Heeee is the champion, my friend.

This past Saturday, Ellie and I got to watch Adam race in a
5k up at his Marymount University Campus.

It wasn't a huge race, but as you can see, everyone had a lot
of fun. It helps that most of them are the grad students who
all know each other from their programs and classes.

Adam took a good lead right from the start... which is good,
but sad because he had to run the whole thing alone.

Ellie had fun playing while we waited at the finish line.

Coming in for the finish... did it in 18:50. A very good run,
especially considering he was all hopped up on cold medicine.

He took first place overall and got a cool Marymount
Saints mug that even says "Male Champion" on it, plus a
$50 gift cert to Dick's Sporting Goods (which was quickly
used to expand our dumbell options for P90X, of course!). It
was a fun day. Every time someone from the physical therapy
program would get a prize, you could hear the rest cheer,
"yeah, go PT!" Adam made them proud (and me too)!

The Temple.... and Indulgences

We were able to go through the Temple with Jacob for
the first time as he prepares to leave for his mission to
El Salvador. It was beautiful, and we loved experiencing
that with him. Adam couldn't get off of work, but has
since gone and done another session with Jake.

Some good friends from the ward were also there, and
we had a great day. Ellie even did wonderfully with her first
non-relative baby-sitter while we were gone!

I've been taking requests from Jake for foods he wants to
enjoy before he heads back to third-world-eatism. He saw
a recipe for this Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, so I made it
for him.... and IT. WAS. DEADLY.

We also got some chocolates from someone at church as a
thanks for substitute teaching their class. I tried to let Ellie
take a bite of mine, but she kept leaning forward, forcing
me to let her eat the entire thing at once! She had cute chubby
cheeks and a chocolate face... poor girl is going to grow up
with a major sweet tooth.

Some Final Cousin Pics

We took a lot of pictures while Ellie had cousins visiting,
so here is my attempt at finishing them off. We loved having
them and can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

Ellie's first experience with Rice Krispy Treats... they were
a success.... and super warm and delicious, if you ask me.

A trip to the zoo. Heather and I were planning to just brave
it on our own with the kids, metro and all... but much to our
relief, the boys were able to come along in the end. They
were a huge help, and we had lots of fun.

Grandma decided the kids all needed awesome sunglasses.
Que cool, no?

Lots of craziness.

All the action wore Ellie out sometimes. One night, she
just went limp in my arms like this and stayed there for
a few minutes... not very Ellie-like, but cute.

I forgot....

How could I have forgotten the super cute
group-shot of the cousins. We were sad that
Jensen wasn't there, but here you see
Max, Ezra, Ellie, Isabella, and William. ADORABLE!

"I'm One"

We're still having a blast with cousins in town. Ellie has
been having fun, and learning about jealousy as well.
She had her check-up this week.... 30 inches tall
and 23.5 lbs. I didn't get a chart from them, but
I think that's just over the 75th percentile for both.
But she was healthy and got lots of shots, but did
survive it. She's also been taking lots more steps and
getting braver with walking on her own. We love it!

We've tried to teach her to say "I'm One", but for now,
she just does the sign for it when we ask. Cute either way.

I made her pb&honey for her birthday lunch... her favorite.

Ellie LOVES to be outside getting dirty, so we decided to
make her a dirt and worms cake, with matching cupcakes
for her cousins. They were cute... and yummy! Ellie dug in
pretty well, but turned to me and said "all done" before
she got very far into it.

Her birthday dinner was "Bodacious Beans", a famous recipe
from Grandma Garner, which Ellie always loves.

Ellie says thanks for all of the wonderful presents she got.
Great books, cute clothes, fun toys, her own chair, and her
own set of barbells so that she can do P90X too (she's very
good at it). She cashed in quite well. Thanks everyone!

Meeting her newest cousin, little William. She's excited, but
he looks a little scared... smart guy. He was adorable, and
we loved holding him.

Ring Around the Rosie.... Ellie makes us do it all the time now!

William actually fell asleep like this on Grandpa.

Grandpa is always popular.

Yet again... makes for a fun, but crowded, kitchen.

Trampoline fun!

More to come.....

Okay, so Ellie has been lucky enough to have cousins in town
for her birthday weekend.... but for me, this means an incredible
abundance of photos that are hard to pick and choose. So... this is
the first in a series of posts that I hope to accomplish in the
next day or so. No birthday party shots in this one, but I'll
get them up soon... I promise!

Grandpa took two days off of work this week, and the grandkids
could not have been more pleased. They had a blast with him
at the lake two days in a row!

Adorable cousin Isabella.

Ellie being a goofball... She LOVES the water. We had
trouble keeping her from crawling off into the deep over
and over again. Her sideways-head-smile is something she
does a lot when she's excited or pretending to be shy.

Tough man-cousin, Ezra!

We had a picnic lunch for a break. Ellie ate an entire full-size
peanut butter and honey sandwich... she was in heaven.

Cousin Max showed off his skills on the monkey bars.

Ellie was able to hang by herself for a few seconds.
She was very pleased with herself. She loves pull ups.

More Grandpa time. Ellie has had a little trouble sharing
him with her cousins this weekend... but she's getting better.

Nice and Filthy, the way she loves it.

Swinging around.

Ellie decided to help Grandma take care of Ezra. She would pet
his head and try to copy Grandma, saying "niiiiiiice". Very cute.

A collection of pictures of the two girl cousins. Izzy was sooo
nice to Ellie, which made Ellie very content to just follow her
sweet cousin everywhere and try to be just like her.

Sickness and Bouncing

I can hardly even believe that Ellie is approaching her very first
birthday, but so she is. We've had a little bit of a rough couple
of weeks, as she has been sick, and, therefore, extra cranky and
irrational. She ran fevers for a few days last week, then it all just
turned into a runny nose, then an added cough, then some wheezy
breathing. So, I took her to the Doc today, who said that she
appears to have allergies. So we got our Zyrtec prescription
and she was feeling better already tonight. YAY!

And for those who have the time and interest, we have a
couple of cute videos posted on youtube.
Ellie was cracking up the other night at
Grandpa Garner's sneezing : CLICK HERE
Then there is one of Ellie showing off some of
the phrases she likes to say : CLICK HERE

We tried lots of things to keep her happy during our rough week.
Ellie always loves to be outside. Here she is smiling through the
phlegm on a trip to the park with me and Tucker.

So happy together... they had fun playing fetch.

Our big ol' pup, Major Tucker

I think this look describes a lot of last week.

Another attempt to keep her happy. How about
a cowboy cookie for each hand???

SUCCESS!!!

The Watchdogs.

Showing off the cute little funny curls her hair
always does in the back.

She did enjoy some spaghetti while she was sick. It seems
the Italian blood in her needed that comfort food.

We had a couple of good projects this Labor Day weekend.
One was the shed you see in the corner, the other is the
gigantimous trampoline that Adam was enjoying.

Ellie had a lot of fun playing around on the new, giant toy.
She got nervous a couple of times, but we can tell she's
already growing to love it as she always wants us to take
her to the backyard and play.

She liked bouncing on my lap.

Adam said this was the face she was making
as I would bounce up and down with her.

She thought it was pretty cool.

Learning to jump with Daddy.