The End of 2010

We ended our busy December with a trip to see Grandma Marker (Trav's mom) and sisters.  We had a great time celebrating Christmas, New Year's Eve and birthdays (Zella, Lauren and Katelyn all have a birthday in December).  It was very relaxing and it was nice just to be able to hang out with everyone.  The girls were super excited to see their cousins!

Violet and cousin Lauren cheesing it up in the bathtub.

Madeline with kitty "Baby".

Grandma Marker handing out party supplies on New Year's Eve.

Zella and Katelyn.

Happy New Year!

Zella

Violet and Uncle Bubba

Aunt Carrie, Lauren and Katelyn

Grammy watching the girls open presents.

Present time!

Aunt Kate and Zella

Zella Turns Four

Just three days after Christmas something shocking happened.  Miss Zella Lynne turned FOUR years old.  I'm not sure how that is possible! 

Zella has been a joy since the moment she was born.  She always has a smile on her face, is dancing, singing or humming at all times and brings a smile to everyone's face.

Zella finds happiness in the little things of life.  Her excitement for the little and big things she encounters is one of the things I love most about her.  Her excitement is contagious!


Wherever she goes people are drawn to her.  After you meet her you can't forget her....her big personality, her unusual name and her adorable glasses are a winning combination.

She LOVES books.  She spends hours each day looking at books and making up stories to go with the illustrations.  We spend a lot of time snuggling and reading books together.  She also loves playing Barbies, Smurfs, restaurant and dress up.

Zella makes a craft at least once a day.  She loves to color, draw and make necklaces.  My little firecracker also loves to dance and sing.  She is always ready to join in a dance party!

She is my early riser and always has been.  It is nice to have that special time with her before her sisters wake up. 

Zella started preschool this year, every Monday and Wednesday morning.  She is a very eager learner and absolutely adores school.  She talks a mile a minute when she gets home about all the fun things she gets to do.  Zel is so proud to be going to school like her big sister Madeline. 

She also started tumbling this year and loves it.  I can't wait to see her tumbling recital in the spring.  She is already asking me if it is recital time yet because she can't wait to be a on a stage.

I can't believe my little comedian is already four.  We are so thankful to have Zella in our family!!!

We celebrated her birthday twice.  Once in Britt with family who could come, and once in Milo.  She couldn't believe she got to have two parties.  Very exciting apparently.

Her party in Britt was a Smurf party.  She is so into the Smurfs right now and spends a lot of time playing with her Smurf house and figurines she got for her birthday. 

She picked her fav restaurant for lunch:  The Red Rooster

Aunt Karen brought a balloon to the restaurant.  It was a big hit!

Aunt KK, Cousins Lily and Grace at the birthday lunch.  Granny came too.

Excited about her Smurf mushroom house cake.

"Oh yeah, baby!"

Opening presents.

Sweet cousin Lily modeling a party hat.

Eating a tortilla chip in her NEW WAGON.
She told me in was a dream come true.  (The wagon, not the trip.)

The Smurf cake.  If you can't tell, it is supposed to be a Smurf
mushroom house.  She thought it was a Smurf house so I count it as a success.

Just in case  the house didn't turn out I had a backup.
The Smurfs are rings the kids got to take home.



Happy Birthday Zella!

Zella is 2!

Zella turned 2 on December 28th. It's hard to believe two years have gone by! Zella is a very happy, vivacious little girl. She has a very big vocabulary and a tiny, soft speaking voice. The combination of the two usually gets people's attention. (Well, and her unusual name and the fact she wears glasses. She is hard to forget!)

She is now in her "big girl" toddler bed and wakes up every morning happy. She throws her arms in the air and announces, "I'm awake! I love you! Let's go downstairs and play!".

Zella loves to look at books and play with the Barbie house her Papa made for his girls. She also loves the trike and helmet she got for her birthday. She is not as cuddly as Madeline, and if you ask her whose girl she is, she answers, "I'm my OWN girl!". Very independent and full of it!

She is such a joy in our lives and a constant source of smiles. Travis and I usually just shake our heads and laugh at all the funny things she says. Zella loves to sing and make up songs in her high-pitched voice. I'll try to get some on video to share...you can't help but smile!

Zella also has entered her terrible twos. Just ask her cousin Grace (two months older than Z) who has to contend with Zella being a bully. She can tackle Madeline and knock her down. She is pretty tough!

Zella is very excited about being a big sister even though she is not 100 percent sure what that means. It has been fun watching her grow and we are so thankful that she is our daughter!

The pictures above are from Zella's birthday party. She wanted Elmo cupcakes and I tried my best. ;) She thought they looked like Elmo. Her favorite party was eating Elmo's gumdrop nose.

We had family who live in the area, plus Grandma "Marker" (Trav's mom) and Aunt Kate (so thankful they could make it!) for a small party at our house. It was fun to watch Zella open presents because she got so excited for each one. Her favorite thing to open were the clothes and she kept trying to strip down and try her new outfits on. Too cute!

Thanks to everyone for making Zella's birthday special.

In case you're wondering, Zella is wearing her old glasses in all these photos because I broke her new ones. First time that has happened! I stepped on them while trying to find them.

More later,