Waggoner Family Photos 2009

I apologize for the lack of posting frequency! June has been an incredibly busy month, to put it lightly. To make up for this, I'm going to post a bunch of photos (since I know that's what folks like more anyway)! Here are some pics from our recent family get together. I'm sorry that Rebecca is not featured! She wasn't going to be able to come, then made arrangements to come later -- but missed this little photo session. Enjoy!

Rachel and Stephen (their five children are below)

Elisha -- 6 months

Micah - Age 5

Leah -- almost 4!

Caleb -- 8 and 1/2!

Josh -- 7 and 1/2

Ellie and her Waggoner cousins (above)

Ellie's new catch phrase

This morning on her way out the door to see the 'wild animals' at the libary she said to me, "You like animals, don'tcha?"

["Don'tcha" is her phrase of the week -- where does she think we live? Minnesota?]

Introducing "Marty" and "Crush"

Here you can see her index finger about ready to go "pow" and send Marty flying...

Thank you to all who sent Ellie cards, gifts, Facebook messages, and posts with birthday wishes. It really was sweet to receive those! She had a good birthday, I think. On the actual day of, we went to the library for a free showing of the movie "Bedtime Stories." Ellie did pretty well staying engaged with the film.

As you can probably surmise from the photos on this post, Ellie spent her birthday money on some new pets. She completely asked for this on her own and we don't know where the idea came from, but one day this week Ellie told Nathan, "Daddy, I want a crab please." Nathan said that apparently the letters s-u-c-k-e-r were emblazoned on his forehead because he came home with two. (According to experts, they live longer with a companion). Ours will be miracles if they survive this month, companion or not.

Ellie is truly enamored with these guys, and I have to say, one of them is growing on me too. In case you're wondering, "Marty" is the zebra-striped crab named so originally after "Marty" in M*dagascar. "Crush" is named after the turtle in Finding Nem*. Marty is much more social and will quickly come out of his shell in my hand. He loves to scurry around the floor -- frequently disappearing under a piece of furniture. Other than that, they are thankfully easy to care for and seem to survive falls when dropped by a startled child.

If you want to read a sweet post about the difference a family makes to an orphan child, hop on over to our friends' blog, the Kinnells. The last photo was taken by yours truly. We love these girls and they are fast becoming some of Ellie's best friends, which is also neat to witness. How else but by God would a little girl from Albania become friends with twin orphans from Ethiopia?

Click here to skip over to my photo blog and see some others that I shot from the same session.

Ellie's Birthday Party!

Ellie's birthday is still a couple days away, but this morning was playgroup so we thought we'd just celebrate a little early!

Ellie wanted "lotsa balloons tied on [like] a tail"

Nathan did a magic show for the playgroup kids and their parents this morning...

Chloe is still trying to figure out how she got her finger in that hole without getting it chopped.

the look that every 'magician' wants to see... utter amazement

she wouldn't hold up four fingers for anything!

Ellie's got her own sleeping bag now!

I had to include this... check out all the stamps it takes to get a box from Green Valley to Wilmore...

Girl Bonding

I'm not much of a fingernails girl (blame it on my practical upbringing and lack of good DNA in the nails department-- sorry, Mom), but I do have some polish for my toes. I can't remember how it got dug out the other night, but Ellie got her first dose of this way of 'pretty-izing.' She LOVED it. She still looks at her fingers admiringly, days later. Unlike me, she has lovely fingernails and I know this will be far from the last time this happens.

(By the way, her shirt reads, "Wild By Nature; the Columbus Zoo." (Thanks, Nonna and PaPa!)

Ellie, 3 and 11/12

Camping Photos

C'mon, let's get this party started!

This is why Ellie's stint in gymnastics was short-lived. All she wanted to do was fall and roll around on the cushions.