dance!

Here's those videos of Ellie's first day of dance.  Take notice of just how often she looks in the mirror.  Such an entertainer.  It's still so funny to watch.  Enjoy!

Trip to Denver

So we spent a good chunk of time in Denver at the end of August.  Nearly two weeks, actually.  We enjoyed attending my Grandpa and Grandma Hurst's 90th birthday party.  It was so neat to learn more about them and their love.  They are some of the most amazing people I know.  Such great examples of endurance and hard work.  I just love visiting them.  Anyways, I enjoyed so much spending time with my brother Phil who stayed with us.  He reminded me of why I loved him so much in my youth.  He's so fun and enjoyable to be around.  I also got to see my parents and sister Courtney and her family.  Some good times were definitely had :) 

 Michael had his preliminary defense of his disertation within that next week, so he headed homethe next day to fine tune his presentation and prepare for the oral exam part, and practice of course.  It was good we were in Denver because of course Ellie got really sick and that would have been a huge distraction to what he needed to focus on.  Michael passed his preliminary and got some great feedback on how to improve his presentation and other stuff to research to support, etc.  I don't get it all, but that's ok, he does :)  He came back to Denver the day after and I was so happy to see him!  He then started paving the path his parent's were doing in the new landscaping of their front yard.  He loves paving.  He did quite a bit of it when he worked at the Denver Temple as a groundscrew guy.  So he really labored on labor day. 

 Ellie got to go to the zoo with her Aunties and cousins and had a great time.  She just loved the "jumpaline".  It may be one of the first big purchases we make when we get a house someday....  So much fun with cousins but in the end she was ready for home.  The day before we left she asked if we could go home.  That's never happened before.  I think we were all craving a little home and the structure it gives to our lives.  I love home.  But uh-oh!  Our baby can crawl now!  Time to VACUUM!

The big party.  Unfortunately I was not in focus.  But that's G&G Hurst.

My parents, Courtney, and Phil.  Missed you Annie!

Selfie with my huge camera.  Quite the task.  But yes, I was there :)

Grandpa Stan doing a funny family joke about peanut butter.  It was great.

Success.

The girls reading.

The beautiful flower wall at G&G Huntington's.

Michael's path in the making.

Done and BEAUTIFUL!

This yard is going to look gorgeous when its done.  How exciting!

Part of the wall of flowers between my inlaws and their neighbors.  I can't believe how crazy awesome this pic is.  So vibrant.

She really wants whatever I eat in front of her now.  So I gave her a couple licks of my butter pecan ice cream.  She loved it of course.

First day crawling was August 26th.  I love this age!  You can see the thirst in her eyes.

Sweet cousin Camille.  She is ten weeks younger, but right there with Abby developementally in a lot of ways.  She inspired Abby to crawl just days later.  Thanks Camille!

Chubby Cheeks!

Picking at the grass together.

TUtu love.

Updated family picture.  Ellie's face is so funny.  She has scab under her nose that someday I'll edit out.  She was so difficult, and as you can see, Michael is just about to tickle her :)  Pictures with kids is hard.

December

December was a whirlwind.  But isn't it always, when you have a newborn :)  Abby kept growing so big.  

Christmas was really fun this year because Ellie really "got it".  Michael and her went and bought a tree together in the freezing wheather.  She was so excited.  They did a great job.  It was a very beautiful and very "pine" smelling tree.  I love it when they actually smell good.  It was very strong at first but then died down as the days progressed.  It was really fun this year to decorate for Christmas.  I did it with Ellie this year and tried to explain the meanings of all the decor.  I can't say she listened too intently, but it was still really fun.  She was so excited and full of "WOW"s.  She especially liked playing with the cresh from my childhood, which was fun to see since I loved playing with it in my youth as well.  However, Ellie just isn't too soft on things and after a while, I soon found baby Jesus's head detached from his body.  SAD!  In her defense, it didn't look like the first break.  It was still shocking tho when I went to move the body and the head stayed in the manger!  We got it glued right back on in no time.  So ya, she loved playing with all the characters and making them chit chat and so on.

After Christmas we spent a week in Utah.  It was fun.  I spent a lot of time with Abby as she didn't feel so great while we were there.  A bit colicky, poor thing.  But we made it through.  Below is the cousin lineup.  Caden (next to Abby) is about 5 1/2 months older than her, and as you can tell, off the growth charts.  So its funny to see them side by side because he really is a double of her.  Haha.

The things this girl puts together for "outfits".  So funny.

My Dancing Gril (as Ellie says it)

Ellie just had her first dance lesson today!  Michael and I have been looking forward to her starting since she dances all over the house and walks on her tippey toes.  She's in a class with about 6 other kids.  The teacher was great and the kids had a lot of fun.  I look forward to next weeks lesson.  It was so hilarious to watch Ellie.  She couldn't keep her eyes off herself in the big mirrors.  She made all sorts of faces and funny moves.  Again, the teacher was just so patient with her and invited her to join in without making her feel like she did something bad when she got distracted.  Whenever I figure out how to do a video post, I'll put that on so you can roll around laughing.  She's just a goof like me I guess.  Enjoy :)

Right here they are acting like eggs, and then would pop out of their eggs.  So fun.

I just love the leotard I got her.

Here they are stomping around like dinosaurs, so naturally Ellie has her angry eyes on.

Ta Da