Testing, testing....

Is this thing on?  Oh yeah... it is!  Sorry, it's been a long time since we've done a blog.  Lots of things have been going on in our household.  We've changed jobs, moved around schedules, working full-time from home for me (Brian!), and oh yeah...  raising a 3-year-old!  :-) 

No reason to bother trying to do 100 blogs to catch up... so let's just talk about recent stuff.  We finally had a family vacation.  We were worried about how Ella would handle a plane... and SHE DID AWESOME.  No issues at all.  The week away was wonderful!  Ella favorite part was the time at the beach.  Ella LOVED the sand and water.  We're definiately going to have to plan another tip soon.  She told me on the way to school yesterday that she wanted to take a plane to Mimi and Pop-Pop's house... but if that didn't work, we could take a helicopter.  Evidentally, Ella things we're BIG TIME. 

Here are a few of my favorite pics.  Talk again soon!

Toy Story 3 on Ice!

On Sunday, we got a chance to take Ella to see Toy Story 3 on Ice. She's been to the circus at the AAC and loved it, so we knew she'd love to go again .... especially if it has anything to do with Pixar! So, we brought the tickets like 6 weeks before the show and got Ella prepared for it. She had a blast... got a Buzz Lightyear hat, Woody hat, Jessie snow cone, etc. We have to admit... Mom and Dad had a great time too! Here are a few pictures we liked... of the 40+ we took. We look forward to taking her to more things this year. She does such a good job at movies, the zoo, or whatever else we plan. We love our little girl! ;-)

Turning 3!

We've just now recovered from the big birthday weekend! Ella ended up having 3 parties. One at school on Friday with her classmates... one on Saturday with just family... and then another on Sunday with some of her friends! We had a blast at Color Me Mine. It was fun getting everyone together and seeing the kids choosing and painting their own projects. Dinosaurs, coffee mugs, jewelry boxes, etc. I look forward to going back to pick up the finished products and then make deliveries to all the kiddos. Can't believe our little girl is already 3. At this rate, she's going to need a bigger house for her 4th birthday to hold all her stuff. ;-)

Mr. Jackson creating a mean dino...

Ms. Maya putting her signature on Ella's b-day plate!

Ms. Laela, all giggles.

"Are those good cupcakes?"

Logan's Dad being... himself!

Good family times....

Sorry for the delay... can't believe we missed the entire month of February, but hey... it's the shortest month, right? So, we've been busy with work and holidays... recently celebrating Devon's birthday! And soon, we'll have Ella's birthday. Can't believe our little girl is turning 3. Lots of good events coming up and we'll be posting some good pics.

Also.... we finally have a decent camera for the first time in a couple of years, so we've taken a lot of pictures lately. Here are some of our favorites!

3 generations... 1 bench.

Vanna White... eat your heart out.

Posing with the great-grandparents!

Our little princess!

Love this little girl!

Starting it off right!

Hello again! I haven't talked to you since last year. Okay, okay... after 3+ weeks into the 2011, we can probably quit with the New Years jokes. So, the holidays came and went... again. Seems like it was in the blink of an eye this year. The holidays are A LOT more fun when you're younger. This holiday season was great, but when you realize that you have to cook AND clean since you're an official "grown-up" now... it stinks. So, we're moving 100 miles per hour right now working on a lot of different things. First, Devon and I are both working to make lifestyle changes to get healthier. (There may be a separate blog just for that.) Second, work has been keeping us busy with me traveling. Devon's getting comfortable in her new position and recently got a promotion! Excellent way to start the new year. Third, projects... projects... and more projects. We have a lot of things going on. Researching for new furniture (we need to redecorate basically our entire house), fighting with our builder to get some work done (long story), and all the other things that go on for the busy parents of a nearly 3-year-old! Oh yeah... and we're trying to plan Ella's birthday. We have NO idea what to do yet, but we're getting ideas. We'd like to have people over, but we may be having work done to the house around then, so we'll see. I thought I'd share some of our recent funny pics we've taken. They were with my phone so not the world's best quality. Talk again soon!

Being silly with Daddy!

Silly smile!

Hanging out with Great Grandma June!

Big girl... taking care of those "sugar bugs" before bed.

All bundled up and heading for school! :-)

Happy Holidays!

I seriously can't believe it's that time again.... Christmas! As far as the holidays are concerned, it ranks #1. Okay, so taking out all the religious aspects since they are obvious, it's still awesome. Of course, I've lived in Texas my entire life and have had a total of 3 White Christmases. I don't think it's going to happen again this year, but at least Ella got to experience REAL snow last year. Anyway.... like other families, we've been extremely busy. Getting the house ready, lights up, presents bought and wrapped, etc. This is the first year Ella really understands what's going on... she keeps asking when Santa is coming! I swear, she's the smartest not-quite-3-year-old I know. We're looking forward to spending some good, quality time together at home enjoying family and friends. We'll post some holiday pics as we take them. Below, I wanted to share some of my favorites from our session with KLB Photography. Well, all 52 pics are my favorites, but here's a few. From our family to yours, we hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you in 2011.

Family Pics - Preview!

Here's a quick preview of our family pictures... lots more to come!

As usual, Karen did an awesome job! She planned a nice morning at Arbor Hills in Plano. I'd never been there before. Lots of other parents, joggers, and people with the same idea... checking some good photo opportunities. Ella did awesome posing for Karen (with some pre-coaching from Mom before our trip there to make sure to listen well and lots of smiles). If anyone needs a great photographer, let us know! I had to throw that in there! :-)

"Whee!!!!!"

My little sunshine!

Tree decorating....