Blessed Babies

On Sunday, June 28th, we

were in Columbia for the

blessing of Max and Ella Grace.














The weather had been

ridiculously hot last week,

in the high 90's. Saturday

night we had a cold front

pass through, and Sunday

was golden! Low humidity,

high in the low 80's, just perfect.

Good thing, too. There were

about 40 people throughout

the day, dropping in for food

and fellowship.

Lynn and Clyde brought a

tent/pavilion, so many stayed

outside, and the kids played

in the big backyard.

Ella's gown was a Hesemann

family heirloom. Her great-

grandpa Ritterbush was

christened in it, as were

several cousins.

Doesn't she look beautiful

in her special dress?!

Her great-uncle Dale, and

cousin Edward blessed the

babies.

Ella was content during

the actual blessing.

By the time we

got home, she

was hungry and

tired, and let

everyone know it!

Max, handsome in his

blessing whites, was

his usual sunny self.

During his blessing, he

looked up at each man

in the circle, smiling and

trying to make eye

contact.

While Ella was having

a meltdown, Max just

watched her, as if to say,

"Chill, baby girl. It's

all good."

.

My New Hobby

I have a fun new hobby--- Cake Decorating!



I made this one for Steve on his February birthday. It is chocolate cake covered with home made marshmallow fondant. The candies are cake balls made of cake mixed with melted store-bought frosting, formed by hand, then dipped in light cocoa candy melts, drizzled with thin icing, then placed in mini-cupcake cups.

Unfortunately, by this time we had been having practice cakes A LOT! He asked for a pie instead. I gave this cake away.



This one was for my daughter Laura's
baby shower. I think they were chocolate
and vanilla cakes, and were covered in fondant.



The wacky 'fence' was made of chocolate.











These three were for my Grammeo's 96th
birthday party in January.



This was chocolate, with chocolate buttercream
filling.







The pink package cake was vanilla with
chocolate buttercream filling.


The red bow cake
was vanilla with
raspberry buttercream filling.






And nary a crumb was left.








.

.

.......











So this is why Ella eats every two hours--she wants to catch up to Max!

















Ella Grace-----or Ella Grande?

Her pose is classic. She's copying Michael Flatley in Lord of the Dance!







..

...


When my children were small, our picture-taking was done on film that had to be sent away in the mail to be developed! (gasp! the dark ages!)







Or, we had them professionally done at WalMart. (snort!)



So, these old pix of my babies are not always perfectly reflective of their actual beauty, but are good for comparisons with their own beautiful offspring.



I've spent lots of time with Ella Grace, and can see her Mommy in her (but mostly her Daddy).






Ian has his Daddy's bright-eyed smile, inquisitiveness, love of music, and empathy.



Ellie has her Mommy's...ummm....


...coloring. And snuggle-ability. And take-charge attitude.








.

PLAYHOUSE!

I found this wonderful playhouse
on craigslist for 1/4 the price of
a new one! WooHoo!

I always wanted a playhouse when I was little. Now my grandbabies have a fun place to play outside when they come to visit.




As you can see from both photos, Ellie insisted that the proper pose was with one foot up behind.

She wanted to take a picture of me with that pose inside the playhouse. I had to explain that I would fall over if I tried. She said, in her best encouraging voice, "Yes, Gran. You can DO it!"

I couldn't.