Ella's Birthday Morning

We celebrated with muffins and candles on the morning of Ella's birthday - I'm wondering how many times a girl can have "Happy Birthday" sung to her??? Never too many, right?!?

Even when we went through Casper Sunday afternoon, the whole gang sang to her again!!! This time with yummy ice cream sundaes --- thanks to the Casper Hubert's for dinner --AGAIN!!!

Caramel Apples

One of the things I remember as a kid and going to Estes was caramel apples!!! YUM!! Jeannine and I agreed that that was one stop that we must make before heading to Fort Collins!

Chuck E Cheese's for Ella's birthday

We braved it! We stopped in Fort Collins and met up with the Barber's to celebrate Ella's birthday at Chuck E Cheese's. The kids all had a blast and the adults all survived!!!!

L to R: Tony, Meg, Ella, Aubrey, and Trinity

The girls all earned enough tickets to get some FANCY earrings!!!

Wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park

So we drove to where they have Trail Ridge Road closed and got out to play in the snow. Instead, we fed the chipmunks - Granma Jeannine remembered the Cheezits and the chipmunks enjoyed them thoroughly!!!!

We also saw many elk -- some were with a harem and some were not but all were spectacular to observe. It just amazes me how tame they seem.

A Weekend with the Melka's

We spent the weekend with Larry and Jeannine - we drove down to Estes Park and had lunch at the Stanley. We also headed up into Rocky Mountain National Park to check out the wildlife! We so blessed to live so close to such a beautiful place. Beautiful weather - bright sun and mountain peaks dusted with snow.

Ella's four!!!

The Stanley Hotel - a magnificent historical building in Estes Park, Colorado

My mountain girls - they love to hike and climb on the rocks!
30 weeks pregnant!!!
Meg enjoyed making her bed look very fancy at Granma Jeannine's house -- now she is convinced that she needs some fancy pillows for her own bed!

Ella's Off to Preschool

So my baby (well for 10 more weeks!) is off to preschool!!! She is so excited and has been anxiously anticipating this day all summer and especially for the past few weeks since Meg went off to Kindergarten. She is attending the same preschool that Meg went to so is very familiar with the teachers and the classroom. I was talking with another parent and turned around to say good-bye to Ella and she was gone -- off playing with play-doh and not noticing whether I'd left or not...

The wonderful Mrs. Kay... This is her 26th year at Noah's Ark Christian Preschool and she is so amazing with the children. She has this wonderful New Zealand accent and is just very pleasant and loving.
Ella's cubby animal is the cow elk.
Here she is - just where I found her, playing with play-doh!