Bridal Veil Falls

I tell you what, you really don't appreciate three-day weekends until you are working...today was fabulous.

So, apparently Dan has always wanted to take "his girls" to Bridal Veil Falls, but only ever told us today, so off we went. We played it like usual and picked the path less traveled, and by less traveled I mean, are we lost? After much hiking, and listening to Ellie who hiked with no help repeat, "I can do it!!" (think Little Engine that Could), we made it to the falls.

See what I mean about path less traveled...check out Ellie. She was a powerhouse!!

After the falls, we went to Grandma and Granpa's for dinner that was topped off with Peach Cobbler (per my request). We were able to visit with Aaron, Leticia, Lucy, Lily, Grandma and Granpa Jessen, and Grandma GiGi.

Work tomorrow...grumble, grumble. :P

First Day of School

I mean, "pre-school". Ellie is so adamant that I say pre-school and not school. She looks funny without a backpack, but her teacher said she didn't need one. Not to worry, she took one the next day, because all the other kids did. :)





So far Ellie hasn't had the chance to make friends. She says she has been too busy. :)

13.1 Miles at 13 Weeks!!

And they still gave me an XS shirt...I almost cried!!



P.S. Sorry about the sweaty under-boob.

P.S.S. Thanks Heidi for documenting the moment in a photo for me. ;)

A Force to be Reckoned with...

Miss Ellie just finished her season of soccer. Dan decided he wanted to go all out (he wanted his little girl to be into sports). I found some shin guards, soccer shorts, and cleats for a fairly decent price. Dan was so proud, and Ellie insisted on wearing her full soccer "get-up" hours before her actual game.

Here are a couple action shots for your viewing pleasure...

This little girl LOVED playing soccer. She was so excited about it, and eve scored two goals in one game. Her drive to actually play was soon lost, in her last four games she was seeking out a friend to hold hands with instead of a goal. I now need to look into dance to keep her busy...any suggestions?

Ellie's Primary Talk

Ellie has wanted to give a talk in Primary for the LONGEST time, she's actually been given the assignment twice before, but we were out of town both times. Well, she finally had her chance to shine. I thought she was going to freeze up, but she did fantastic!! She memorized her talk in one day (and created her own spin on it...). I recorded her right after we got home from church. When she practiced at home, she used the squirt bottle for her microphone and set up the chairs for the audience....

This is mainly for Grandpa who missed her talk, because he was in Korea on a business trip.

You May be Mourning the Death of Michael Jackson, world....

But today, Ellie is having the BEST DAY EVER!!

It actually started the day before her birthday when she received a card in the mail from Great Grandpa and Grandma Jessen with $5...she was in Heaven!! Ellie had mentioned to me that she wanted to decorate the house for her birthday, so Dan got the supplies and together we trashed the house when Ellie was asleep. The reaction was so worth it, we might do it every year!! ;)

18 hours w/no rides at the end...

Well, we made it home!! On the 16th of June, we drove to Tulsa, OK for my cousin Lucas' fare-the-well (then he came out here a week later to enter the MTC....pointless vacation, you say?). We actually had a really good time, and Ellie loves hotels...especially hotels with pools. :)

The first day in Tulsa, we got pedicures. I can't remember if I told the story about the day I had a pedicure for graduation...Long story short, Ellie threw a fit, because I told her she could have one too, the lady painted her toenails, and called it good. As soon as we got outside, Ellie had a meltdown because she wanted to stick her feet in the water too!! Well, she finally got her nails done (I'll have to get the pictures from my mom's camera).

After our nails looked beautimus, we went to the Aquarium where we fed and petted the stingrays, and the turtles (well, we didn't pet them, we wanted to keep our fingers). Ellie also pet a starfish, and held a shark egg...ick.

The next day we went to Philbrook Museum. Philbrook Museum was actually at one time a mansion, it was huge!! Check out the gardens:

Saturday, we met back up with the men-folk (did I mention they went to two Kansas City Royals games?) for lunch and then later went to a farewell party for Lucas where Ellie almost drowned (which has really gotten my butt in gear for survival swimming, but we keep playing phone tag).

Sunday, we listened to a great talk by Lucas. He really will make a great missionary. Then we ate Piroskies, and headed home. Apparently Aaron has posted several sleeping pictures of me on facebook...not cool Aaron, not cool.