Sisters

Sisters last weekend was a mixed bag. The rain was disgusting. Spending time, however, with our great friends and riding at Hoodoo was awesome. Eliana was a superstar and stayed in daycare for 3 hours, - long enough for Greg and I to ride with our posse and get totally, soaking wet.

On Monday morning, the sun showed her face long enough for us to get this photo. Good times, everyone, good times.

A day in the sun at Ski Bowl

We headed to the mountain on Sunday to eek out the last bit of winter break. The sun was shining and we had a voucher for a pass (thanks, Barkers!) from last year. Greg and I rotated on staying in the lodge with Eli. It's tough not to be able to ride with Greg, but riding alone is better than not riding. Ski Bowl lodge is awesome for kids - it's small and quiet. Plus, hot dogs and fries are hot and cheap.

On the drive home, we stopped by this little cabin in the woods that we've been looking at online. We fantasize about having a cabin so that we could be closer to the mountain. When we pulled up, it looked vacant so we peeked in the windows while Eli slept in the car. To our surprise, there was somebody in there! He saw us and invited us in to take a look around. Turns out, he is the neighbor who takes care of the cabin after renters leave. What a crazy experience. Later, he took us up to his house to meet his wife and see all of his animals - including a bobcat and an ostrich. It was like being in the Twilight Zone, but I love it when a quick stop turns into a great story!

Two funny photos

On the evening of Christmas day, we went over to the Barker's house. Eli and Hazel played with baby dolls (big surprise there) and we had a fantastic dinner. The girls had fun together, except for when one or the other of them was mad about having to take turns. This was near the end of the night and Hazel was showing Eli how to but the baby to bed. Toddlers are funny little creatures.On Monday after Christmas, I got together with my girls and their kids for a gift exchange. Oh man. I don't know what we've done, but the scene was straight mayhem. From left to right: Archer Byers, Hazel and Opal Norling, Miles Rocklin (not happy to be away from mama), Eliana Stiles and Sive Mangan. Nothing but good times ahead!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was fantastic! We had so much fun watching Eliana open all of her gifts. Her favorite gifts included an Elmo chair from Nana and Pops, two singing creatures, one from Nana and Pops and the other from Auntie Michelle and Uncle Dan, a shopping bag full of food from Grammy Pam, and a baby doll from Greg and me.

She rounded out the day with a trip over to Eryn, Brian and Hazel's house for a tea party. It must have totally worn her out because as I write this, she's still asleep at 9:45. Fantastic!

Our tree (only 1/2 decorated because Eli wouldn't ever let me finish...)
Opening her first gift - a bunny and a book from Auntie Michelle and Uncle Dan.
Chillin' like a villain in her Elmo chair

WOW! It sings!

This laughing alligator freaked her out.
Reading with Dad-o.
What's in here?



She promptly removed all of Baby Mimi's clothes...
...and put them in the washer.

Eli's first kiss...

We had a few of our closest friends over for Christmas Eve appetizers and fun. Eli is here with Michael and Kristin's little guy, Sive. They had some really funny moments together and I'm so glad that my mom captured these images. Looks like Sive is a natural with the ladies.

Flashback

I've been really bad getting photos the last few weeks. But, here is a photo of Eli this time last year. She wasn't even crawling yet this time last year and would roll around until she got where she wanted to go.

Life at our house

Just to let you know, if you are not related to this toddler, this video might be extremely uninteresting. In fact, it might be uninteresting to you even if you are related to her. However, she's been really into making piles of stuffed animals and other assorted toys for the last week and it makes us laugh and it's our blog and so we can put whatever we want on here.