4th of July Travels

So, we decided to take a vacation this week. We departed yesterday, July 4th, drove to Rochester, MN and stayed with our friends: Pam and Dan Halvorsen. It was a lovely stay. After some snacks, Elias decided he should make the best of his time out of the carseat and decided to attempt running! He did a really great job. For about a half an hour he would walk from person to person and chair to couch and back again. It was really fun to see! He only stopped because I was a bad catch once and he bonked his mouth. Today, in the car, he was getting frustrated when we were stuck in traffic so I started reading him one of his favorite books - Baby Animals. I got to the page with the "fat and funny" puppies and he said "Bow bow!". Very exciting! He also knows that cats "Mow" and cows "Moo". Having lots of fun on this vacation - hope it continues. Tomorrow we are going to attempt downtown Chicago.

See? I am bad at this!

Seriously, I am terrible at remembering to blog. So let's catch everyone up. Elias is almost 11 months old and has started to walk. He is very timid about it but just last night he took 3 steps from the safety of holding onto a chair to getting to my legs. It was very exciting. The other day, he took 2 steps to get to his friend Charlotte. She did not, of course, enjoy being a support for him so he did fall down. But it's exciting that he is growing up! I am trying to enjoy all the little things but I can't wait until he starts actually walking!!! Woohoo!
His vocabulary is up to about 12 words which is really exciting. The most recent additions are "Baba (bottle)" and "Juice".
Tomorrow we are heading to family camp at Crystal Springs Bible Camp and then on Sunday, we start our really long excursion to Chicago. I really hope it will be fun!

Full vocab:
1. Mama
2. Dada
3. All Done
4. More
5. Please
6. Dog
7. Jack
8. No-No
9. Nana
10. Up
11. Baba
12. Juice

Spring Flowers

The tulips, greens and crocuses in my garden are blooming away! Spring is officially here, thank goodness. I took a few photos.

New Slideshow Element

I have decided to add a new element to my blog. There will now be a running slideshow of my latest favorite photos. I will then leave a little blog note about the new photos on display.

Currently, the slideshow is running images of Elias enjoying the new ducky tub that his friend Charlotte gave to him. He loves to hang out in it whenever possible. He likes in full of water like a tub, but he will also play in it while it's on dry land and he's fully clothed - doesn't really matter to him.

Spring Break Trip

On March 17th, my mom, Elias and I took a short drive to Rochester, MN (about 5 hours). I planned the whole trip out around his nap times so that it wouldn't be a miserable trip for us. However, a half an hour into the drive he woke up. I figured this was going to be a disaster but he turned out to be a really great traveler as long as you keep handing him different toys periodically and try to entertain him. I also have perfected the art of nursing a baby who is still strapped into a carseat, all while still traveling down the highway. We made it to Rochester in record timing and had a stayed with our friends: Pam, Dan and Jordan Halvorsen. It was a really relaxing and lovely time. The first day we were there was 65 degrees! We enjoyed walks and sitting outside on the stoop, watching the world pass by. On Friday, Ben drove to Rochester to meet us. Saturday morning, Elias, Ben and I drove up to the cities and stayed in a hotel in Eden Prairie. We visited the Mall of America and when we returned to the room, we all took a lovely nap. The rest of the day we spent hanging out in the hotel room, playing with some new toys Elias had gotten at them all and just enjoying stress free time with each other. For supper, Ben decided to get take out food from Olive Garden. So I put Eli to bed around 9 and when he was asleep, we crawled into the big bed and dined on lovely Italian food. It was actually really fun and romantic. Sunday we got in the car around 10:00 am and drove to Albertville to do some more shopping. Then a lazy drive home. It was really a great little vacation. Here are some photos from the trip.  

Pam, Elias and I at the park

Nana & Elias

Elias stole my English Muffin and made a mess in the hotel!

Out on a walk with Pam

A tree in the Park

Kisses in the sunshine

Pam tickling Elias

Cool ornament outside Pam's house

Aipperspach Family Photoshoot

This past weekend we visited Ben's family in Wishek, ND. While there, we decided to take some family photos. Here are the results.

Benjamin, Kayla, Lee, Andrew, Elias, Carla, Phillip and Rachel

The four generations of Aipperspach men, Benjamin, Elias, Lee and Grandpa Ben.

The four children, Benjamin (26), Phillip (18), Rachel (22) and Andrew (24).

All the Aipperspach men. Benjamin, Phillip, Lee, Andrew, Elias and Grandpa Ben.

Baby & Piano

This picture takes my breath away. I am new with the Photoshop program and basically stumble across some beautiful effects for the pictures I have. This is a picture of Elias playing with a keyboard. I really wanted to do something fun and precious with this photo and I think I have accomplished just that. It sort of takes my breath away.

I applied a lighting effect because it was really difficult to see his beautiful baby face. Then I added a Diffuse Glow Filter. Ah. I'm in Love.