Nightime routine

Part of our nightime routine besides potty-time, brushing and reading a book is saying prayers. Tonight was an unusually late night for us and Ella was getting a bit delirious as we were trying to say our nightly prayer. When we were finished praying with her she wanted to keep going. Nothing wrong with that. I encouraged her to keep praying and despite being in a state of delirium she did so. Here was her prayer as I listened through the door...

"Dear Jesus, I pray for Kennedy, Ty, Gigi (long pause), Gianna (same person as Gigi), Keelan, Kennedy, Ty (long pause...I think she couldn't remember Kennedy & Ty's sister's name), aannnd....AMEN!!! amen?" Yep she was done.

I like how emphatic she was with the first AMEN but then questioned herself with a very soft "amen?" Almost to say, "is that all I wanted to say?"

How her mind works...

I am probably not the only mother of a toddler who sometimes thinks that our children are capable of understanding more than they really do.

Case in point: Today Ella and I took a trip to Costco for some much needed items. Two of which were gifts for a couple of birthday's coming up for Ella's playdate friends. I explain to Ella that these are gifts for her friends and she seems (at the time) to be o.k. with the idea that they are not for her. Of course our conversations for the rest of the time we were in Costco rarely was off the subject of these two toys. We talked about why we were giving gifts and why there was two of them and why she couldn't open them. When we arrived home and as I was getting Ella ready for her nap she and I had the following conversation:

Ella (anxiously excited): I can't wait to give Haily and Kayden (twins) their toys for their birthday.
Me: I know, do you think they will be suprised?
Ella: Yes
Ella: Mom, I want to have a baby like Hailey's.
Me: Well, you never know if mommy and daddy will get you one for your birthday.
Ella: Which one?
Me: Well, it will just have to be a suprise.
Ella: Can I have it now?
Me: No, it isn't your birthday.
Ella: hmmm, so I can have the baby for my birthday.
Me: Maybe, you will just have to see.
Ella: Can I see it now?
Me: Well, it won't be a suprise then if I show it to you now.
Ella: That's o.k. mom
Me(still pondering): _______________

Fun with friends at the local pumkin patch

I get so excited for this time of the year. Autumn leaves, warm apple cider, cozy scarfs, comfort food and of course PUMPKIN PATCHES. The local one in Clayton is so much fun to go to especially with a large group. They have massive bean pits as you will see in the pictures below, a hay maze, petting zoo, train rides, etc...

Mommy, Ella and Daddy ;)

First Car: Nick, Erin and Gigi; Second Car (front): Ethan, Tisa and Ella

Second Car (back): Ben, Leah, Hailey and Kayden

Why is it when one child sees another one doing something

potentially harmful to one's body...

...they get the bright idea of...

...of doing it themselves?

Answer: "Because, it's so darn fun!!!"

Pure joy

Is she meditating?

Friends...Hailey and Ella

See you next year...

October 2008 ~ Costume Pictures, Orchard Nursery

October 2008 - Orchard Nursery, Lafayette, Ca

October fun...oh to be a kid again

This month was filled with several pictoral opportunities that I couldn't wait to take advantage of .  These were taken at Orchard Nursery in Lafayette, Ca.

Momma's precious little girl

 

A kiss from a Bumble bee

"Mom, he's not much bigger then Sampson and Mac."

Grandparents Ron and Nancy visit ~ week of July 20th, 2008

to Bend or Bust...Oregon that is

As luck (or God's plan as we know it to be) would have it our trip to Bend, Oregon almost ended up in a bust...

This was going to be our first real vacation that we have taken since the birth of our daughter, Ella (who is now 2 1/2). The Dresdow's (x's seven) and The Garate's (x's five) had invited us along to Sunriver, Oregon months and months ago. We, The Mantle's however, just decided less than a month ago to actually take them up on there offer...kind of the nature of owning a catering business; you never really know until the very last minute whether or not trips are indeed possible.

Since we were going to be up there a couple days less than the other family's we decided that to get the most out of the trip we would have to fly up there. This would cut our travel time down from an 8 hour trip down to a 4 hour one...so we thought (more on that later). Ofcourse "I" thought that in order to get the most out of our day that we should take the second earliest flight as possible (we aren't crazy enought to take the first one out.) That put us on the 9:19am flight...out of SFO. That is the point where "I" should have taken a second look at the history of our family's ability to get to airports on time (which Bay Area culture suggests is two hours ahead of time if flying out of SFO.) But unfortunately for our family we have never flown out of SFO so we had NO IDEA about that culture or what layed ahead for that matter. I also didn't take into account that Ethan had an event the night before so we wouldn't get to bed until after midnight. But who cares, we thought, we will just rest when we get there...

So our alarm went off at 6:15 and we were out of the house by 7:19 (yes, I know). We arrived at SFO at 8:06. Oh wait a second...nope we technically hadn't arrived yet. We need to park. Oh, o.k., I see the sign honey for parking...oh shoot that's not for long term. Oop's lets turn around...oh there is no short turn around so we get placed back on the fwy, have to exit, get back on and then take the airport exit "again" hoping not to miss the long term parking sign "again." Oh...o.k. we see it and thankfully this time make the merge. We're driving and driving and driving...ahhh and driving (where is long term parking?!!!???). Shouldn't someone have told us that long term parking was almost an hour away from the actually airport? We ended up getting the last parking spot on the roof of the lot (level 7). It is now 8:20 as we board the shuttle bus...which should give us enough time to make our flight.

NOPE...it was not enough time. Apparently there is a 45 minute cut off point and we went passed that by about 10 minutes. Our options were at this point to be placed on standby for the 3:00pm flight (with a 2 1/2 year old...yeah right) or drive. We opted to drive. We then decided that we could just drive up and then fly back...so we rented a peppy RAV 4.

Although we didn't get to Sunriver until 10:30ish that evening (because we had to drive past it to pick up our luggage in Redmond) the drive was pretty smooth sailing. With only a couple minor hiccups of Ella getting ticked off because she has never been in a car for such a long period of time...we genuinely believe that God's purpose for this diversion was to get us to slow down a bit. Because we drove we were able to really to take in some of the most beautiful serene scenaries. We spotted ton's of horses, goats, sheep and what looked like heritage cows (cow's raised sustainably on green grass and hay without injections of antibotics.)

"Heritage animals were bred over time to develop traits that made them particularly well-adapted to local environmental conditions. Breeds used in industrial agriculture are bred to produce lots of milk or eggs, gain weight quickly, or yield particular types of meat within confined facilities. Heritage breeds are generally better adapted to withstand disease and survive in harsh environmental conditions, and their bodies can be better suited to living on pasture." Click on the link below for more information about sustainable farming and different types of heritage cattle.

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/heritage/

P.S.

This is/was my very first post on a blog site so clearly there is room for improvement...I know. Sara just called me hysterically laughing because I put a picture of a cow on my first blog page and not my adorable daughter. I do apologize for this and I am thankful to know people like Sara Garate who can set people like me straight.

O.K., now on to my adorable daughter...

Canoeing on Sunriver...or so we thought...

Ella gets geared up and ready for her very first canoe ride. Really she is happy about it...sort of...

I think she will get over having to wear this lifevest if we continually point out that all the other kids have to wear them as well.

Parker and Kellan Dresdow and Ella anxiously await to canoe down the river.

...WAIT FOR IT...WAIT FOR IT; ahhh sorry kids, no ride for you today.

Apparently we didn't realize that this was a "2 hour tour" and Katie, Sara and I were scheduled for spa treatments in an hour and a half...so everyone had to take off their vests and try this again tomorrow :)

--This was Ella's look of "are you serious this canoeing thing is not happening?...so why do I still have this thing on?"

Our "Actual" canoe trip down Sunriver...

fun in Sunriver, Oregon

Cherries comin' out of our ears...

My friend Erin, her daughter Gigi, Ella and I were in some serious need of a cherrie fix. So we decided to drive over to some cherrie farms in Brentwood, Ca to do some of our own picking.

Here is Ella's very first grab at picking some of the most delicious cherries...

Apparently there are rules to picking cherries. One is that you can't climb up in the tree to get the ones way up high. That didn't stop us from getting these prized possessions...

Child labor activits are here, I will be right back...

Hey mom...can I eat these?


I have learned lots of things in owning our own business and I have a tip for the cherry farmers. Tip #1...have a weigh in station strictly for children. That way you can cover the costs of cherries that don't end up in the cherry bucket but in a tummy. Do they make Pepto Bismo for kids?

I know this is hard to believe but we ended up with 25lbs of cherries! Good thing we have friends and neighbors who delight in these burgundy little morsels.

EASTER 2008

We were blessed to spend this Easter with Ethan's side of the family.  Jeannie, Rick, Paul, Nancy, Rachel, Lydia, Jordan, Sherry, Miranda and Dan all came to celebrate.  Everyone had a great time, especially the little ones, Ella and Lydia, who hunted for eggs in our backyard.  I wish everyone lived closer so we could visit more often.

Hunting for their eggs...

I love how Sherry has two cups of espresso in her hands...and you have to love this picture of Nancy!