Brightening the Dreary Winter Months

A little secret: I love snow. Give me a great big storm with a foot of snow, so I can't do anything but stay home and cook and play games...I'm a happy camper. No wait, I'd be a miserable camper, I'm a happy homer. D'oh! You get the idea. I suspect the only reason I look forward to these events is because I'm blessed to live in a city where it only takes a few hours for the plow crews to clear the roads, so we're never homebound long enough to get cabin fever. Plus, when the storm blows itself out, we can take Elly SLEDDING!

Had Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

Ok, so I got behind again on posting Elly photos, and it's time to catch up. When we left off, it was Elly's birthday...the week before Christmas.

As with most families, I suppose, Christmas is a very busy time. We have two families to visit, multiple church services, choir, and we almost never do our present wrapping until Christmas Eve. Toss in a one-year-old, and the week starts to feel a little like this:

...and then she was one.

On Saturday, we celebrated Elly's first birthday. Both sets of grandparents, and her aunt Becky, uncle Justin, and cousin Nathan came to party. Everyone was greeted at the door by that same giggling cloud of balloons, which had by now become completely entangled around her leg.

Turkey and Turkeys

Cori, Elly and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, this year. It was also my first time making turkey. Both were a smashing success, if I do say so myself. But with eight "grown-ups", two almost-"grown-ups", and two babies crammed in our little place, things may have gotten a little silly.

Elly, 10 months old

Yesterday, Elly passed the 11 month mark. Time to upload the photos of a 10 month old Elly...but first...it appears there was a batch of pics from 9 months that I missed. So to begin, here are a few from right before she turned 10 months old.

Elly, months 8 and 9

...and just when I got caught up, I didn't post for six weeks and got behind again. Ok, catching up again. Here are months eight and nine.

Elly, Months 6 and 7

Alright! We're getting caught up with the Elly photos. This group are of Elly at ages 6 months and 7 months. Since she's 8 months old now, I guess we're caught up.

Here's our big girl, right around her 6 month birthday. She wasn't really standing independently at this point, but stayed there long enough for Cori to snap a quick photo.

Elly photos, months 3-4

Let's continue getting caught up on old photos, shall we? As always, let me know if you'd like a higher-res version of any of these.

Elly (3 months) and cousin Dylan (6 months)

Random photos from month three.

Photos of Elly's first few months

Here is the first batch of old Elly photos; from her birthday through the first couple months. You can click each photo to view it in full size, and then right-click and select "Save Picture as..." If you'd like a full-resolution version of any of these, email me, or use the comments feature at the bottom of the post.

A few minutes after birth
Later that evening, a happy grandma