This first set of pictures were actually taken in September, but I just found them from a different camera and since I’m done posting about September, I’m just sticking them in this post instead:

We met Brian downtown for lunch—while we ate, Elna ran around chasing geese. She got very close to them—brave!



I think she’s grabbing Brian’s legs here, not because she’s afraid of the geese, but because she’s nervous about the crazy lady feeding them.

Elna meeting her little sibling for the first time—she and Brian came to the 20-week ultrasound with me. She obviously has no idea what is going on here, but it sure is cute to see her loving on her little sibling.

I joined my mother-in-law, Barbara, and sister-in-law, Heather and a friend from our ward for Time Out For Women. I loved it! My favorite part was hearing Jenny Oaks Baker play the violin. I could listen to her all day! She also spoke between each of her pieces and everything she said I really felt like I connected to—she was very relatable. I also enjoyed many of the other speakers, but she was definitely my favorite. A big thank you to my wonderful in-laws who made that fun weekend possible!

Saturday morning pancake making.
This next set of pictures crack me up every time I see them. They are so Elna! She loves dancing and she loves being fancy—and she is doing both quite well in these pictures—my goodness!:





We can’t get enough of her kissy faces and the kisses that occasionally accompany them. She is so filled with love! And sass!

Nov. 6—Election day—we dressed patriotically. We were so hopeful…
Dancing with Daddy—quite possibly Elna’s favorite activity ever:


Elna and Brian dance most nights when he gets home from work and several times on the weekend. She most likes to dance to Michael Buble’s Sway and Save the Last Dance and some fast country songs as well. She’s a good little dancer too—she twirls and shakes her hips and puts her little hands up in the air. She will pull us into the living room and point up to the speakers when she wants to dance. Usually I try to finish dinner or do dishes while they are dancing, but she will often start yelling “Mom” really loud from the other room until I come in. She is such a fun girl:





And some more shoe trying on:


Elna is convinced that if she puts her raincoat on we will take her outside. It makes sense, but it doesn’t always happen.
Elna had a doctors appointment at the children’s hospital in downtown Portland—besides the whole blood drawing part, she loved it—there were so many fun toys for her to play with—the camera I was using is not awesome, so bare with these blurry pictures:






This may have been her first time watching cartoons (or really any t.v.) It was a party for her!

These little hospital beds were so darling—they were just her size and down near the ground.
We feel so blessed that nothing is wrong with Elna—the past few months have been scary as Elna has been having blood draws and testing. We knew her hemoglobin levels were coming back way too low, but that was all we knew for over a month. We were referred to an oncologist/blood-disorders doctor and of course that panicked me just a little. I start googling things and find out that the worst case scenario is that she could have leukemia. We were relieved to get a call back right after this appointment saying her blood looked great! We are very, very grateful! We cherish this little girl!