5Ks and New Friends

Last weekend, Loran and his friend Josh ran the Dave Ryan 5K for Special Olympics. Josh wanted to run a 5K before turning 30 so Loran joined him. They finished in about 35 minutes and then we went out to the bar to celebrate - at 10:30 am, with Ella. We also ran into the Konkols who were there to walk it. It was fun to see them! Ella seemed skeptical of the entire race. Most of the time, she just thinks we're crazy. She did enjoy seeing all of the dogs though, and cheered when they crossed the finish line.

They did it!

Ella is proud of her Daddy!

We've been going out to play in the afternoon with Ella's push cart. She motors all around the yard and driveway and gets nice and dirty! She loves seeing the neighbor kids and I love seeing her watch and play with them!

I even caught her standing - on camera. She's been standing on her own and taking a few steps here and there unassisted. She's getting there, so close!

But, Ella's been in the house a lot this summer due to her lack of mobility. So, even when we play outside, she goes right for the side porch and up the stairs...trying to get back in the house. We'll have to break her of that habit. I need an outdoor girl!


On the morning of September 22nd, Ella's new friend, Leah Jean came into the world! She's a petite little girl, like her mommy and cute as can be! We drove up to St. Cloud to see them yesterday. While getting in and around the St. Cloud hospital is an adventure in itself, we were happy to have finally gotten through the maze to meet little Leah. She was so sweet and alert while we were there. She had a few fussy moments, but her little pterodactyl cries were so cute!

The beautiful mommy and baby!

Totally eying me up.

You forget how little they are!

The girls! Who knew, back in the days of dorm life, that Rhonda and I would be the proud mommies of such amazing daughters!

Ella loved seeing the baby, she was very interested in watching John get Leah dressed. I had to stop Ella from "helping" with the baby. Of course, she was also interested in the buttons on Rhonda's bed, the laundry hamper, throwing her sandwich on the floor, Rhonda's crackers and anything else she could get her little hands on. So...I'm not quite sure she's ready for a new baby quite yet! She's got 20 weeks to get there. Go!