Since you saw us last (on this blog) (back in April)...

We had a late snow that ensured we would not have any apples on our apple tree this Fall and no apricots on our apricot tree. And, for that matter, no lilacs or forsythia on their respective bushes. BUT, Ellis did have a great time jumping in the giant mud puddles left in our yard. So there's that.

Because of the late snow, I found myself unprepared for the warm weather that quickly followed. So instead of a sun hat, Maci was obliging enough to wear a plastic fireman's hat backwards all day to keep the sun off her sweet baby face.

Last summer, Maci lived in this swing. It seems the winter months erased those fond memories from her mind and she found herself in what she believed to be a life-threatening situation. (Since then, she has learned to, once again love her swing.)

Great Grandma Knipp paid a visit. Always nice to see her---The girls both warmed up to her quickly. Not sure how one couldn't.

Looking at this picture, I can see that Ellis has grown a lot over the summer. The dress she's barely able to pull-off as a dress in this next picture can no longer even come close to dress status.

 Maci loves to draw and color and paint. Herself, walls, furniture, the floor and occasionally paper.

 And she holds crayons/pens/pencils correctly. Just picked it up and somehow holds it correctly. So proud :)

We tripled the size of our garden this year. Ellis and I were snacking on radishes everyday for a few weeks, which was great. One of my prouder moments was when recently at dinner, Ellis said, "I like the beets better than the beet greens." For the record, she had eaten all of each, but found she preferred the beets over the beet greens.

 Here are a couple of fun shots from Lulu Stivers birthday party. Lulu, by the way had brain surgery a short time after this! She's doing great. She came to our house for Art Class and playing last week. Of course she fell down our stairs. The girl that is healing from recent brain surgery. Fell down our stairs. Call me if you want a lesson in how to feel utterly terrible and panicked. She was fine, by the way. But still.

 Ellis and her buddy, Jude.

 Some sugar snap peas from the garden:

 Dad shipped my old red wagon out to us when he officially moved to Florida. Sorry they're sideways.

And then he flew out and worked non-stop for a week building the girls this suhweet playhouse:

It might be more solid than our real house and it definitely has nicer windows. Ellis is peeking out the window in this shot:

Alright. I'm gonna load more photos onto the computer today and get another post up soon. The blog drought is over. I owe Maci much better blog-records of her early life than I've given her the last few months. I am staying up to date on our family album and her baby book, though.

April Pics for all the non-Facebook-users :)

Maci does this probably 95% of the time when she is picked up:

Bouncy House at our second annual visit to Arvada's Kite Festival:

 Kite Festival:

A rare moment during swimming lessons that Ellis isn't bouncing with joy:

Love the back of Maci's hair (look closely, the white glow is a mass of hair standing up):

M's first time in a pool---was terrified:

Kite Festival:

Just moments before, Maci had been doing this exact thing to Ellis.  We found she did not like it when Ellis did it to her:

Ellis " just makin' "

Easter