Belle

Ok we were so crazy when we got back from California that I don't think I posted my cute Belle and Ella Disneyland story. At the Princess Fantasy Faire inside Disneyland, we waited in line an hour to see Mulan, Jasmine, and Belle. I have never been in a line that moved soo slow. I wasn't sure how Ella was going to react since she is usually pretty shy when it comes to meeting new people.

When it was finally our turn Ella just ran to Belle and gave her the biggest hug. She wouldn't let go. Belle was so nice. She just let her hug her forever. She told Ella to put her autograph book down so she could give her a bigger hug. Then she sat Ella on her lap and told her they could be best friends. I've never seen Ella so confortable with someone who wasn't family. Ella didn't even look at us. It was just her and Belle. I finally looked over at mom and we both had tears in our eyes because it was just so presious.

The line was long, but Ella got to spend as much time with Belle as she wanted. Belle signed Ella's book, and we finally moved on to see Jasmine, but Ella could have stayed there forever. It was definitly worth the wait.

Now that we've been home for a while Ella still tells me and other people she meets that Belle is her best friend. Just that moment was worth the whole trip.

Princess Panties

Yeah Ella is officially Potty Trained. She was totally sporting the Princess Panties today and thought she needed to show them to our friends because she was so proud. Tomorrow's lesson: Why we don't show off our Snow White underwear in Public.

And for those of you wondering how she finally did it I will reveal our secret weapon:
GRANDMA

Now normally Grandma is a giant pushover, but Grandma thought Ella should have been potty trained at 15 months like it was done back in the 1980s. We all went to California together a few weeks ago and Grandma was not putting up with Ella refusing to sit on the potty when she has shown that she was quite capable of doing it. Anyways I'll spare you all the bathroom details. I'm going to go celebrate.

Romance

When Dave and I were dating I thought it was so romantic that he could Ballroom dance.
After we got married I thought it was so romantic to go out to a nice dinner.
After 7 years, a kid, and a house I think it's so romantic when Dave fixes something around the house within minutes of it realizing it's broken.

Water Polo Rocks!

OK maybe it doesn't rock, but somehow I found myself watching the game this morning during Olympic coverage. I'm not a big sports fan, although I do love gymnastics, but I find myself watching anything and everything during the Olympics. Normally I would not watch most of these sports if they were on TV, but if it's the Olympics I'm glued to the set. Water Polo all of a sudden becomes fascinating. I would watch women's gymnastics and Micheal Phelps swimming any day of the year, but most of the other sports I would quickly flip past on the remote if it wasn't an Olympic game. Does anyone else get crazy like this during the Olympics? I just love it. Good thing it only happens every 2 years (I'm just as crazy during the winter Olympics) or I wouldn't ever get any sleep or anything done.

Disneyland - Alice in Wonderland Tea Cups

One of Ella's favorite movies is Alice in Wonderland so I thought she would be excited when she saw the Tea Cup ride at Disneyland.

She was excited when we got to the ride but not for the actual ride. The control booth for the ride is inside a building shaped to resemble the White Rabbit's house. Ella was soo excited to see the house. I'm sure she thought that this is where he lived. We got in line and she started screaming, "The White Rabbit's House!!! The White Rabbit's House!!!" It was hysterical until she started trying to climb into the house. I felt a little bad since she thought we were there to see the White Rabbit not to ride a ride. We finally told her he wasn't home. She was happy with taking a picture of the house though.

Once she got on the ride she had fun spinning and continued to shout, "Faster, Faster" until her face turned white and then she wanted to be done. I think her Uncle spun it a little too fast. :-)

A few days after we returned home from the trip I looked over at Ella while she was playing and she had her little people inside her tea cups and was pulling and spinning them around. I guess she liked the ride so much she thought her little people might enjoy it too.

I loved Breaking Dawn

I finished Breaking Dawn last night and just wanted to say that I loved it. I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't finished it yet so I won't say much about it. I'm glad I really didn't have any expectations about how I thought things should turn out. I think it's better just to see where the story takes you. I'm grateful that Stephenie Meyer has shared these characters with us. I feel like I know them all personally. It's sad that the series from Bella's point of view is over, but I'm glad it was a fun ride. I hope she does more books from Forks in the future. I love the world she has created there and would like to stay a little while longer if possible.

Disneyland

My mom, Ella, and I went to visit my brother and sister in law in LA. We went to Disneyland and the beach. Here's a slideshow of some of my favorite Disney pictures. When I have more time, I'll do some individual posts about some of my best memories. Until then enjoy the slideshow.

A Very Merry Birthday

We celebrated Ella's 3rd birthday this weekend. Grandma Pam had recently bought her an Alice dress so she wanted to have an Alice in Wonderland Birthday Party.

My friend Candace gave Ella an Alice doll. Ella just loved her and carried her around all day.

Ella wanted a cake just like the one the Mad Hatter gives to Alice at the tea party. My friend Katie made it. I was afraid it was going to fall, but it held up all day. It so cute that I didn't want to cut it and serve it, but I'm glad I did because it was delicious.

My aunt, Denise, and my uncle, Scott, decided it would be fun to dress up for the party. Somehow they made dressing up sound like so much fun that most everyone else came in costume too. Ella got so excited every time someone new showed up.
My aunt, Chery and my mom made the mistake of calling and asking Ella what they should wear. Ella told them exactly what to wear to the party. I think they thought she would ask them to be a character from Alice in Wonderland, but instead she wanted them to wear what they had worn to my cousin's wedding a few weeks ago. She remembered and described to them exactly what they had worn.

Costumes: mom in wedding outfit, Alice in Wonderland, March Hare, my aunt in her mother of the bride dress, Queen of Hearts, Tea Party Mouse, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, The Ace, the Evil Queen from Snow White, Twiddle Dee, The Red Rose, The White Rabbit, The Deuce, and Twiddle Dum.

She loved singing Happy Birthday and Blowing out the Candle.

Our family friend also came dressed as the Evil Queen from Snow White and gave Ella a Snow White costume. At the end of the night Ella was playing with her, but when she first arrived Ella wouldn't go near her because she had brought a "poison" apple. When we tried to give Ella the present she had brought Ella say, "um the Evil Queen brought that one." and them pushed it aside and opened a different present instead. It was too funny. She loves the Evil Queen and even has her on her wall, but the poision apple was too much.

OK so I think everything Ella says is funny

Ella has the most beautiful long hair. You just can't help but play with it. This morning Dave was playing with her hair while we were all talking.

Ella: Daddy don't touch my hair.
Dave: I'm sorry. I was just playing with it.
Ella: It's not a toy.

The Gospel According to Ella

So a few months ago I started reading the scriptures to Ella before bedtime. I usually just read a few verses. Sometimes I explain them, but most of the time I just read. I wasn't even sure if she was paying attention to anything I was saying, but I figured at least we would get in the habit of reading them together.

Well Ella has now decided that after I read to her then she reads to me from her "scriptures". Her "scriptures" are a very small wallet size photo album with about 3 pictures of our family in it. She opened it up the other night and started "reading". This is how it went. (oh and FYI: Ella really likes the Wizard of Oz)

Ella: "Nephi wanted to eat the fruit off the tree. It was yummy fruit. Laman and Lemuel were not nice. They did not hold on to the railing. They went to the big building. And then the witch came out ...."

This morning we watched Peter Pan. Tonight at bedtime she read her "scriptures" to me again. This is how it went.

Ella: "And it came to pass that I Nephi had to grow up." Laman and Lemuel told me I had to grow up. That was not nice."

So that's the gospel according to Ella. For those of you reading this who are not LDS, there is no Wicked Witch in the Book of Mormon. :-) The "real" story of Nephi, Laman, and Lemuel can be found here.

I must say I can't wait to hear what tomorrow's story will be about. Maybe Nephi will run into a mermaid or the Queen of Hearts.