Mandy Carroll Photography

Every year at this time we have pictures taken by Mandy Carroll. Mandy is a local photographer with an amazing eye and artistic flair. I find myself each year looking forward to the fall not only because it is a beautiful time, but also because we get to spend a couple hours with Mandy chasing Ella around and capturing all that spirit. After every session I think to myself there is no way we got a good picture. And every time I am delighted by the faces and feelings she has captured. Amazing! She posts a sneak peek on her blog so visit her page (http://www.mandycarroll.com/) and click on "blog" to see a couple pictures of Ella just in time for her Third (!!!) Birthday.

Back to Africa

This weekend we went up to DC for Scott, Jodi, Selma, and Kemper's going away party. And not just any party- a party filled with 168 friends! Scott and Jodi are packing up and expect to be in Africa in the next couple of weeks.


This is their second post (first to Nairobi) and they will be in Dakar, Senegal. Of all the times to forget my camera, this was the one so I don't have any pictures, but there were many friends, great food, and some sad goodbyes.

Ba-ROCK the vote!

We have been singing our own version of "Rock the Boat" today, "BaROCK the vote baby..." Ella is very good at it. Here she is sharing her voting choices today:

Ella's Voting Ballot

We had our own version of voting at our house. It took a couple times for Ella to get the idea, but it was funny if nothing else. This is her ballot. Most often she circled Elmo and Abby Cadabby.

Life from Michigan

I am constantly bugging my sister about sending me pictures. I try not to because I know she is extremely busy, but I can't help it- I want to see everything everyone is doing. I want the daily blow-by-blow that I bore everyone with here. And while it is a good portion because of Isabella and Grace, I also want to know about Polly and Mark and Mark's family.

There was a time when Polly had graduated and was working in NJ while Mark and I were finishing up school (of course Mark was finishing his Masters and I was, well, trying to make it to class periodically) at Michigan State. Mark took me to all his family get-togethers and I really felt a part of the family- I still do. What am I then, their sister-in-law twice removed? I hope so.

Where am I going with this? Well, thanks to Mark's Mom and Dave, I feel a little bit closer to them already with their new blog. I get to feel a part of their life, as if I'm sitting down to dinner with them and they are telling me about their day. Thank you so much! Dave- I remember when you took me on a tour of the Chrysler headquarters and took me to all the secret places to see the cool cars being built and smashed and prototyped. It was amazing! And Judy- you'll never know how much of a hand you have had in Ella- your advice sent to me through Polly. So even without the blog you are a part of my life but I am so grateful to read about Life From Michigan!

ps- click on this post title or here: http://www.judydave884.blogspot.com/

Soccer

Hmmmmmm.... there are no golf clubs in this picture. Amazing. Seriously though- Sunday afternoon Wes and Ella went out for a walk and after a while I heard Ella laughing. I looked outside and saw the two of them playing soccer. Ella was ecstatic! We played again today and she loves it.

Grampa's Visit

On Saturday Grandpa Bill came and he and Wes were able to get a round of golf in- the weather was beautiful. Ella and I picked out a cake and balloons for a "party". We've had a lot of birthdays lately and somewhere along the line family visiting has become a reason to get balloons and cake. Not a bad idea really so I went along with it.

Before dinner Ella put Grandpa to bed and then turned it around so he put her to bed and when she woke up, she instructed everyone to bring her coffee. I am the lucky recipient of coffee in bed every day (thank you Wes!) so it was easy to see where she got this idea from. I promise I don't instruct Wes to bring it to me, it's a matter of survival on his part since I'm so nasty in the morning. Anyway, this is just another reminder to watch what I say and do around her.

And lucky Ella had her bedtime stories read by Grandpa:

The next day we had breakfast out (Thank you Grandpa!) before Bill had to head back to DC. This picture is from Sunday and as gorgeous as the subjects are, aren't those trees amazing too!