our trip to the northeast: part one

Sorry for being so absent from our blog lately, we've had some difficulty with our internet access. Alan, Eloise and I recently went up to Philly for Alan's best friend's wedding, visiting grandparents and then on to NJ, NYC and NH. We had such a wonderful time and eloise was quite the trooper! We stayed in West Chester, PA with the greatest family, the Wisneskis. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them or their enormous dog. Of course, Eloise was in love with the dog. Thanks so much for having us, Jerry and Judy!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kyle and Rachel Brown!!! Luckily the fellas only pulled up there pant legs once the ceremony was over.

Eloise came to the reception and danced the night away. She was completely exhausted during dinner, but once the music started we couldn't pull her away from the dance floor! She also became an independent little walker right there as well. I guess anything is possible if you have enough people watching and cheering you on.

She pretty much just alternated between two dance moves...one bouncing up and down and then an occasional upper body twisting action.

We arrived in town a day early so that we could spend some time with Alan's maternal grandparents. Eloise had fun meeting her great Pop Pop and especially liked crawling around the front porch of his big farm house.

Pop Pop lives in Lancaster Co. where we drove past many many beautiful Amish farms.

The next morning we headed to Reading, Pa. To see Grammy and her new apartment. Eloise made out quite well, as Grammy took us out to lunch and the restaurant owner gave eloise a stuffed dog. Jackpot! She barked all the way home.

It was such a treat to get to see both of them!

mountain climber

Eloise is a huge fan of this new daily activity....logan doesn't seem to mind at all, so happy climbing little one.

she goes back and forth about 15 times before getting bored and moving on to something new

a trip to the pumpkin farm

First of all, sorry for being so absent on the blog recently...we've been busy with the move. Eloise started standing for extended periods of time last weekend when we went to visit a pumpkin farm with my sister-in-law, dawn, and eloise's cousins. Eloise was so impressed and proud of herself that she tried to make eye contact with everyone and anyone walking by and lead them in a round of applause for her new accomplishment. It was adorable. She's starting to take a few steps now and I promise to catch it on video and post it soon.

We all had a great time with face painting, a hayride, picking pumpkins, climbing in the tree fort, visiting the baby farm animals and a picnic.

thanks for the stroller!

Eloise absolutely loves her new stroller. She getting pretty good at cruising around the house. Thanks GraMoM and Grampa! (thanks also to Kathy and David for the adorable dog that's in the stroller!)

arf arf

here a pres, there a pres, everywhere a president

Jimmy Carter and his wife live in Plains, Ga....a quick 3 hour drive from Atlanta on a Sunday morning. We heard that he still teaches Sunday School at his local Baptist church and decided to head down there for a visit. It's hard to begin to explain what a dynamic teacher he is! He was incredibly sharp, knowledgeable and made the Old Testament come alive. It was certainly a worshipful experience. (too bad eloise had to sit this photo op out).

not to worry, I didn't actually snap a shot of him while he was teaching...we were allowed to take pictures during the introduction time only.

kitchen helper

As I was cleaning up after dinner, Eloise busied herself by unloading the drawer full of clean kitchen linens.

and then restocked it after sufficient 'fluffing' of each item

my oh my, aren't we proud of ourselves???