Girls' Weekend

Jeff went out of town this weekend and Grandma Jane came to visit Ella and I. We did lots of shopping and had fun girl time together. Ella was sad to see Grandma leave, but she'll be back in a few weeks when the new baby is scheduled to arrive!

Ella in her new Halloween outfit, ready to hit the malls

Ella & Grandma Jane playing in Legoland at the Mall of America

Ella & Mommy meet Dora the Explorer at the Mall of America

Visit to Deardorff Orchards

This past Saturday, we visited Deardorff Orchards near Waconia, MN. It was another beautiful fall day and the fall folliage in the area has been breathtaking! See the picturetrail below for a slideshow of some pictures of our visit. Ella had a lot of fun in the pumpkin patch, playing in the hay bales and looking at the farm animals. She even tried to kiss the baby goat (see picture below). We took a hayride out to the apple orchard and picked some yummy Honeycrisp apples. Now I'm going to have to start baking apple pies and apple crisp to put them all to use!

Ella's "Chucks" and a visit from more family!

Ella has been very excited about her newest pair of shoes, her pink "Chucks" from Uncle Adam. She has to say his name ("Aum") everytime she puts them on.

Also, this past Sunday, Ella's great grandma Mary and great aunts and uncles Joan & Terry and Bonnie & Bill came for a visit. Ella had a lot of fun visiting with all of them.

Fall Fun at Sever's

Today we went to Sever's Corn Maze & Fall Festival in Shakopee, MN. It was a beautiful fall day and it was great to spend it outside together. Ella had a blast; she especially enjoyed feeding the animals and picking out her own pumpkin. She was so worn out when the day was done!

Ella & Jeff playing in the corn pit (imagine a huge sandbox full of corn kernels)

Ella working her way through the hay maze

Enjoying some roasted corn-on-the-cob...yum!!

Feeding the animals in the petting zoo

Watching the pigs was really funny!


Farmer Ella

Taking a horse-drawn hay wagon ride

Visiting with the horses after our ride

Picking out a pumpkin to take home...Ella found one just her size!

Our Little Gymnast

The other day, we were surprised to find that Ella can now reach the rings on her swingset and pull herself up on them.

Congrats to the Grad!

Jeff finished his final class in his Master's Program! Ella and I surprised him with an upcoming weekend trip to New York to visit his best friend Steve and attend a New York Jets game. We are so proud of the hard work and dedication he put into it, despite all the stuff we've had going on in our lives over the last couple years.

Weekend trip to Green Bay

We had a short weekend trip to Green Bay since Jeff and I had tickets for the Packers-Cowboys game at Lambeau field. I know there were many of you in Green Bay that we didn't get to see...I'm sorry, we just had such a busy couple of days! Here are a few pictures of our trip, we'll have to post more later of our visit with Ella's Grandma and Grandpa Vand of our tailgate party. Even though the Packers stunk, we had a good time!

Nicole, Ella and Great Grandma B

Ella with Grandpa and Grandma B

Ella with Great Uncle Dave & Great Aunt Jill

Ella playing with Uncle Adam

Lunch with Uncle Greg & Aunt Ashley