Travels

Well, another long stretch between posts.  At least this time, I've got a fun excuse!  Daniel traveled back to China for another business trip, and Elli and I got to travel to spend the week with my family.  Then, we were overjoyed to extend our vacation when Daniel was able to join us in Kansas for a weekend with his family!  So much quality time with family was such a blessing to us, and this pregnant mama is thankful the first half of March flew by so quickly!  Here are some pics from our time with my family:

My parents graciously got up with Elli every morning, which is no small thing since she decided to wake up before 6 several of the mornings we were there!  One morning I snapped a few pictures of Elli and my dad reading the Pippo books.  My parents have five or six of these sweet stories, and they read through that stack many, many times throughout the week.  Despite the shadows from the blinds, I adore these pictures!

Sadly, these are the best pics I have of Elli with her Uncle Ryan.  We were so blessed to see him since he was home from Belmont for spring break.  Every time they were together, Elli was bossing him around in some game or another of her invention, and he was a good sport keeping up with all that toddler energy!

Our timing was also perfect because my brother Michael was in town from DC the same weekend!  I loved seeing how quickly Elli warmed up to each of her uncles.  She didn't even hesitate to jump right into play time with him!

My brother Adam and his wife Sara came over a few days to hang out with us, and Elli singled Uncle Adam out each time to be her personal playmate!  Our rule at mealtimes is that after she is excused from the table, she has to wait for us to be finished before she can demand our attention.  Well, she kept a close eye on Uncle Adam's plate!