Aunt Spooky comes for a visit! AKA....Alyssa! :o)

Alyssa is a girl from our youth group in Illinois who has become a good friend of mine! She usually comes down at least once a year for a visit. This time she came down at the end of my maternity leave and stayed for two weeks to help me with my transition back to work. It was so helpful to have her there so I could rest up while she watched Ella for me! Thank you so much Alyssa for coming! She made the 16 hour drive all by herself!

Alyssa got really good at putting Ella to sleep!

Swimming time!!!

Alyssa and Ella at the pool.

I love this picure! I walked in the bedroom to see what Jeff and Ella were up to and found them asleep together on the bed! :o)

Jeff's first Father's Day! Opening his present from Ella!

Ella just LOVES her daddy!!!

A picture of Alyssa putting Ella to sleep.

This is my favorite picture of the two of us!

Chester has always loved Alyssa! We still get him to come in from outside by saying her name! It probably has something to do with the fact that he has known her since he was a puppy! :o)

Carrie, Alyssa, and I at the pool. Alyssa stayed with Carrie on the nights that I had to work, and then would come back over in the morning and watch Ella so I could sleep while Jeff was at work! It worked out so nicely! Why did you have to go home again???

Just a picture of Ella being adorable!

She doesn't care that we think her hooded towel is adorable! She just wants to get dressed!

So, Jeff and I were trying to be frugal on my maternity leave since our income was significantly less, so Alyssa and I had this novel idea that we would try to groom the dogs ourselves! We actually didn't do too bad of a job, and it gave us time to wait to get them groomed until I had gotten a few regular paychecks again. Don't worry, we bleached the counter tops when we were done! :o)

Ella Hangin' out at Dickey's BBQ

Carrie and Alyssa at Dickey's. Something must've been really funny! Can't remember now.

Alyssa and I found Ella her first pair of sunglasses since we were going to the pool so much. They were a little big on her, but still so cute!

Alyssa bought me a new wallet. She was giving me a hard time because I have had the same wallet since she met me, and let's just say....it was WAY outdated. So she got me this super cute one! and of course, it's GREEN!!! :0)

Just hanging out!

Ju

So, Alyssa and I tend to act pretty silly when we get together....so you'll have to excuse the next few pictures. We used to go to the store and buy a cake and just sit with two forks and eat off of it...great, I know. Anyways, so we decided to get a cake a few times when she was down here(great for the weight loss plan), and we decided to have stupid things written on them. I guess you had to be there, but that at least somewhat explains the next couple of pictures!

Oh dear....there are no words for this picture!

Just being goofy!!

Ella taking a nap at the pool while mommy and Alyssa get some sun!

Swimmy time!!!!!

Sandy flew down to make the long drive back to Illinois with Alyssa. Sandy is a lady from our former church as well. It was great to get to see her again!!

Out to eat at Babe's Chicken! YUMMY!!

Jeff and I at Babe's

All three of us have matching Camry's, so we thought we would be cool and take a picture with them! LOL Arent' we just so cool?? :o) haha

Thank you so much Alyssa for coming all the way down here to help out for a few weeks! You were a big help, and of course as always......we had a TON of fun!!!

Here are a few more pictures from Father's Day that I uploaded in the wrong order. This is Jeff getting Ella ready for church that morning!

Alyssa with Ella on Father's Day! Thanks again for getting Ella this cute dress!!!

The three of us on Father's Day. Once again, just like our Mother's Day picture, Ella looks Thrilled!!!

Out to eat on Father's Day! WE LOVE YOU DADDY!!!!! I couldn't ask for a better husband and daddy than I have in Jeff!!! He is amazing and such a gift from God!!!

Ella's first trip to Wisconsin

Ella went on her first big road trip when she was only two months old. Jeff and I decided it was important to take Ella up to Wisconsin to meet her great grandparents. Some of them are getting up there in age, and we knew they couldn't travel to see her, so I took the opportunity on my maternity leave to take her to them. I am so thankful I did too, because two days after we came home, one of Jeff's grandfathers was diagnosed with a very progressed lung cancer! So thankful we were able to get up there in time for Ella to meet him and have pictures made with him. So, on our way up to Jeff's parents, we made several stops to see people. We made our first stop in Kansas City and stayed with my good friends Eric and Christina Stanley. I hadn't see them in a few years, so it was nice to be able to catch up a little bit. Christina had a fun time feeding Ella her bottle and giving her a bath!

I don't know how excited she was to feed Ella....I kindof just handed Ella to her!!! :o)

I used to live with the Harrisons, and I loved to spend time with Christina and Cara! I love these girls! Miss them so much and wish I could see them more often.

The happy couple holding Ella!

Our next stop was in Geneseo, Il. We were only there one day, so in order to see everyone, we decided to all get together at a pizza place so that everyone that wanted to could come and meet Ella! It was a lot of fun!

My good friend from nursing school Missy came by to see us for a little while. It was so good to see her!

We spent some time at Chris's house before meeting everyone else. Missy and Dan and JoAnne Rocha came over to have some one on one time with Ella!

Poppa Rocha got Ella to sleep! :o) So sweet!!!!

Some of the church group that got together so we could see everyone! It was really hard to be able to talk to everyone, but it was great to be able to see everyone and for everyone to get to meet Ella!

Sandy did a really good job calming Ella down. She was pretty upset after being passed around for a few hours.

After spening one day in Geneseo, Alyssa drove us to Rockford where my sister picked us up and took us to Madison to spend a day with my family. It was a short but sweet visit! Here is a picture of Aunt Krissy meeting Ella for the first time!

My Grandma Lowery was also able to come over for the day! She just ate Ella up! She loves babies, and I am so thankful she was able to meet Ella at such a young age! What a special moment!!!

Uncle Danny holding Ella for the first time! Look out Ella...he looks innocent, but this one is a teaser!!! :o) Love you Danny Boy!

Meeting my nephew Micah Abi for the first time! What a sweet sweet boy!! I almost snuck him into my suitcase! Danny and Krissy were able to pick him up from Ethiopia around the same time that Ella was born! It was very special for Danny and I to get to meet each other's baby's at the same time! So happy this worked out!

What a sweet kissable little boy!!!
Man, he makes me look pasty white! :o)

Bath time with Uncle Danny and Aunt Krissy!!!!

So Sweet! Krissy is so good with babies!

Hanging out with my other nephew Caleb on the floor. He is in such an active stage right now, that I had to jump down there with him to try to get a picture with him! He is another sweetie!!!

Danny and Caleb being silly! I think Danny thought it was funnier than Caleb did!

Sweet cousin Brittany crashed on the couch with Ella!

Krissy told me that when they first got Micah, he didn't want her to feed him his bottle. He was so used to having to hold it himself, that he wouldn't let her. But she kept trying, and now he LOVES to be fed his bottle!!! So sweet! It's such great bonding time with him and his mommy!!!!

He even let me feed him some of his bottle too!

Great Grandma Lowery with her two newest great grandchildren! She was eating it up!

LOVE my Grandmother! She is such a neat lady! I have so many wonderful childhood memories with her!

Krissy spent a lot of time bouning Ella and calming her down. Poor baby...she was a little out of sorts from being on the road for the last three days and having a million new people holding her. Krissy had the touch for sure!!!

So glad we got to meet each other's little ones!!!!! Even if it was only for a short amount of time!

Grandma Lowery with us kids(minus Dawn). WE MISSED YOU DAWNIE!!! So glad we were able to spend some time with grandma!

Jeff's parents drove down later that day to pick us up and take us on the final leg of our journey! They got to meet Micah too!

We arrived in Barron late Saturday night. We had decided not to tell any of Jeff's grandparents that we were coming, but thought we would surprise them! This was a picture of Great Grandma French meeting Ella for the first time on Sunday morning. She was so surprised when I walked in with Jeff's parents on Sunday morning! It was a great surprise!!!

Grandma French was convinced my whole pregnancy that we were having a girl! She wanted a little girl in the family again. Ella is the first girl to be born on the French side in over thirty years. So you tell me how spoiled she is going be?? :o)

Great Grandpa French holding Ella for the first time!

Very special moment for the great grandparents!

Three generations! Jeff's mom with her mom!

Granny just loved Ella!!!

We got to spend a whole week at Jeff's parents, so Ella had a lot of stories read to her! It was such a great time, we just wish Daddy could've come too!

It ended up being unseasonable cold in Wisconsin for that time of year! Good thing Grandma had picked Ella up some warmer clothes. All I had was her cute little summer outfits.

Jeff's Aunt and Uncle got to meet Ella too while we were up there!

More story time with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandpa French is a GREAT storyteller!

Bath time at Grandma's house!!!

Great Grandpa andGrandma Hutch stopped by to meet Ella!

Jeff's mom with her dad! A very special moment!

Four generations. ( I had to take Jeff's spot)

Ella and Grandpa catching a nap together on Grandpa's lunch break from work! I love this picture!!!!

More snuggle time with great grandma French!

So Sweet!!!!!!

A huge highlight of my trip was that I got to see my dear friend Laura for a few hours.!!!! It was special to me that she got to meet Ella as a baby!!!!

LOVE YOU LAURA!!!!

Tuckered out on the way to the airport! Ready to go back home and see my daddy!!!!

I am so thankful we were able to make this trip! It was a very special time for Ella to get to meet so many people that are so important to Jeff and I! Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible!!! There were so many people involved in our transportation! It will be a week to be treasured forever!