Friday, December 29, 2006

ellen's field trip






on the way back from kentucky we stopped at the gateway to the west. it was about half way home and was a good spot to strectch the legs. ellen especially enjoyed the historical significance and the aura surounding the landmark.
it's 39 degrees and drizzling. =(

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas in KY






this christmas we traveled to kentucky to be with tessa's family. it has been nice to be off work and relaxing in the bluegrass state. we have done our shoppping and done our opening; now we are going to do our eating. we have a couple more days here and will head back on thursday. ellen has been having fun with her aunt, uncles, and grandparents and really enjoys her new johnny jump up.

happy holidays everyone
it's 38 degrees and cloudy

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

pterodactyl






scott and i are definitely feeling the busy schedule catch up with us now. lately i keep hearing myself say "oops forgot to do that". here i thought staying home would be boring. little elle-belle just keeps rolling with the punches. she had her 4 month appointment on tuesday and got some more shots. (she is in the 95th % for height, the 60th % for weight). our moodiness has been quite effected on this round. she has also developed a "nails on the chalkboard" screech. not quite as fun for scott and i as it apparently is for her. =)

this weekend scott will be flying to oklahoma for a basketball game. then basketball will pause until after christmas break.

we've gotten a little more information recently about our trip to Mali coming up in May. We'll be sending out a New Year's update that should have some of that information on it.

can't wait for christmas break and a trip to kentucky to be with my family!!!

i'm now off to walmart with our shrieking pterodactyl before scott gets home from practise

its 40 degrees and partly cloudy

Saturday, December 09, 2006

mouse in the cupboard




this weekend we went 1-1 in basketball. we beat northcentral on friday night and lost to york today. we are about to head out and finish some christmas shopping. while tessa was fixing supper tonight she heard muffled noises coming from the cupboards and thought we had a mouse. while she wasn't paying attention i cleared out our cereal and stowed ellen in the cupboard. it took her a while to notice that ellen was missing and the sounds coming from the cupboard sounded a little like her. pretty funny. she even sat in there for a couple minutes and played. cute, cute, cute.

it's 51 degrees and mostly clear

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

christmas time



sorry we haven't updated you guys in the last week or so. life has been busy; good, but busy.

you'll notice that we have our tree up and some other lights in the house. pretty festive.

the ellen update is that she can grab things, on purpose. she has grabbed things before, but now you can tell that she see something and reaches out to grab it. particularly noses, lips, and rattles. she has also discovered her feet. she will lay on the floor, grab her feet, and rock back and forth. pretty amusing. other than that she continues to jabber all day long.

the royals are now 5-4 and we have two games this weekend. we'll let you know how they go.

well, that's it for now. we'll try and take some more pictres of ellen in the next couple days and get them up for you.

it's 21 degrees with flurries and a killer north wind

Sunday, November 26, 2006

turkey and mashed potatoes






thanksgiving has come and gone now. ellen loved having grandma and grandpa angelo in omaha for the holiday weekend. she took them shopping, to the zoo, had them start a couple puzzles, got them laughing, got them to changer her diaper, and then sent them home this morning.

this was the first exterior wisconsin thanksgiving in angelo history. the turkey still tasted the same.

tomorrow we'll have our christmas tree up and trimmed, some lights on the house, light 101.9 on the radio (nothing but christmas till' christmas), and some eggnog in our glasses (ellen's and mine- tessa doesn't appreciate eggnog). ho, ho, ho.

to all a good night,
34 degrees and drizzling rain

Thursday, November 23, 2006

happy thanksgiving




well, the last couple weeks have come and gone now. ellen is three and a half months and might as well have her own talk show. she is cooing and gooing and ooing every second her eyes are open. we love the new phases. the royals basketball team is on a three game winning streak and thanksgiving vacation is upon us. grandpa and grandma angelo are in town and the festivities are upon us.

i won't write much, i need to help grandma with some pies. just wanted to get some new pics out and say a happy thanksgiving to everyone

its 57 and mostly sunny.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Dordt 72 Gu 70






we played another NAIA school last night...Dordt in Sioux Center, Ia. Ellen and I got to ride along with the guys on this little road trip. It was a fun game to watch. We were leading most of the first half. we would have had a 6 point lead at half time but they scored a nice three pointer just before time ran out. So we were leading 46 to 43 at half time. second half our turn-over rate did us in although we were neck and neck most of the way through. our offense was doing an awesome job penetrating their defense so in the last 3 1/2 minutes or so they switched to zone defense (or so I'm told =) and we were unable to pull ahead. we had a chance in the last couple seconds to at least tie the game but they played smart and we couldn't draw the foul before the buzzer. So Dordt won 72 to 70. Scott had a great game...I know he wouldn't want me to tell you how many of those points were his...but I can brag a little and just say that he was amazing as usual.

ellen was great through the whole game. she's just so "go with the flow" takes after her daddy I guess. she just stared at the lights and burped up a steady flow of cheese( no her daddy doesn't really do that) between her newly discovered "gurgle coohs". it's been so long since that first real laugh...but last night we heard it again over and over as she watched the fan at pizza ranch where we stopped to eat. It was so fun to see her think it was so funny.

scott would be disspointed if I didn't include:

its 32 and totally cloudy
over and out

Sunday, November 12, 2006

3 months and 1 week





well, ellen is growing like a weed. it seems that every day she is getting bigger, stronger, and more talkative. she is pretty close to being able to sit up on her own and scoots herself around on the ground. not anything close to crawling, but she can spin herslef around in circles. she is on the floor right now talking to "somebody" and playing with her little rattles.

tessa won a free night's stay at a country inn and suites at the big O show. so we spent last night at the hotel, watched indiana jones hunt down the lost arc, and did some swimming. it was great to take a little mini vacation as a family.

its 43 degrees and mostly cloudy.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

royals 89, statesmen 90, double OT




the royals came into this afternoons game to face the number 13th ranked team in the nation, NAIA division 1. the statesmen came out to a quick start and built an early 12 point lead over the royals. however the royals clawed back in with four minutes left to go in the first half and took a 4 point lead at half time, 27-23. the first ten minutes of the second half was all grace they took control of the game and built their lead. however, the statesmen wouldn't die, they fought back with seven minutes left in the game and tied it up. from that point neither team led by more than three. in the closing seconds of the game the statesmen missed a layup with the ballgame tied and the royals had a three pointer rim out as the buzzer sounded. the first over time was an even match with the statesmen hitting a desperation bank three at the buzzer to send it into double over time. with just 34 seconds left in the game the royals went to the freethrow line, hit both and took a one point lead. the statesmen drove down the floor, penetrated and were blocked by the royals. however the ball landed in a statesmen players hand and he lofted a shot over the back of the backboard. the gym fell silent as this hail mary shot found the rim and put the statesmen up one with .01 seconds left in the game. a last ditch tip attempt by the royals was unsucessful and the statesmen stole one from the royals. it was a heartbreaker. two last second shots that shouldn't have fallen, did, and the royals felt the agony of defeat. this won't go down as a victory in the books, but the royals were the better team. the royals gained much respect in the league with this game against a ranked opponent in a higher division. you can keep up with the stats over the course of the season at www.graceroyals.com and by clicking on men's basketball.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

weekend with granparents






this weekend we hit the road for pella, iowa. home to the tulip capitol of the universe and to great grandpa and grandma. tessa's dad was in town also. they bought a fixer upper and are flipping it. we helped out with some tile and tessa sanded the cupboards. it was a fun weekend to spend with family. we went out to eat on saturday night to the pizza ranch (three stars) and started in on a puzzle this afternoon before heading back home to omaha.

this has also capped off ellen's 13th week of existence. just this weekend she rolled onto her side for the first time. she has been perfecting the art ever since. she has even rolled from her back, to her side, and then onto her stomach and is rewarded with a treat. we haven't gotten her to roll back to her side from her stomach though. she seems to end up a beached whale on her stomach. we'll work on that for week 14.

this week tessa works a half day on monday and saturday and a full day on sunday. this weekend we also have a wedding to attend. one of my college buddies is getting married. this wedding is friday night and i will miss our first basketball game because of it. i'll be back in action on saturday morning though against william penn. we'll let you know how those games go.

a thank you to those of you who prayed for ellen. she has been breathing normally and there doesn't seem to be any problems.

it's 62 and mostly clear
over and out

Sunday, October 22, 2006

week 12 laughter



we are already at week 12. hard to imagine. she is turning into a little girl more every day. this morning we had some music on and were moving her arms around like she was dancing. then tessa put her on my shoulders and started playing the drums on my head. all of a sudden we heard this little giggle. she laughed not just once, but then again a little later. usually we just get some smiles and cooing but today we got a full fledged giggle. i thought tessa was going to drop her because she was so excited.

she is 11 lbs. 13 oz. this morning and we can tell that she is moving around much more. her thighs are more like pork chops and she likes to use them.

you can pray for her because we are a little concerned. every now and then she seems to have trouble breathing. she will take a few quick gasps, coughs, and then there is an eternal pause as she doesn't seem to be able to take another breath. that scares her and us and she cries until she wears herself out and falls asleep. we are calling children's physicians today to see what they think. we have a small inkling that she chokes on her milk because it is always after she eats and we lay her down to change her. just be praying that she would be ok and that we would know what to do, if anything.

other than that, we are just enjoying a beautiful sunday afternoon. we'll probably take a walk this afternoon in the cool fall air and kick some leaves.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

snow flurries


it has been a little chilly here the last couple days, but today we got our first dose of real snow flurries. about a week ago we had some sleet, but nothing that resembled snow flakes in the air. we got back from walmart just as it was starting to slow down and you can kind of see them on the backdrop of the car. either way we thought it would be nice to get a picture of our blooming flowers too. we planted those mums in the spring and they were about 1/8 of the size then. they grew the whole summer and then bloomed about a month or so ago and have been going strong ever since. christy, we thought you would be proud.

our battery died today in the walmart parking lot, but not as you would usually understand that statement. our battery left for the afterworld; battey heaven. anyway, i had to run back in and buy a new battery and a socket wrench set really quick. fun little detour.

happy saturday everyone!!!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

last couple days

looks like ellen got to help with some laundry



the last couple days have been good. been getting some rain, which makes work a little muddy but not bad overall.

tessa went back to work on monday. she was a little nervous about being back at work because the hospital got a new software program and the day she went in for a trial run it wouldn't let her log on. when she actually got there they hadn't made the change yet so it was fine anyway. she said she did enjoy being back around the nurses. she has made family there. i have been really impressed with the way the nurses bond. we got to see most of them when we were at the hospital with ellen and the days after.

elen still loves her swing and the bouncy chair from grandma. she sits or flies back and forth and smiles at everything. she is also developing a new screech when she wants something. hopefully that doesn't stick around too long.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

week 11


we got the idea from tessa's sister to take pictures of ellen evey week so we can see her change and grow. so this is week 11. she is making noise all the time now. she loves her swing. loves to stare at our bookshelf and is really starting to interact more these days. we can get her to smile at us now...that is about the best thing in the world. it's amazing how much joy it brings to look at your little daughter and have her smile back at you.

lets see...she also loves to go for walks and ride in the baby bjourn. we think she like country music too.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

hoop

well basketball season is in full swing now. we completed five weeks of pre-season and now are into official practice. we have 3 down and 17 to go before our first game.




tessa and i knew going into it that it would mean a little bit of a sacrifice in time, but we both think that it will be well worth it. it has been awesome to be back in the swing of the season; i really love it. there are also a few guys on the team that are new in their relationship with the lord and it will be fun to see and hopefully help them grow in their faith and love for the lord.

i think i can speak for tessa and say that she enjoy the games obviously, but she has been to a few practices already and enjoys showing off ellen (the guys love her) and being around the team. i just asked her and she concurs. =)

don't be fooled by the pictures. it looks like there is a lot of standing around going on. we really are working hard and we will keep you updated on the season as it unfolds.

thanks for taking the time to stay up on our lives.

My special husband

Scott thinks I can't figure out how to blog on my own- I figured I'd surprise him while he is gone to basketball practice.


This is my dear special husband taking a shower this evening. (yah, aren't you glad the picture came first- I think I'd have scared off a few people with that statement) I couldn't figure out why these goggles showed up in our bathroom recently...I just figured out why.

(these are some random goggles he picked up on the beach on our honeymoon..some poor goggle-less kid out there would never have imagined what good use my husband would put them to)

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

ellen's big day




today was a big day for our little weed; or should we say...one painful day. this morning while daddy was off to work on a rainy day she and mommy went to get her first shots. she had 4; two in each leg. tessa said that she cried. it was her angry cry, and it almost made mommy cry too.

after they got back from the clinic, daddy was home from work because of the rain. then the three of us went to the mall and got ellen some earrings. she was sleeping as the first one went in and she squirmed a little bit. there might have been a little whine also. then when the second hit she gave a little sad cry and seemed to say, "guys, i've been through so much today with the shots, just let me sleep."

neither episode seemed to bother her for more than a few seconds. and she is still the cutest little button in the world.