Trip to Erie, PA

The end of August we drove up to Erie to visit my family and David's Dad and step-mom. We are trying to take advantage of being so close now (only 4 1/2 hours away). Ella and I were able to spend 10 days at my parent's house while David had to go back to Ohio for the week to attend his classes. We had a great time seeing family and just hanging it. I love that Ella is able to spend more time with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

This is a picture of all the grandkids on my side of the family.....12 and counting!

Ella spent hours going up and down this step at my parent's house. It is so funny how the simplest things can entertain a child for a long time.

My little "Cool Baby". She loved those sunglasses and kept trying to put them on, although usually when she did it she just got a poked eye or mouth.

Ella's 1st Birthday!!!

Ella is now 1 year old and to celebrate we had a big Luau birthday party for her. Actually it was a dual party to Ella and Cole (my sister Lori's son, who turned 1 just a few days before Ella). The celebration was held at Lori's house and it was the perfect day. It has been raining the day before and earleir the day of the party, but about an hour or so before the celebration the sun came out and it turned out to be a great day. Below are some pictures of the events:

Ella's cake that came with a "smash cake" as well, which is in the next couple pictures.

Ella getting ready for the party!


Here is Ella tasting cake for the first time. She started off pretty timid, but as you'll see in the next couple of pictures, she go the idea.



After awhile, she was really having fun smashing into that cake.

Family picture!

Our friend, Kristen, drove up from the other side of PA to see us and celebrate Ella's birthday with us. It was great seeing her, since we had not seen her in awhile.


Here is Ella opening presents, actually she was not that interested in opening them, so David and I did most of that. She was too busy playing with the other kids and toys around the house.

Thank you for serving!

Our friend Kristen asked me to take some pictures of David in his uniform with Ella for her classroom wall. She was making a wall to honer those in the military. So, I thought I would take a moment to do the same. Thank you David for serving our country and to all those others that do the same. I am honored to be a military wife and also thank all those spouses that support there mate in their desire to serve this nation.

Moving to Ohio

In August, we had all of our stuff packed up and shipped to our new home in Dayton, OH. It was bitter-sweet leaving San Antonio. We will miss the friends that we have made there, but are excited to embark on our new adventure. David will be attending AFIT (the Air Force Institute of Technology) at Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, OH. We will be there for 18 months for David to finish is Masters Degree in Computer Engineering. Then we will be off to Colorado Springs for David to teach Computer Engineering at the Air Force Academy.



Here are a few pictures of our new house!

Leaving Texas - Going away parties for Kris & David

David & Kris's squadrons threw them a going away party the week before we left. It was perfect timing, since their mom was visiting at the time and got to attend the party. David was touched by the number of people who came to say their goodbyes and honor him with gifts and kind words.


David's co-workers also planned a pool party at Joey's house to again show their appreciation on the work David did while in San Antonio. The picture above was taken right after Casey (the one in the middle) honored David and Kris by giving them his Anchors that he wore on his uniform while in the Navy.



Daddy and Ella had so much fun in the pool. Ella is such a good swimmer, well at least she thinks she is. She constantly tries to get away and thinks she can swim by herself. I need to get this kid in swimming lessons soon. She loves the pool and we want to keep it that way.

Ella's 1st trip to the playground!

Ella had a great time at the playground. She loved the swing and David took her down the slide a couple of times. It will be great when she starts walking and she can do some of these things by herself. I'm sure there will be lots of playgrounds in our future.

A caged Ella-phant!

These are relatively (about 2 months) old pictures, but I had to share them and the story that goes along with them. I peeked into Ella's room during her nap one day and this is what I saw. At first I thought she was awake and just playing or stuck but not crying yet. However, on closer examination I found that she was sound asleep. So what do I do.....I run downstairs to get my camera of course. After I took a few pictures, I thought about trying to move her to a more comfortable position, but I could not bring myself to move her. She looked so peaceful!


Notice that every limb (both arms and both legs) are outside the crib slats. I have no idea how she was sleeping so peacefully, but she was. Oh to be a kid again!!!