Cousins!!!

A couple of weeks ago Bryan and Heather and their chillins came over to Ephrata to go to Twin Lakes. We got some cousin play time before they took off. Emma Loves her cousins! Just look at her face looking at Max...pure joy!

Natalie being my little model.

Katrina joined in... So cute!

I love how Katrina and Natalie are both smiling and Emma is looking...well, like that.

Emma's guide to animal sounds...

We finally tried to get a video of Emma doing some of the many animal sounds she knows. Unfortunately we couldn't get her to stay put for all her sounds (like sheep and pig, although we did get tiger twice...), but this is pretty dang cute.

Emma yet again...

Just thought I would post a couple of cute pictures of what Emma's been up to...

This is Emma and her monkey. She puts the monkey on her head herself.

Emma riding the bus.

Emma posing for the camera.

Emma in her hat. Video of Emma being super cute...well, I think so anyway.

The Cats Go Bye Bye

The following clips are not for the faint of heart...

Roger and Nadine had four cats they wanted to get rid of, so Jay Bair brought over his handy-dandy cat trap today. Three of the cats are gone.

(I apologize for my voice in the background.)

This post is dedicated to all the unwanted felines...

The Elbow Dance!

So one night Dad pulls this hat out of the closet and gives it to Emma. She of course loves it and doesn't like to take it off. Now when she puts the hat on she does the "Elbow Dance" that Leisha taught her. It is pretty dang cute, even when Leisha does it... Anyway, here is a video that explains it better.

Catching Up

So you may or may not be wondering what has happened to us in the last couple weeks, anyway, I (Richard) will try to recap a few of our activities. The journey begins on Friday the 8th of May...

I was down in Ithaca taking a final for my last class of the semester, also the last class of my university career...hopefully... Anyway, I was walking to the classroom when I get a text from Leisha with a picture very similar to this one:

It turns out that Emma got into a fight with the wall in our apartment. Apparently she was walking into the kitchen and turned around to look at the TV and at Leisha, when she turned back around she had slightly veered off her course and smashed into the corner of the wall. She was left with quite the shiner, but quickly recovered as you can see in the following pictures.

We left New York on Saturday the 9th. As with last summer, all of my research is in Ephrata, so we packed up our clothes and headed home. We made it a quick trip this time because I needed to get home and plant some rootstocks. We spent the first night just south of Chicago, the we drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, then to Billings Montana, and then home. 4 days of driving, 10 hours each, not too bad if I say so myself. Emma was very good. She spent most of the time watching Wiggles and Little Einsteins while Leisha and I listened to audio books of Fablehaven. The trip was pretty uneventful, just a straight shot, so here are the only pictures we took. Just Emma in the car!

We are staying with my parents this summer. It is pretty convenient because I can just walk out the door and be at work. Emma is enjoying her new found freedom. She loves getting away with everything because grandma and grandpa can't say no! She learned where the Lucky Charms were and realized that the marshmallows taste pretty good. One night, while grandma and grandpa were gone, Emma snuck into the kitchen and grabbed the box of Lucky Charms. We found her in front of the TV picking the marshmallows out of her pile of cereal. It was funny to watch her scramble to get the marshmallows as we started to clean them up!

Well that is about it. We are loving being home and being so close to family. I have been busy, so I apologize to any family members I haven't seen yet. But hey, there are still a few months left in the summer!

Random Emma Activities

Emma has been getting into all sorts of trouble lately. If it seems dangerous, she wants to do it. She recently started going under the bed. This time she couldn't get out...

She also likes to climb on everything, especially the kitchen chairs. Here she is taunting us with silly faces.

Enjoy the video. Emma can say cheese and smile on cue.

We started packing for the trip home today. We bought some space bags and managed to fit all our clothes into 1 suit case! Now we will have a little more room for other things.

After Church Ice Cream and Some History

So today was a fun Sunday. Brother Beavers in our ward has an ice cream truck and brought it today for all the ward. He brought it last year for Mothers Day but he brought it early this year. Good thing for us since we'll be driving to Washington on Mothers Day.

So here it is, the Ice Cream Truck. He only does soft serve so it was quick. But oh so good after three hours of church.

It was fun watching all the ward members get in line for ice cream. Ice Cream brings everyone together!

Emma was having fun eating ice cream with Daddy.

Emma was sporting her cute Easter dress GraMimi got her so I brought the camera to take some pictures with her and the Whitmer Farm.

Hot Days and Lake Fun!

Yesterday was one hot day for us. It got up to 88 degrees! So we decided to go to the lake. So here are a couple of pictures of our day at the lake.

All Emma wanted to do was pick up rocks and throw them in the water. She had way too much fun!

I love how the finger lakes have lighthouses. I never would have thought about a lake having a lighthouse. But they do.

Congratulations Erik and Heather!

Welcome to the family William (Will) Brad Adams!

Born: April 21, 2009

7lbs 10 ounces. 20.25 inches.

Easter egg hunt!

I thought I would post some videos of Emma's Easter egg hunt on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully Leisha won't mind that she is talking in most of them! Warning: the videos may be long and boring for those who are not Emma fanatics like us...

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The accomplished egg hunter enjoys her spoils!

Happy Easter!

I thought I would post some pictures of Emma from this morning.

We got her a fun Easter basket, a bath toy, and a book. Richard put in some Gummie Savers which he ate later. After church and a nap we had a little egg hunt.

Emma will also be 18 months tomorrow! She is officially in Nursery at church!(I've been taking her for the 2nd hour for about 2 months now.) Emma is definitely a blessing, like all children are and we are grateful to our Heavenly Father for her.

Bubbles Part 2

How to blow bubbles:

1. Convince mom to give you the bubbles in the first place.

2. Take the stick out of the bubble mixture.

3. Smile ever so cutely and get ready to blow.

4. Be sure you don't "accidentally" put the bubble stick in your mouth...

5. Pucker up and blow those bubbles! The finished process. (be sure to turn it up so you can hear her blow the bubbles)