50th Birthday Party for my Uncle Bobby

Bubbles

Big girl

St. George family picture!!

Granddaughters and our Great-granddaughters with Grandpa

All the ladies with Grandpa

We love Grandpa!

Mom and Grandpa

Devil dogs...yumm!

Before flying out Sunday night, we went to the beach...unfortunately this is when Ellie started to come down with a cold. It was her first trip to the beach, but she had no interest in the ocean or the sand...instead she just wanted to cuddle. Sweet girl hanging out with Aunt Krissy.
So thankful for a great weekend with family...wish Esteban could of been there, but we will have more family adventures in the years to come. Next time we see them, Bill and Danielle will be PARENTS! Their baby will be arriving around November 14...cant wait to see if they have a boy or a girl...

Ellie- 20 months

I have been meaning to write down some of Ellie's new discoveries, habits, words, cute things, etc for a while now...more for our record but fun to share as well. I know there is probably a million things I can record, but I will ramble off what I can think of at the moment...

• "Fa-Fa" means dog...or french fries. Sometimes this can get a bit confusing on what she wants, since she loves them both!
• Recognizes the Chick-Fil-A logo and yells "Fa-Fa's, milk" when we pass one... also loves chocolate milk
• Loves to dance, she has more rhythm then her mama (which is what she calls me, my northern family loves to hear her say)
• Loves to take baths and swim...or go "splashy" as she calls it
• Great eater, wanting to use big people utensils and cups- she's getting pretty good at not spilling and has great hand-eye coordination while eating
• Loves to read books and loves having books read to her even more
• Dora is still her favorite, but Elmo is a near second.
• Loves to cuddle, give hugs, kisses on the cheek, and "noses" Loves to hug her babies and stuffed animals as well
• Sweet spirited little girl, we have been trying to teach her to say "I love you" and today in the car she said, "mama" and I said "yes, Ellie?" and she respond with her translation of "I love you" ...such a sweet moment!
• Loves to laugh and squeal while playing with her daddy, learning how to dance on his feet in the kitchen
• Super smart!!
• Great helper around the house, enjoys helping clean up her toy and putting away laundry and dishes.

4th of July Fun

Happy Birthday, America! As for many people, 4th of July is probably my favorite holiday and we had a great time celebrating it this year! Esteban had the long weekend off so we decided to take a mini trip to Chattanooga...we love to get up there any chance we get. Chattanooga does "Pops on the River" on July 3 so we headed up there Sunday afternoon, ate lunch at Salsarita's (one of our favorites that they don't have in Atlanta) and then checked into the hotel. (We usually make it a day trip, but we found a great deal on Priceline and SO GLAD we did! Not only did Ellie get a great nap in and had lots of energy and excitement to enjoy the night, after fun and LOTS OF HEAT, Esteban and I were excited about AC and a bed instead of a 2 hour drive home!)

We had a light dinner at Tony's (another favorite) and let Ellie play/cool off in the fountain

I asked Ellie to say "cheese" while she was playing in the water, but she sat down on the step by the pretty ivy and posed...love it!

Being silly.

Ellie LOVES water!!! (check out that cute pony tail!)

After that, we headed off to Coolidge Park to get a spot...thankful we didn't let the crazy crowd discourage us, but it was definitely more packed then we anticipated. This was the "less crowded side." Check out all the people camped out on the bridge as well, it was great!

Ellie had lots of fun playing and hanging out with us while we wanted for the sun to go down.

Loving the juice box!

Being silly again, never take a normal picture with me :)

Playing/laughing with dad! Ellie loves to wrestle and run around.

First Day of Summer 2011

Incase the extreme heat wasn't enough to remind me, Google reminded me today is the first day of summer! I have really enjoyed my summer break so far and hoping it goes by REALLY slow!

I have been pretty bad about updating this blog and I really want to do a better job. I use Facebook a lot to put quick pictures up of our happenings, but I really want to use this blog as a online journal for us, as well as sharing life and pray requests with family and friends. With that, here are some pictures from the end of April, May, and the beginning of June.

Right after Easter, our really good friend Donna Sugano came to town for the Orange Conference with Northpoint Church. Donna and her husband, Isao, were our Summer Staff Bosses the summer of 2004-when Esteban and I met! Donna and Isao have been supportive of our relationship since Day 1 and so thankful that they continue to be dear friends that walk through life with us...although they live in Santa Barbara, California and we don't get to see them too often.

Here's a little picture trip down memory lane...

Love them!

Hannah and Sarah at the Carnival - aren't they precious!

*The 3rd Sugano daughter, Rebekah, came along 9 months later :)

Esteban and I's first picture together, hanging out at the beach in La Jolla!

Donna flew in a little early so she could spend some time with us before checking into her hotel and getting things started. The conference was held at the Gwinnett Arena, so we were able to see her throughout the week as well. The conference ended Friday night with a private laser show at Stone Mountain Park...you know I couldn't turn down the offer to join! We had a lot of fun and great conversation while Donna was here. I am always so thankful for her wisdom and sweet friendship.

Lopez family at Settles Bridge Park- Chattahooche River

Donna and Ellie

Donna brough Ellie "5 Little Ducks" book as a special gift and it is truly Ellie's favorite book for me to read/sing to her.

My Aunt Kelly and her family watched Ellie so I could join Esteban at Ruth's Chris Steak House for a company dinner. We had a lot of fun out and enjoyed great food....Aunt Kelly and her girls had a lot of fun playing with Ellie as well!

Ellie and my cousin, Teagan, eating popsicles.

Ellie helping "Aunt Sissy" (can't say Krissy yet) washing the cars...in her diaper of course!

Ellie's uncles- Dan, Mike, & AJ- kept her entertained during Krissy's High School Graduation May 30, 2011 at the Gwinnett Arena. Ellie LOVES iphones and knows how to navigate around pretty well on them.

Ellie and "D" playing copy-cat.

Sweet Ellie and I.

My mom and her 4th graduate, Krissy!

The family (minus Esteban) after Krissy's graduation

Summer heat is no joke around here and we love anytime we can spend in a swimming pool! One of my best friends, Natalie, was in town with her daughter, Laurie, and we met up for a play date. Laurie and Ellie are 3 months a part and it is so much fun now that they are at the stage where they can interact and play. They were too cute playing with their "babies" and calling each other "baby." They both enjoyed snacks, books, splashing, and kisses from the dog!

Hello Again!

I'm not sure how many people still read this blog, but if nothing else it serves as an online journal for us. I really need to be better about recording special events and taking more pictures (with a camera, not my phone!) With that...

This spring has been a very busy time for us. It started out with Esteban and I looking at houses and talking about some major changes so that I can be home more with Ellie. Right now, we have a tag-team schedule of Esteban being home with Ellie in the morning and me going to work. As soon as I get home, Esteban goes to work and I am home with Ellie. My mom and Aunt Kelly have been a huge help with overlap times many days. Although this schedule has "worked," it has been hard rarely seeing each other during the week and with my school day having a rigid schedule, Esteban has to work around my schedule.

Although we still are looking into changes, they are looking a little different then we originally thought. Esteban is still pursuing his career with Chick-Fil-A and has also applied for some a few academic advising positions with universities in the southeast (Chattanooga in particular). We are really using this time to pray that the Lord will open up doors (or close doors) and make His path clear to us. I am excited to see what our future holds!

Esteban spent quality time with his dad during spring break. The timing worked out well- I was able to be home with Ellie and not have to worry about making arrangements for her. His dad has been ill and it was really great for Esteban to be able to spend this time with him.

I have 12 full school days and 3 half days of exams left! I am so excited to spend the summer home with Ellie! She will be 18 months old next week, hard to believe how fast this time has gone by! Ellie is walking/running around and having so much fun exploring EVERYTHING! She loves to give hugs and kisses to her family and "noses" to everyone. I love watching her play with Esteban, it is so funny how she is so rowdy with her and gentle with me. She loves "babies" (by babies I mean anyone under 10 years old) and dogs and yells out everytime she sees one! Ellie is a great eater and so far not too picky, which I hope stays with her. She is VERY smart...while doing laundry the other night, I gave her a few of her shirts and told her to put them away. She went in her room, opened the shirt drawer and put them in! I love having a little helper with the chores around the house :) She also starts saying "Mimi" everytime we pull into my parent's neighborhood! Ellie and my youngest brother, Dan, are best friends. She loves to play with him, especially basketball.

I will have to post pictures later...when I have time to download them on to the computer. Yah for Friday! Krissy has quarter finals of the State Championship game tonight and Prom tomorrow...then we have Mother's Day on Sunday...hopefully I will get some pictures from those events to put into here as well.

Jenn

Snowed In 2010

We had been hearing for days that a "wintery mix" was on the way...then it turned into "blizzard" conditions. We are all anticipating the snow fall Sunday night and anxiously anticipating the call for schools to be closed Monday. I have never seen the snow fall so fast, it almost sounded like it was raining outside. We did have school canceled Monday...and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (tomorrow). Although it did not get above freezing today, hopefully the sun helped the roads clear enough to go to school Friday. These type of snow storms do not happen in Georgia often, so they do not have enough equipment to clear the roads fast enough. We have enjoyed this time at home, warm and safe.

Here are some pictures of our house Monday morning.

View from our kitchen window after the snow fall...beautiful!

My car.

Our backyard.

View of the front yard and street in front of our house.

Our road.

Our cute little country house- so pretty in the snow!

Family slumber party!

This is the rocking chair I had as a little girl...Ellie was watching the school closings with us and so happy to have more family time!

Picture of the Day

I just LOVE this scarf my Aunt D made for Miss Ellie! It has been freezing- it was 19* when I started my car this morning...brrrrr!!! It will sure be put to good use!