The "Play Place"

On Good Friday we visited the "Ah Ha!" center in Lancaster with Nonna and Aunt Rebecca. Ellie had a great time! Here are some favorite images from the morning...

"Planting" flowers with Aunt Rebecca

Grocery Shopping

The water table was by far her favorite activity

Fishing

The Carousel

We were walking through the primate exhibit when her ears first detected the faint strains of the carousel music. As soon as she saw it, Ellie started asking to 'ride the horses.' We were able to put her off until later, but the second time by, we agreed to let her take ride. I must say we were skeptical that when it came time to mount her steed, Ellie would panic and ask for one of us to hold her. Not so! I have to say I can't remember seeing her quite so happy. It was such a thrill to see her perpetual grin. The smiles below are not theatrics for the camera, they are the genuine, bona fide, real deal. I had to blink back tears and the silly the grin on my own face watching her.

At one point, she held out her arm and exclaimed, "Mary Poppins!"

Until yesterday, I don't know that she believed carousels really existed!

I know this is out of focus because they're moving, but just another precious photo of her joy!

All Ears

This post is dedicated to my parents, Bug, Dallas, Kelly, and all those others with whom I've walked countless miles detasseling seed corn fields. My father-in-law was very excited to bring us to the Field of Giant Corn Ears in Dublin, Ohio prior to our visit to the zoo. It was built to remember Sam Frantz, an inventor of hybrid corns.

The Columbus Zoo

We've had a great weekend up in Ohio at Nonna and PaPa's house. In anticipation of our trip to the Zoo, we asked Ellie a couple of times which animal she was most excited about seeing. Each time she confidently replied, "Pig."


Watching, flamingo style.

If we wouldn't have been in line, Ellie would have stayed longer to keep petting.

snack break

Ellie is currently fascinated with alligators (thanks to the movie, Peter Pan)
She will whisper, "Don't fall in the water! Alligator's coming. Scaaaarrrryyy!"

enthralled with the manatees and other underwater creatures

Thrilled to see the elephants (though no giraffes or zebras, to our chagrin)

pointing out the kangaroos

Series Trailer

A friend of ours (Arthur) works as a producer in the video department at Samaritan's Purse. In December he came to Asbury to test the pilot episode of this mini series on some of our Asbury students.

If you are fascinated with other cultures/overseas travel, inspirational stories, medical dramas, children, reality TV, etc., you will REALLY enjoy this mini series. I had to get a box of tissues so I could make it through the first episode with clear vision. I've been SO anxious for this to air so others can see this too! It's THAT good!

Link here to view the channels and dates in which it will be airing later this month. For those of you with Time Warner Cable in Jessamine County, it will be airing on the INSP network which is channel 61.

Playtime with Els

Tonight during Global Cafe` while Els and I hung out in the apartment I experimented with some new camera gear(she had a major case of crabby-ness right before it started so we didn't get to hang out and greet our guests or be a part of worship). Here's some of my favorite pics...SOOC. Jan and Kelly: ISO 1600, F 1.8, 1/200th

Happy Palm Sunday!

Spring break is almost over! Ellie returns to school on Tuesday and I think we will all be glad to see that yellow school bus come down College Street! We love our girl and she loves being with us, but she was wired to be social!

Ricky and Aidan Visit!

We LOVE having company and earlier this week it was a joy to visit with Ricky and Aidan, visiting from Wilmington, NC. These two traveled to Hungary with us not once, but TWICE because they have such hearts for Jesus and for people. You can understand in return why they are so loved! They really are some of the sweetest, most considerate folks I know (they somehow learned our birthdays and remember them every year! wow!) Aidan is a secret follower of this blog (hi there!) so I'm especially glad to put her picture up here for all to see.

I included the last picture because I just thought it was hilarious how when Ricky picked up Ellie for this picture, she couldn't stop making eyes at him. Maybe she sensed a common bond of blood that could be traced back to the shores of the Adriatic (Ricky's Italian). From the first photo you can see that Ellie has reached the stage where she's discovered her 'cheesy smile.' I must confess I now understand why parents find it annoying and not cute. It's like they suddenly forgot HOW to SMILE!