Pinky Bell

While we were up in Moses Lake, Elsie and I were looking through the ornament catalog that my Grandma had. Besides loving all the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ornaments, she also pointed out the Tinkerbell ornament and said she wanted to watch it. I don't know how she knew about Tinkerbell...maybe she's seen a commercial or something. I've been wondering when she was going to start being interested in the whole princess thing, so maybe this is just the beginning. Of course, Aaron and I have run with it. I recorded the Tinkerbell movie from the Disney channel, and she has watched it several times. We bought her some Tinkerbell sunglasses and sweatshirt for our trip. I love it! Plus, it's so cute because she calls her "Pinky Bell".

Minnie Mouse

Grandma and Grandpa Wise bought Elsie this little Minnie Mouse outfit from Costco while they were here. She is obsessed with it and wants to wear it all the time! You know she'll be wearing that when we go to Disneyland!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Wise

Elsie called Grandma and Grandpa one day in July and told them she wanted them to come visit. So we figured out a weekend that we weren't busy or out of town and they planned a trip up. We started a countdown several days before they were to come. She was so pumped!

Once they got here, we did the usual stuff. Ate, visited, watched Elsie play and swim, I learned how to make english toffee, played games, went to Lakeview, ate some more. It was great!
Not sure what Gary is doing here?!

Saturday morning we went to play tennis. Elsie has her own racket and pink balls. She loves it!

We appreciate so much them coming to visit, playing with and spoiling Elsie, and hanging out with us!

A cute video of Gary spinning Elsie around. I had another one of Sylvia doing the same thing, but she was in her pajamas, and I didn't think she's want that one on here for everyone to see. Ha ha.

I think he likes watermelon

Do you know anyone else that eats their watermelon like this?

She just keeps getting cuter and cuter!

Just a few random pictures from July:

Elsie loves to eat at the ottoman. Okay, so maybe I should be embarrassed that we still eat in front of the tv (I don't know how I will ever successfully break Aaron of this habit!), but I'm not. Elsie is really one of the neatest eaters ever, so it hasn't been too much of a problem. Especially since she eats pizza for practically every meal. She thought it was so funny that she smiled and showed me her food. Always looking for a laugh! Kind of like someone else I know!

Elsie had these purple sunglasses that she was obsessed with. I thought they were so ugly. She had a couple other pairs of cute glasses that we got at the Disney store, but she always wanted to wear these. Too bad they got broken! I promise I didn't do it!

Don't you love her outfit?!

Visit from Jared and Lindsay

Jared, Lindsay, Carson, Kaiya, and Chloe came down to visit in July. We always have a great time when we get to be together. On Friday Aaron had to work, so the rest of us went to Cheesecake Factory and visited. That evening the kids swam in the pool, we ate pizzas, and played games.

Saturday morning we took the kids over to the school to let them play on the playground.

Aaron and Jared joined us to practice their golf swings. They had to get ready for the family reunion.

We went to Lakeview Park that afternoon to go swimming. Our friends Ken and Diana and their kids joined us as well. That evening we went to dinner at Chung Hing, our favorite Chinese place around here, and met up with Myca and Ryan. After we ate we spent the evening at Wahooz mini golfing, riding go-karts, playing arcade games. We were out late, but Elsie was totally up for it. She's a party animal!

Lindsay and I hung out with the younger girls while everyone else did go-karts. We found a little sno-cone shop and each got one. They were humungous and came in these cute flower cups. We're not sure if we were just so hot or so tired, but those sno-cones were the best we'd ever had. I think I need to stop by there again!

Fun, busy weekend with family we love!

gratitude

To my Wise parents,

Thank you for caring, for calling, for helping, and for loving me!

feelin' good

Just got back from a week long trip to WA to visit family and have an Earl family reunion. I loved it! There's so much to say and write about, I don't even know where to start. I guess that will have to happen tomorrow (or the next day...or the next).

hi

I don't know if it's better to leave a quick post or just nothing at all, but I thought I'd let everyone know I'm still here. I'm still checking everyone's blogs. I love to know and see what's going on in your lives. I have not felt like blogging lately. I will eventually.

I just haven't really been in a happy place lately. I'm not trying to be dramatic, just being real. I'm not great at expressing my thoughts in writing (or speaking, for that matter), and I really don't want to. I don't even know exactly what is going on with me anyway. No need to be concerned. Just sharing.

I'll see a lot of you next week. That will be fun!