Exploring My World

Ella rolls all over the living room. She has one direction that she really prefers to roll over the other. It's pretty comical; she'll roll until she hits an obstacle like the couch or the wall then we'll move her back to the other side of the room to start all over again. I found her the other day inspecting the underside of her swing. She seems a bit old to have the thing still around but it's great to have when she's in a grouchy or sleepy mood and just wants to kick back in a baby daze.

Visit with my cousins

Alyssa, Natalee and Ella

Ella got to visit with her cousins Alyssa and Natalee recently. She is really fascinated with other kids. It's so cute to see her with other babies or kids, she just stares and watches everything they do....taking notes for later I think.

Grandma Teah, Grandpa Scott, Alyssa, Natalee and Ella

Davis Graveyard

There is a house in Portland that we heard about on the radio that decorates their yard and house like a graveyard each year for Halloween. They have crazy good decorations. We went to see it on Halloween during the day, but apparently it's a whole new level of decked out in decor, fog, lights, scary sounds and haunting at night. It apparently changes & has new decorations each year so we'll have to hit it again next year. It's so fun to find the cool local festivities going on now that we're back in town. Starting our own traditions has been really nice!

Giant Pumpkin Regatta

The city of Tualatin had its 6th annual giant pumpkin regatta on Halloween. We went with my Dad & Teah to watch, and it was hilarious! They take giant pumpkins, carve out the insides, get inside of them and race around a pond. There were about 10 bobbing pumpkins in the race we watched. One guy capsized and that was then end of his pumpkin's racing days! There was a whole little Halloween carnival going on, lots of cute kids and dogs dressed up, fun times!

Preparations at the starting line!

Ella was asleep but I REALLY wanted to put her inside one of these!
Common sense caught up with me. Maybe next year.

Paddling their arms off, the race is on!

Scuba Steve is that you?!

Almost to the finish line!

Grandpa & Grandma with Ella

Our Little Bumble Bee

Ella was a bumble bee for Halloween. We had a very fun filled Halloween and Birthday. We'll post other pics from the day later this week, but we thought costume pics were a must.
We ended the day with a "kiddy costume party" of sorts at my step-brother Jim & Karina's house. Our niece's Abby and Emily are 1yr and 2yrs old so it was fun to see them get all cute and dressed up too. They were UW and U of O cheerleaders (Emily was the UW cheerleader but we taught her to say "trick or treat, GO DUCKS"...she did it like a champ and was adorable!) Ella went trick-or-treating with the kiddy crew although her candy basket was pretty empty at the end of the night, guess that means no candy for her! :) We had a fun time and our little bumble bee was a real trooper, itchy hot costume and all!

That stinger's not so scary

She's got the wing action down, she looks like she wants to take off!

Emily, Abby and Ella all dressed up!

Trick-or-treating with Grandma Sandy and Abby

Giggles

Ella sure loves when her daddy "attacks"....those giggles just make us laugh out-loud along with her! (Gotta love the Wiggles music in the background!) :)

Playtime

She's at it again, Ella's up to her old playtime antics...coos, smiles, chewing and drool abound. This is the good life if you're a wee-one.