Weekend Getaway

Elder Johnson and family. (He's in the pink tie.)

Last weekend, we escaped to Maryland to visit my aunt and uncle and bid farewell to my cousin Philip, who is leaving for two years to serve as a missionary in Brazil. We've found that, by leaving on Saturday morning and using our new E-Z Pass, we can get down there in 3 1/2 hours. Not bad.

I love visiting my Aunt Jill's. They live in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood not too close but not too far from Washington, DC. Her home is warm and welcoming, cozily decorated with her famous quilts and Relief Society crafts. Her three sons are all teenagers, but they're not terribly annoying. In fact, now that we have Elizabeth, they are even more excited to see us when we visit. (Though they still have to be dragged away from the Wii to greet us when we arrive.) My uncle is very kind and quick to laugh and always has interesting things to talk about. My aunt is wonderful. Like a second mom, only without all the baggage. (Love you, Mom.)

Most of the weekend revolved around Philip leaving the next week for his mission. We had a family BBQ, the essential trip to Rita's, Philip's farewell talk on Sunday, then an open house later that night. The farewell was actually for three young men so the house was packed! I think there were more people in my aunt's house that night than there are in our entire ward here in Brooklyn. We're really happy for Philip and excited to hear all about his adventures, spiritual and otherwise, in the Amazon.

Our little trip also gave us a chance to get a jump-start on celebrating Halloween. Here are my cousins as Mario and Luigi:

And here's Elizabeth at her very first Trunk or Treat:


We even managed to get to a real, live pumpkin patch.


Unfortunately, the patch itself was closed so we had to pick our pumpkins from a wagon by the barn. But Elizabeth still enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday to You!

It's my birthday present to me! I'm so happy!!

Today is Elizabeth's day of all days. We started the celebrations early. Saturday, to be precise. We invited a few of her/our friends over for an informal party. The kids kicked around balloons while the adults chatted. Elizabeth received some lovely presents. But the best part, for me, was watching her devour her birthday cake. I made a double-layer chocolate cake w/ chocolate frosting (from scratch—go me!) She started out politely scooping frosting with her little index finger, but it didn't take too long before cake was gooshing out of her fists and smeared all over her face. It made all the hard work planning and baking and cleaning for the party worth it.

Blowing out the candle (with a little help from friends.)

Before . . .

After!

After getting cleaned up, Elizabeth showed off all her loot.

The festivities continued when more friends dropped by later that evening. I was especially touched when our next-door neighbor, Tito, and his girlfriend, Valerie, came by with a bag full of clothes they'd just bought for Elizabeth. Tito has always been so kind and loving to Elizabeth. They first became acquainted in the spring when it got warm enough for us to sit on our stoop and watch the world go by. Tito is a favorite with all the kids on the block, but he and Elizabeth have really got a special bond. The whole family has been very kind to us. It was really touching to see him pick her up, hug her close, and say, "Oh, I love you, Elizabeth!" He has grandkids of his own, but I believe they're all in Puerto Rico.

Valerie, Tito, Birthday Girl, Daddy

Sunday, Elizabeth got to open up her gift from G-ma and Mumpa Davis while they watched on video chat. Then Monday, we took a special trip to the park and visited another friend of Elizabeth's, who just turned one not too long ago. My friend, Kelly, has three girls, and it was a hoot to watch Elizabeth sit in the middle of that tornado and just try to keep up. She loved it!

At Sunset Park

People ask if it's hard to believe a year has gone by. I've always looked forward so much to each milestone that it does feel right for her to be one year old. What I don't think I'm ready to accept yet is that, before I know it, I'll turn around and she won't be a baby anymore. We still rock her while we sing lullabyes at night, but she's getting awfully heavy. (19 lbs!) She eats with her fingers and drinks from a sippy-cup. She toddles along with just one hand barely holding onto a finger. And even her baby-talk sounds like real conversation. But even with all the growing-up, it's hard to feel sad when I'm so overwhelmingly grateful that she's been a healthy and happy baby all these months. So shout out loud, Elizabeth, I am I! And I may not know why. But I know that I like it. Three cheers! I AM I! You are you and we love you, too.

P.S. If you just can't get enough, (I'm talking to the grandparents) here's the links to the videos of the birthday song and Elizabeth eating the cake.

Autumn in the Cemetery

Sunday was a clear, bright October day here in Brooklyn. One of our favorite haunts (pun intended) is the Green-wood Cemetery. Adam thought it was rather morbid to let Elizabeth scamper about among the gravestones. But I take grass where I can get it. Besides, if I were dead and buried, I'd want children to play on my grave. Is that morbid?

So creepy or cute: you decide. At any rate, we all had fun.

"I'm not scared."

I think she smells the funk of fourty-thousand years.

Looking at the ducks and geese.

"But I want to go IN the pond, Daddy!"

Vitamin E

Sorry it's been so long since we posted anything about Elizabeth. That is why most of you check this blog, right? So here's a bunch of photos and videos for your minimum daily requirement of Little E.





As the second-to-last picture shows, Elizabeth has learned to play Peek-a-Boo. . . . Sort of. At times, she throws her hands on her head with such energy, she misses her eyes and gets her ears, her cheeks, or just her nose. It's pretty funny, cuz she thinks we still can't see her. She'll giggle and wait and wait and wait and then, "There she is!!"




These next two videos are Elizabeth "playing" the pipe and harmonica we bought at Gettysburg. They also illustrate how frustrating it can be to get kids to do stuff you KNOW they can do for the camera.





My favorite part is at the end when I try to show her how to hold the harmonica, but of course she says "no" and turns it on it's end and blows.