Way Back

Hi All it's Kaci from Ellyphant! Leah asked me to keep her blog up for her while she's running around. =) I said...mmmm okay. I love Leah's blog, I often times come over (stalking) and look back at previous post and smile. This post below was one of the first I read and still chokes me up. Uncle Corey is a lucky man...hope he knows that.

Originally posted 9/7/2007
My kids LOVE their Uncle Corey (their dad's middle brother). They don't see him very often as he lives about five hours away, but when they DO see him, WATCH OUT! The wild fun begins! My camera battery was charging for the first part of his visit, or I would have pictures to share of him flying Emily and Jared through the house (one at a time!!), and I probably would have taken a short video clip to share the hysterical giggles erupting from the kids at the time... And I'd have pictures to share of them dog-piling him in the playroom... And probably several of the noogies, head-butts, and pillow fights, too...

What I DO have, are pictures of Uncle Corey and Emily playing "I Spy" (which they did for about ten minutes together) on the front porch:


And I have pictures of the squirt fun fight they had outside:

(But first, I'll introduce the players)
Meet Uncle Corey: He wasn't thrilled with getting his picture taken, but tolerated my attempts, at least


Meet Emily: Quick-thinking; fulls of tricks


Meet Jared: Little and Mighty!


And last, but not least, Meet Daddy: He REALLY dislikes getting his picture taken, so I'm lucky to have found him rather cooperative (I think it's because he couldn't let his little brother show him up, maybe?)


And now the battle pictures:

Emily was a WILD woman with the old fire extinguisher! She got her daddy pretty darn good on his way down the driveway...


And she got her brother pretty darn good as well. He was supposed to be shooting back at her, but forgot Plan A, and went straight to Plan B, which, apparently, was to scream bloody murder until she stopped, and THEN blast her a good one to the chest. LOL!


Yeah, they got as good as they gave:


The tiny water guns in the hands of big men struck me as rather hilarious...


Jared got a turn with the old fire extinguisher, too. And if you thought EMILY was wild... Jared clamped down on the trigger and sprayed everythign in sight, myself included. And the inside of the garage, the front of the van, the riding lawn mower, and well, just about everything else that happened to be in the garage at the time...




He's not enjoying himself, is he? LOL


Emily was so soaked she was forming puddles at her feet!


And I couldn't figure out just WHY anyone would want to use the "raindrop" effect on their pictures, and yet, when I tested it out on THIS picture, I could kind of understand...


My kids LOVE their Uncle Corey. And I think it's pretty clear he loves them, too!

A Little Beach Humor

Hey there, Kristina again. While Leah's away at the beach, I thought we could maybe enjoy a little beach humor. I found this joke at: http://www.thehumorarchives.com/joke/Blondes_on_the_beach

Three blondes are stuck on a deserted island, when one of them finds a lamp on the beach. She picks it up and gives it a little rub and a genie pops out. The genie looks at the three blondes and says, "I normally give three wishes, but since there are three of you, I will grant each of you one wish."

The first blonde is sick and tired of being on the island, so she wishes to go back home. POOF!! She disappears.

The second one said she, too, is tired of the island, and wishes to go home. POOF!! She also disappears.

The genie then turns to the last blonde and asks her what her wish is. "Gee," she says," I'm awfully lonely here by myself. I wish my friends were still here ..."

Sand and surf

This is Kristina, from Confusaled. Late last night Kaci and I got an e-mail message from Leah. The purpose of her message was to let us know that she and her family are headed to the beach for the week. She also told us that she is sick, sick, sick so she didn't have time to set up blog posts. (Ironic side note: when Leah and the kids were visiting me last week, she told me about this beach trip. It's not necessarily an annual thing, but they try to make it to the beach with Dan's folks each year. Here's the ironic part - EVERY time they've gone on this trip, at least one person has been sick. The last time they went, her whole family was violently throwing up and feverish. She's jumping the gun this time! She got sick before they even headed out the door!)

Leah invited Kaci and I to "feel free to hi-jack" her blog and do posts for her if we had time. Because she was asking so late she didn't want us to feel obligated, however, in case we didn't have time to do it.

Sooo...long story short, Kaci and I may be able to do some posting for Leah this week, but I'm not sure how regular we'll be. Check in every once in awhile to see if there's something new, and be sure to come back next week when she'll hopefully be in good health with lots of great stories to tell about the beach.

If you are interested in hearing a few cute stories about Leah's kids from their visit to Kennewick last week, head over to my blog and check out today's entry (Monday's).

Hopefully I'll be seeing you soon - either here or at Confusaled!

Jared and Elly

Hello LLLL lovers!! This is Kaci from Ellyphant

Last summer I had the privledge of spending a afternoon with Leah and her family. We all had such a great time! Jared and Elly are only a week apart in age and they had a super fun time giggling, holding hands, hugging and just being silly pants!

Now don't you all worry Leah and I are already planning the wedding!

Elly will wear Vera Wang,

the flowers will be orchids,

linens--fresh and crisp, gold trim lining the edges,

bridesmaids in pink with white shoes...

Beach

Right now Leah and Miss Em are....sigh....at the beach. Soak it up girls, you deserve it!
Kaci

Jared tells a story!

My Auntie had a conversation with Jared yesterday at a birthday luncheon we attended (in honor of Emily, myself, and my cousin), and she emailed me last night, reporting the conversation and asking if it could be shared on the blog. OF COURSE!
-----------------------------------
Conversation I had with my great nephew Jared today at a birthday luncheon
our family had:
(age 4.5)

J: Auntie! A leprechaun cleaned my room last night!

Auntie: Really? What did he look like?

J: He had a green top hat on with a buckle.

Auntie: What color were his pants?

J: Brown, the color they usually wear.

(I personally would have suspected green
but what does this old auntie know???)

younger cousin that is listening now asks, "Are you joking or is this for real?"

J: It's for real.

Auntie: Did you have to use a flash light to see him?

J: No, my blinds were open and it was a full moon out.

Auntie: Did he slide in on a rainbow?

J: No.

Connor: Auntie, I see a Lep-er-kon too. He cwean my woom.

Auntie: Okay then, I am going back to the adult table now.

Jared: Auntie, ask me some more questions.

Auntie: No, I need to report all I just heard to the adult table : )
----------------------------------------
Jared is always sharing very elaborate stories with us, and has an answer for every question thrown his way without a moment's thought. I'm constantly amazed at how quick on his feet he is... Maybe someday he'll write a children's book about the leprechaun that cleaned his room that will become a classic! Then he'll go on to write many more stories, while being a lawyer and a comedian in his spare time...

I wonder if the leprechaun will come clean MY room tonight???

A future in the circus?? Not likely.

This is still Kristina from Confusaled. Leah should be home tomorrow, or Friday at the latest, and we'll be back to regular posts. So, bear with me for just a bit longer.


You know how when you meet someone for the first time you get a feeling about them? Sometimes it's a positive feeling, you just know you are going to like that person. Other times, though, you know that you don't like that person. You have no reason, it's all instinct, and you just know.

Animals have this sense, too. Your dog can tell you pretty quickly if a person is good or bad.

I've always thought that kids can do the same. Now, I'm not comparing your child to your dog. That would be silly and insulting. I'm simply saying that both pets and small children rely a LOT on instinct to give them clues about the world around them.

That's why kids love my husband, even though he's so ginormous. (If you didn't read my guest post yesterday, you missed it when I told everyone that my husband is seven feet tall. No exaggeration. He has to duck to get through doorways.)

You'd think that someone so big would scare the bejeebies out of kids, but it's not the case. In fact, it's just the opposite.

One of my friends has a son who is now four years old (I refer to him as Wall-E on my blog). Even before he could walk and talk he has been enamored of J. In fact, I was over hanging out at their house one evening and J came as soon as he got off work. We had been invited to the Family Game Night - how sweet is that?

We were all gathered in the kitchen when J walked in. He had to duck to get through the doorway, and instead of hiding behind his mom like I expected, Wall-E toddled over to J, looked waaaaaay up and said, "WOW!!" Then he reached up and grabbed J's hand and took him on a tour of the house, babbling away in his toddler speak.

And J bent down so he could hold Wall-E's hand and followed him around the house, hunched over and oohing and aahing in all the right places.

This was not an isolated incident, either. A few years ago, before CJ was born, Leah brought Jared and Emily to the Tri-Cities to visit. They came in July so I was not working (I teach high school English), but J still was (he's a geologist).

The first evening they were there, Emily was a little shy, but she warmed up pretty quickly.

The next morning, J went off to work before the rest of us got up. When we were eating breakfast, Emily looked at her mom and asked, "Mommy, where's the big boy today?"

She was totally hooked on J, and didn't care a lick that he was literally three times taller than she was.

Truth be told, J was pretty enamored of Emily, too. When he came home in the evenings, he made a special point of asking Emily how her day was, and what she did. He even did tricks to show off for her a little bit.

One evening, he showed her that he can juggle. She was SO impressed, that he asked her if she wanted to learn how. Of course she said yes, so J found three clean socks (they're softer than tennis balls) and sat down to teach her.

It was SO cute! He explained it to her as if she were twelve, and asked if she understood. She, of course, nodded sagely and put out her hands to catch the sock he was about to toss at her. She caught the first sock, and then J told her he was going to toss her another one, and she needed to throw the first sock back to him at the exact same time.

Again, she nodded sagely, and J counted to three.

On three, he gently tossed a second sock at Emily, and she promptly threw the first one backwards over her head. J patiently explained that in order for them to juggle together, she needed to throw the sock back to him.

More sage nodding, and a do-over.

He counted to three again, and released a sock in Emily's direction again.

And again, she threw her sock backwards over her head.

Leah and I couldn't control our giggles! It was so darn cute to see them so serious about juggling. After a few more unsuccessful attempts, J finally gave up. He told Emily she was a great juggler.

I love that guy.


You can see in this picture how serious they both were. I only wish I had video of the hilarity that ensued!

(You can also see how bare my entertainment center was...Jared was crawling, so I emptied everything that could potentially be in the way and moved it to another room. Jared's safety was more important than making sure my living room was photo ready!)

**When I told J on Monday night that I was going to be guest blogging for Leah, he could hardly contain his excitement. (Read: He rolled his eyes and asked if he was going to be embarrassed on her blog, too.) Then, I told him I was going to use this picture. Interestingly enough, his only reaction was to complain that he was clean-shaven in it...he didn't want people to think he looked like this in real life. When I agreed to let his adoring public know that J typically wears a goatee, he was satisfied. He was only clean-shaven in this picture because he works at the Hanford site and occasionally works in areas where he can potentially be exposed to various radiation and poisons. That week he had to wear an oxygen mask at work, hence the hairless face - you get a better seal on the mask that way.**

A little of this and a little of that...and a Hallmark card

Okay, so only two of you weighed in on topic ideas, (thanks Betsy and Kaci!), which means you'll be subjected to the random musings of my mind tomorrow. Hopefully I don't drive all Leah's readers away over the next few days!

1. Betsy wanted to know what happened with my cats and the vet trip I mentioned yesterday. The short version is that I tricked Zoe into the bathroom where I hid the cat carriers, struggled briefly with her, and managed to get her in the crate with only minor abrasions on my hand. Sid heard the commotion, couldn't get into the bedroom to hide, and didn't know what to do with himself, so he started scratching at the bathroom door...to get in.

Sometimes? I think he's the dumbest cat on the face of the planet.

He's probably the sweetest cat on the planet, though, so that counts for something, right?

Anyway, I opened the door and let Sid in. Once the door shut behind him, and he heard Zoe yowling in her crate, he realized something was not quite right, and struggled briefly. And in vain, might I add, as I got him in the new crate and didn't even get any more scratches. It happened so quickly I don't think his little pea brain even had a chance to process what was happening to him until it was too late and the door snapped shut.

Ha! I outsmarted my cats again - though that may not be much to brag about considering their limited intelligence. Zoe is not as dumb as Sid, but she would do anything for a treat.

I think the cats had the last laugh, though, because the visit was expensive.

I am seriously considering making them get paper routes to help pay for it.

If you want to know how the rest of my day went, I wrote about it on my blog yesterday.


2. Kaci asked for a Hallmark card. Most of you probably don't read my blog and have no idea that I have several unfortunate addictions. My most serious addictions are to reality television, infomercials, clear plastic boxes and Hallmark cards.

If I have an occasion to purchase a card, I can't physically limit myself to one - I typically end up with four or five at a time. Then, since I love the cards so much, I have a hard time giving them to the people I intended them for. I finally stumbled across the brilliant idea of scanning them and sharing them on my blog.

Some cards are universally funny, and some are funny just to me (my husband, J, is the way I gauge the funny quotient - if he laughs, it's good, but if he rolls his eyes, it's probably funny just to me), but I love them all equally.

If you want to see the entire collection, you can visit my blog. I have 11 posts in the Hallmark card category, and there are about three more scheduled so far. But, because Kaci asked, I'll share a card here that I haven't shared yet. A preview, if you will.













3. In the comments section yesterday, Leah's Auntie wanted to know if Leah and Emily were in my wedding, and if my husband is really seven feet tall. Well, Auntie, here's some photographic proof to answer both questions:




The short (ha! I'm so punny!) answer to both of your questions, Auntie, is: YES! Leah and EG both got gussied up and joined J and I on our wedding day, and J really is seven feet tall.

EG was barely walking and totally stole the show. And, you can see that J has his legs spread so that he looks a little shorter, but he's still freaky tall. For points of reference, I'm 5'6", and my father-in-law (the Best Man to the right of J in the picture) is about 6'6" tall.

This next picture shows his freaky height a little more clearly. He's standing next to his baby sister, C, and she is 5'10" tall. The doors at his parent's house are abnormally tall, too. As you can surmise, there are some really tall people in the Hocking family, so when they built their house, they took poor J's head into consideration (among other things) and raised as many door frames and ceilings as possible. It's one of the few places in this world he doesn't have to duck to get through most of the doors.





Though J is really tall, you quickly forget just how tall until other people point it out again. Unfortunately those people are usually literally pointing at him and talking about him as if being tall makes him deaf, too. He's pretty great about it, though.

Never fear!!

Leah is not intentionally leaving you, her faithful blog readers, hanging. She and her family went on an impromptu vacation to a lake cabin - jealous much?

She asked me if I would guest blog for her for the beginning of the week - actually, truth be told, she informed me in no uncertain terms (though kindly) that I would be guest blogging for her - so here I am!

This is Kristina again, from Confusaled.

I'll be back later today to update Leah's blog, but first I have to get my cats to the vet.

Actually, I need to get showered and dressed, and then run all the way across town to get a new cat carrier because we left the old one out in the sun to deodorize naturally after the cat peed in it last time we took him to the vet...five months ago. Needless to say, it's going to be far easier and more sanitary to just go get a new one. Then I need to get home, and get the cats corralled and shoved into the crates which is no easy feat.

They are wise to my tricks now. Treats don't work anymore. Last time I took Zoe to the vet, I had to trick her into the bathroom where I had hidden the cat carrier in the shower. Let's just say that wasn't fun, shall we? Sid fights less, but hides more. And pity my poor, pathetic soul if they see the carriers before I get the bedroom doors shut. When J - my seven foot tall husband with a seven foot arm span - is not home, there's really no way for me to get the cats out from under the bed. They just scoot around under there, holding their bellys and laughing at me. It's more like derisive sneering, actually.

It's just plain rude.

So, wish me luck, and in the meantime tell me this: what would you like me to write about for the next few days?

I'll check the comments when I get home, and will do my best to cover requested topics. If no one comments, I'll just have to subject you all to whatever pops into my head.

And that could be scary.

Hello Lover!!

Hi Low it's Kaci , poor poor Leah's computer is sick and not letting her blog! AS IF Leah's computer. We should all name Leah's computer...how about Bert? Anyone apposed to Bert? Alright Bert it is. Feel better Bert.

Anyways, I love love love this time of year, wanna know why? Cause Starbucks changes there cups to cute festive cups...take a look.
Ain't it cute? Don't cha just wanna go out and buy gifts and wrap em', then wear cute scraf and big snow boots, and big fluffy jackets, and and and....okay I'll stop. Now take a look at this goodness...

This drink is called Heaven in a Cup or Peppermint White Mocha, same thing. HAHA! Leah I know loves White Mocha's she told me it's true! So Leah and Bert here's to you...Happy Starbucks Red Cup Day, feel better!

You Call It Starbucks, I Call It Love!

I guest blogged!

Cattigan was supposed to let me know what day she was going to publish my post so I could be sure to announce that I was guest blogging, but apparently she was too busy enjoying her time in New York (the nerve!) with her good friend and it slipped her mind. (she's totally forgiven! LOL)

However, the post showed up Sunday and I poured my little heart out and got zero comments, so please, pretty please, head over here and give me some love!

XOXO

Flipz and Leah

Hey all I'm a friend of Miss Leah Mae, my name is Kaci and I reside over at Ellyphant. Now I'm not going to be as good as Kristina, cause lets face it, if you didn't cry when you read her post you have a heart of STONE!! STONEEEEEE you hear me! HAHA! Okay but I have a few fond memories of Leah too, one being these chocolaty pretzely goodness that are on so YUM-O. Leah told me about these heaven in a bag treats and OH MY GOODNESS...mmmmmm!!! Every time we go to the store and I see these I have to have control and strength cause my hips don't need em! I think of Leah and ask myself, WWLD (what would Leah do)? Cause I know WWKD...eat them little pieces of heaven.

Anyways Leah and I have known each other for several years now, we actually met after the birth of Jared and Elly. Jared is actually 11 days older then my Elly. We mainly email back and forth but on occasion when I'm about to fall asleep at the wheel (I commute to work) I call up my buddy Leah and she always keeps me awake! She's such a great friend. I've recently moved from the west coast to the mid west and Leah was there for me through my journey. Many times I would call her and cry and cry, she was always my constant shoulder. Never did she interrupt and tell me her sorrow/joys of her day but let me cry. She is such a fierce, loyal and loving friend.

I remember when Leah told me about her trip to the ER when she was pregnant with Connor and the fear she had that she may lose him. I remember crying with her then and told her she's too good of a Momma to think like that and we had to have faith....and we had to name this baby (Connor was not the given name yet). So I gave him the name of BRUCE. A good, strong name!! Cause BRUCE can do anything...BRUCE can fight this placenta abruption and conquer it! When he was born a few months later, I cried that day, only because they didn't pick my name...as if! Just kidding. I cried that he had made it and Leah had not given up hope! He made it and was healthy and PERFECT! Now that BRUCE...oops I mean Connor is two he sure acts like a BRUCE...wouldn't you agreee? He's a nutter...but a dang sweet nutter.

Okay this is getting lengthy and I'm sure you have all drank your cups of coffee. I'll leave you with this...now you need to sing it in your head:
L is for how Long Leah's hair is
E is for how she can cook a mean Egg!
A is for her Awesome cool shirts!
H is for her cold Heart for not naming Connor BRUCE!

I'm not bitter...really.

XOXO~
Kaci

Memories

This is Kristina, from Confusaled. A few days ago, Leah mentioned she was going to be super busy and had lined up a guest blogger or two. I'm one of those guests! If you're a regular visitor to this blog, I'm assuming it's because you know and love Leah (and/or her kids) just like me. So, since we all love Leah, I'm going to be honest with you. I've got a complaint about her blog, and it's a big one. While I LOVE her blog, and I love seeing all the pictures of the kids, I just want to know, where's Leah in all of this?

Like most moms, she is so proud of her kids, and has so many stories to tell about them, that she often forgets to tell us about herself. Oh, every once in awhile she'll throw us a bone and talk about what she's up to, or a picture of her and one of the kids, but that's pretty rare. I thought that since I was stealing her blog for the day, and she gave me free reign over topics, that I would take this chance to share some of my favorite memories of Leah with you...just don't tell her, okay? She's too modest, and would be embarrassed.

Leah and I met, way back in ninth grade in Mr. Parker's English class. I was still a "new girl" even though I had lived in the area since the seventh grade. (Back then, it was a very small town, and most kids had been in school with each other since preschool so a seventh grade arrival was late in the game.) I didn't really know anybody in any of my classes. I had a few friends, but wasn't lucky enough to have classes with them. Anyhow, Leah and I ended up in the same English class, and I think we sat near each other. Her memory is much better than mine, so she may be able to fill in / correct some of my lapses. We started to talk, and had a lot of fun. I know we met at swim team practice about a week or two before school started, but I don't think we really started to talk and goof off until English class. We exchanged phone numbers a week or two into school. I remember that it was around the time of the first home football game of our high school careers. We were SO excited! She was going to call me and we were going to arrange to go to the game together.

I went home and told my mom all about "this really cool girl" in my English class. Mom was glad I was making friends. As soon as I was done telling her about it, Mom reminded me that Murphy, our German Shepard, needed a bath and it was my turn to give him one. Now, Murphy was GIANT. He was part German Shepard and part Great Dane, and he hated baths. Over the years we learned that the best way to get Murphy clean was to give him a shower. I would put on a bathing suit, and then drag the dog into the shower and close the sliding door. He couldn't get out, the bathroom didn't get soaked, and life was much easier.

While I was in the shower, I heard the phone ring and I heard my mom pick it up. She came into the bathroom, and I heard her say, "No, Kristina isn't available right now. She's taking a shower with the dog. Can I have her call you back?" Ack!! She told Leah I was taking a shower with my dog!! Not that I was giving the dog a bath, or simply that I was taking a shower! I was mortified. I started yelling for my mom, asking her to explain WHY I was in the shower with the dog. Though it was normal for our family, I SO didn't want Leah to think I was weird and never call again. Mom either didn't hear me, or didn't feel like explaining, so she hung up the phone and told me to call Leah back when I was done.

I hurried through the rest of the shower, and called Leah as soon as I could. She was a little confused and concerned at first, but after I explained everything, she started laughing and couldn't stop. I was relieved. High school girls can be so mean and so catty - I was afraid I had blown my chance at getting to know Leah. Lucky for me, though, Leah has such a great sense of humor that she got a kick out of the whole thing.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship was cemented in place.

From that point on, Leah and I were great friends. We did all sorts of things together. Swim team, football games, basketball games, watched plays at school, spent an inordinate amount of time on the phone; you name a stereotypical high school activity, and we did it. (Everything except alcohol, drugs or sex, that is! We were good girls.)

Leah spent so much time with my family, it's as if she were another sister. In fact, when I got my learner's permit, Leah was the first person I ever drove that I was not related to. She had come over after school for a few hours, and it was time to take her home. I climbed into the driver's seat, and Leah climbed into the back seat. We waited for my mom. And waited. And waited. Finally, my mom walked out the front door. I didn't see her at first, though, because I was turned around talking to Leah. When Leah started laughing hysterically, I turned around. When I turned around, I was horrified to see my mom wearing knee pads, elbow pads and a bike helmet. She got into the passenger seat, put her feet up on the dashboard, and said, "I've assumed the position: you can go." I was so embarrassed. If it had been anyone other than Leah in the back seat, I think I probably would have cried. But Leah is the type of person who can find the humor in any situation, and with her help, I got over the humiliation pretty quickly.

Leah is also usually up for an adventure. We had many cooking disasters over the years (her children appear to be well fed, so I think she got better at it...too bad I didn't!). Leah recently reminded me about two mishaps in particular. Around Halloween one year, we decided to try to bake pumpkin seeds. You know, like they do with sunflower seeds. It so didn't work. It was charred, yet somehow also undercooked? Another time, for Spanish class, we were making pan de dia de los muertos (Day of the Dead bread). I don't know what we did wrong, but it never rose. It came out of the oven flat and, well, dead. Those two instances prompted Leah to give me a card for my birthday that said, "For your birthday I was going to buy you a set of pots and pans. But then I pictured you using them and fell down laughing." It was a great card...the first time she gave it to me. The following year, she gave me the exact same card on accident! We laughed till we cried when we realized it!

I love everything about Leah. She has a great sense of humor, she is adventurous, she is kind, she is loyal, and she is beautiful both inside and out (if she tries to deny this, she's a liar...and I don't think she wants to be called a liar). She is honest, fair, and a great friend. And, she's an even better mom. I know - I've seen her in action.

After high school, Leah and I sort of drifted apart. I don't know why that is, but it's true. I went away for college, and sort of lost touch with most friends from high school. I missed Leah, and thought of her often, though. I graduated from college, and moved to the other side of the state. When I got engaged, one of my first thoughts was about who I wanted to be my bridesmaids. I was sad that I was no longer in touch with Leah, because she was one of only two friends I had always imagined with me on my wedding day.

Coincidentally, around that same time, Leah was shopping at a small little local store that was sort of like a Hallmark. My baby sister, who missed my friend, too, just happened to work there. On the day Leah happened in, my sister was working. They exchanged contact information, and my sister passed it on to me. I don't remember if I called Leah or if she called me. I do remember, that the day we finally got back in touch was the day she found out she was going to be a mommy for the first time. I was SO thrilled for her! (This may sound corny, but I've always had a special spot in my heart for Emily - it's as if she had something to do with reintroducing Leah and I. In fact, even though she was just starting to walk, she was the flower girl at my wedding. She held her mommy's hand and walked down the aisle. She stole the show! Here are a few pictures of that day. I wish I had more recent pics, too, but since we live so far away from each other, unfortunately I don't.)

Because Emily Grace was just barely walking, we thought that flowers would be too much for her to carry. We decided to do pinwheels instead! We put pinwheels on the rows of chairs, and Em carried one with her. Oh, and another brag on Leah - she MADE Emily's dress, all by herself.

Look at how sweet she is! Those flowers in her hair are too cute! You can see her pinwheel, too.




Leah was going to walk with Mike S. one of my husband's best friends. Mike bent down to talk to Emily, and basically fell in love. The next picture proves it.




Mike's STILL looking at Emily! And look at everyone in the chairs...they're all looking at her too! I wasn't exaggerating when I said she stole the show. (Please don't look at the aisle runner...I hated it but my mom insisted on it. You can also see the pinwheels at the end of the rows.)


Ever since we got connected again, we've kept in touch pretty regularly. We don't use the phone even a fraction of the amount of time we used to, but we e-mail all the time. And, this blog is a great way for me to keep up with what's going on in her life. I'm not as good about updating my blog as she is (how on earth does she find the time to do it EVERY day?), but I try. I did have a brief hiatus, but I'm back now.

I'm honored that Leah allowed me to be a part of her blog. This was a lot of fun! What are some of your favorite memories of Leah? Or, what do you like best about her?