Natalie Visits

Ella loves playing with her tongue and just cut her top tooth today. Auntie Natalie-lee was the teething toy.

Natalie Dulaney and I have been consistent friends since we were six and seven.

In fact, it would be impossible for me to imagine my life without her and her family; from summer sailing camp in MN, to boating down the Amazon, or taking a chartered jet to Aspen, and trekking the Himalayas ... Natalie has been a part of, or the reason behind, nearly all of my adventures. She came to town to visit, check out Greystone's Culinary Institute in St. Helena and meet baby Ella. We had great weather seeing the city, and fun exploring wine country.

Ella was 'sorted' into Gryffindor... which reminds me, I have to get back to Harry Potter!

Zoltar brought back "Big" memories of Tom Hanks.

Beckers in Balboa

We had a blast in Newport with Benj's family.

Ella loves her cousins, Chase and Ryan; and Chase took extra special care of ''baby Ella" all week.

We had fun swimming in the pool, dipping Ella's toes in the ocean and eating sand on the beach.

The view from the top of the Ferris wheel was great. We road the Balboa Ferry everyday and went sailing twice.

Hearst Castle

As part of our 3 year anniversary celebration, and on our way down to Newport to vacation with the Beckers, we went to Hearst Castle in San Simeon. It was beautiful! Ella had a break down halfway through, and had to leave the tour. The bedrooms were smaller than what I want in my castle, but I did like that each guest had their own bathroom:) The Neptune pool was our favorite part. Though a bit out of the way, Hearst Castle is definitely worth seeing.

We went to dinner at a charming little restaurant with live music and Ella was enthralled. The vocalist (a Ray Charles look-a-like) was equally enamored with Ella and serenaded her with Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable." It was very sweet.

Camp Lehi

It is official, Ella loves to camp. We had our first family camping experience almost two weeks ago; in fact it was the first time Benj and I have ever slept in a tent together ~ even before Ella.

We had a great time at the Stake Young Women's summer camp ~ Camp Lehi. It is in a beautiful location; just north of Santa Cruz, in the mountains and overlooking the ocean.

Ella was a hit, as expected, and all the young women enjoyed holding her and passing her around. Plus Benj was able to fulfill a 'life-time goal' and witness a young women's fireside/testimony meeting. In his own words: "it was everything I had hoped for." :)

Aqua Ma

Jen & London Jacobson introduced us to Aqauma. Every Monday we get to kick and splash with our swim class. We have a blast.
Before we had Ella I used to worry that having a child would limit the "fun" things I was able to do. However, the truth is, since having Ella a whole new world of fun things has opened up for us, like Aquama! Benj took a break from work and stopped by yesterday morning to watch the little Empress in the pool ~ he loves Ella so much and it is a huge blessing to have such a supportive husband.

Picture People Portrait

We took Ella's Easter picture at the Picture People in Hillsdale Mall, and the photographer asked if she could display a portrait of our Little Empress. We stopped by the Picture People today so Benj could see Ella on the wall.
I quickly took a picture of Benj and Ella in front of the display with Benj's phone while no one was looking. I am not sure why they chose this pose to put on the wall ~ it was not one of my favorites ~ but it was fun for us to see her on display.

July 4th

We managed to fit 32 adults and 8 kids in our tiny backyard for a 4th of July BBQ. Everyone brought great food, kids of all ages played in our new blow-up "pool," some of the ladies made friendship bracelets, we had a patriotic duck race, and to top it off, Dru brought her human elastic... check out the video.

Crawl Update

Ella has the backward scoot down and is working on the forward crawl. The trouble is she pushes up to a 'V' rather than staying on her knees. I love her two little teeth!

Oriental Chicken Salad

On Thursday we met Robyn Froerer (our RS President) and Bonni Bohn for lunch.

Ella got her first taste of an oriental chicken salad.