Catching Up!

Goodness, it feels like we have been running around like a bunch of crazies, but we are back...at least for now!

So, St. Patrick's came and went, and nobody was in danger of being pinched, especially Elli in her cute get-up. Aside from doing an adorable leprechaun impersonation, Elliot also learned the joy of pulling ALL the clothes out of her dresser. This may not be the best talent to encourage, but she was so happy!

Later in March we were able to attend Lillian and Cozette's birthday up in Santa Maria! Their mommy, Heather, put together the cutest owl-themed party! Elliot loved the decorations!

Here's Elli at Heather and Phil's house, on the big party day. She's actually wearing an outfit they gave her and she looked way too pretty in that thing! At their table Elliot is demonstrating how to get her parents to say, "Whoooo!" and throw their arms in the air. Even if her mouth is stuffed with food and she can't make the noise herself, we are expected to give her a hearty yell, or she will freak out!

For the next couple days after Lily and Cozie's party we hung around with our fun cousins. Heather took us, sans children, to Pismo beach where Melissa dreamed of Matt buying her taffy, (it did not happen), and where we collected tons of whole, unbroken sand dollars! Some of them were still alive, like the one below. Those we did not take home but threw back in the water. Pretty cool though!

Heather got a couple photos of our royal hotness...

...and Matt got Melissa and Heather together. When these girls were little they LOVED posing for the camera and setting up "awesome" shots of themselves. Guess some things never change!

The next day in Santa Maria Elliot got a hairdo and Bindi from Heather. She's cute and she knows it!

Then all of us went to Solvang where we were supposed to just get some good food, (which we did!), and window shop. However, in an antique shop Melissa's eye caught a sparkly, and well, she just knew it was something special. Matt never bought Melissa a ring because we were given one by his parents that used to belong to Matt's great-grandma. However, we always said we would replace that ring and pass it down, so the tradition could continue. After some very short thought, even though he was not expecting to buy his wife a ring that day, Matt said he'd buy it, if Melissa was sure. She was.

Phil and Heather thought it would be romantic if Matt proposed to Melissa again...so he did, even though he was really raw from the chunk of money he had just spent!

Here's a couple shots of the ring:

Melissa absolutely loves it, and now that it's been a little while, and Matt's pain has dulled a little, he loves it too!

We had so much fun in Santa Maria with our family, but the time came to go home. There was one reason we were a little anxious to do so: Meka. Our oldest, furry child tried to scare us and ran off a couple of days before we left to head north. Being that he is usually an indoor cat only we were pretty worried. However, upon our return Meka was found chowing on the food we had left for him outside. Ever since our little kitty has been overjoyed to be home, in all of his favorite spots.

Lately we have just been having fun playing with our little girl! She loves to pull the Dr. Seuss creatures off her toy chest, and she is always willing to share her toys!

We have a park we can walk to from our house, and lately we have been going pretty much every sunny day. Elliot is learning to swing in the toddler swings, but prefers our laps.