Ella at Four Years Old

There aren't enough words to describe my thoughts and feelings about Ella. She is incredibly unique in her personality, her looks and her attitude. She can be the absolute sweetest, most sensitive girl around... or not. I am so thankful to have this spunky girl as my daughter. I love that she insists on dressing herself. I love that she loves to have her nails painted. I love that she puts her hand on her hip every time I take a picture of her. I love that when she is talking to me, she clicks her tongue sometimes to make it more serious. I love that she says things like, "Mom... I love your husband," or "I am just following my heart." I love to watch her learn new subjects and discover things on her own. I love that although her eyes are technically green like her daddy's, her left eye has a patch of blue that is a part of me. I love to hear her laugh. There is so much more about my Ella that I love but above all I love the part of my heart that is completely full because she is in my life. Happy Fourth Birthday you little Squella Girl.

Ella's 4th Birthday Party

I had a huge Rock Star party planned for Ella's birthday for when we got back from Utah, but this little "make-shift" one that we put together at the last minute at my mom's house was good enough for Ella so I called it good and saved myself a lot of work.

As you can tell, Ella didn't notice that we didn't play Barbie Rock Star Karaoke. She didn't notice that the over sized banner with her name on it wasn't there. She felt special even though I didn't blow up poster sized pictures of her to hang at the party. She didn't even ask about the pinata that I had been trying to find online for over a month. Her birthday cake tasted just as sweet because she knew she was loved, she was surrounded by family and felt like a rock star on her birthday!

Driving to Utah

We were lucky enough to have my niece stay with us for 2 weeks this summer. She was an incredible help. I will miss her so much. She is such a great girl with a heart of gold. On the way back to Utah, we stopped in Idaho to stay the night at a hotel. We had fun ordering pizza and making Cannon smile. The kids have been getting crazier each day this summer, and the night at the hotel was about the most hyper I've seen them.

Another Year Older

For my birthday we went to watch Ethan's basketball game then over to El Valle for a little birthday fiesta! After dinner, Jessica babysat the kids and we met up with the Anderson's, Reagran and Christian to see "Knight and Day"

Happy Birthday, Reagran

We had a picnic in the park with the kids to celebrate Reagran's birthday (on June 23rd- I'm just trying to catch up).

Craig comes to visit

Kent's little brother, Craig, just graduated Dental school- as you saw from a previous post. While he is waiting for his license to come through, he decided to come shadow Kent for a week in the clinic. I think they had a lot of fun together. Maybe enough fun to move up here someday, huh? hint hint

Dance Recital

Ella loves to dance, but hates to have to go to dance class. I think she hates to have her day interrupted to get dressed to go rehearse. She was very excited for the night they "go on the big stage." She did a great job, I was so proud of her. At dress rehearsal she slipped on stage in her tap shoes and my heart stopped. Ella hopped right back up, her eyes found me in the audience and she quickly said, "I'm okay, mom." and kept right on going. That incident could have gone either way- I'm glad she was confident enough to keep dancing. A few minutes later, I was walking up the steps in the audience and I fell down! Like daughter- like mother. I was really embarrassed but I figured if Ella can brush it off on stage, I can brush it off too.

This picture is blurry but I had to post it since she is looking at Kent in the camera

This is Ella receiving her dance certificate

Bowling Party

After the drama camp performance, Ethan was invited to a bowling birthday party.

While Ethan was at the party, Annie, Ella and I (and Cannon) were a few lanes down bowling while we waited.

Drama Camp

I know drama camp was the first week of summer but here are some pictures of the performance. The show was "Cinderella" and it was adorable. I am so glad Ethan was able to be a part of this fun week.
Ethan- green shorts, front and center!

My summer vacation...so far...

My parents came up with my niece, Jessica to help drive me down to Utah for a visit. I was up in Northern Utah visiting with my family for the first part of the week and then Kent flew down and we spent the weekend in Alpine staying with his family. Kent flew back home while my parents drove my kids and me home. My sister and her kids drove up too! While they were here we went to Leavenworth for a couple days and then drove to Seattle 26 hours- which we fit a week's worth of activities into. We came back to Sunnyside last Saturday night and my family has been helping me organize, rearrange, decorate, move furniture, hang curtains, and made delicious meals. We've gone to the occasional movie and stopped in at a quaint ice cream shop for lunch. It has been such a wonderful whirlwind!

Leavenworth

Camille let Jessica stay with us (for 2 weeks!!) in Sunnyside while everyone else went home. It was so fun to have her helping and playing and sleep-overs on the couch and just plain bonding with us. We love our Jessica.