Magnolia Co-op

Last week, Eliana started Co-op. It's every Friday from 9:15-10:30. I go with her every week and Teacher Gina has the Blue Room all set up for sensory exploring time. The first 45 minutes, toddlers choose what they want: water play, painting, coloring, play dough, toys, sand, etc. The next 30 minutes are music and dancing. It's wonderful to watch Eliana explore (since I don't get to see what she does in school Mondays and Tuesdays) and a great way to get to know more people in Magnolia. What a big girl you are now, Elle Belle! I forgot my camera last week, but will remember it next time!

An Unexpected Trip Home

Even though we would have liked to gone home for a different occasion, it was a wonderful time with family. Elle Belle also got some great quality time in with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Amy. Thanks you guys for letting us sneak away for an anniversary dinner and a hike to Horsetooth.

While Grandpa and Auntie Amy went to the CSU football game, Grandma watched Elle Belle until we got back from a great hike up Horsetooth Rock.

Grandma is good for spoiling little Pumper.

A nice getaway hike for Mom and Dad to Horsetooth Rock.

Eliana got to play with my cousins; here she is with Collin, just plopped down in his lap to play. Caitlin and Kelsey ready bed time stories to her and she loved it.

Our ray of sunshine

At the park with Grandma and Grandpa

Swinging with Auntie Amy

We spent a morning at Lee Martinez Farm in Ft. Collins. Elle Belle fed the cows, chickens and sheep...and then the sheep bit her, so she watched Dad feed the aggressive goats. She loved the tractor the most, I think....here we are at the old watering hole:)

With Grandma and Grandpa

These goats were head butting the younger one to make sure he/she did not get any oats...

Auntie Amy, Grandpa, Mom, Eliana and Grandma

Out to breakfast at "Snooze"...playing hot wheels with Dad and Grandpa while we wait for the food to be delivered.

Down the big slide with Auntie Amy

After the service and burial, Immanuel Lutheran Church (where my Grandma was a member for her entire life) hosted a reception for family and friends. The church women provided a wonderful lunch. It was also a beautiful day out, so we snuk away for a few minutes to do a family photo shoot. Who knows when we would all be dressed up again and able to take advantage of great sunlight? So, we hit up the beautiful park next to the church.

Swinging around with Mom



Thanks, Auntie Amy for taking such good care of me during our trip. You volunteer to change diapers, get up with me in the morning and let Mom and Dad go out for their Anniversary. I love you! -Eliana P.S. I also love my new blue dress - you are the best!



Dad, Mom and Eliana



Such a big girl, walking with Daddy



Auntie Amy, Eliana, Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy (in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house in Ft. Collins)








On Friday, we took a drive up the Poudre Canyon and had a great time playing in the river. I'm not sure who had more fun - Eliana or Molly? But, it was a nice way to spend the afternoon, giving our minds a break and soaking in the Colorado sunshine.

Finally got a good family shot - with Elle Belle looking. I never thought getting a toddler to look at the camera would be so much work! :)







Loving the sprays from Molly







A quick bath for the ride home


















Look closely and you will see Eliana's shirt says, "My fish (the bigger of the two) and Grandpa's fish (the smaller of the two)"

Goodbye, Grandma

Last week my Grandma passed away. We were just preparing for my mom to come to Seattle and watch Eliana for the week as Nate and I were heading out on a 5-day backpacking mission in the North Cascades. Well, on Saturday, the nurses told my Mom that Grandma would probably not make it through the weekend. Luckily, Mom did not hop on the plane to Seattle and was able to be with my Grandma in her last hours. Nate, Eliana and I were so thankful to spend the week back in Colorado with my family, able to be there at the visitation and the funeral service and to support my Mom through all of it.

The service was beautiful and perfect. My Grandma was smiling down on us as my Mom delivered an amazing eulogy, Amy read Psalm 23 and 1 Corinthians and the hymns were all her favorites - Beautiful Savior, What a Friend We have in Jesus and Amazing Grace - accompanied by a beautiful organ. Eliana was also a ray of sunshine throughout the week. She made my Mom giggle and smile and was a great distraction.

Speaking of distractions, we were at the interment at the cemetery....Nate was a Pallbearer, so I wondered around with Elle Belle and tried to make sure she didn't get hurt while Pastor Sarah was saying a prayer. Well, it just so happened that in the past few weeks, Eliana has started to stomp her feet on all the gutters, sewer covers, basically anything with a metallic cover. Well, what do you suppose is at the cemetery? Yes, I walked around with Elle Belle as she stomped her way on headstone after headstone. I know it's not really funny, but it is. The alternative would have been risking a small tantrum and having the whole service be disrupted so I opted not to interrupt her fun. But then came another surprise. As she was running through the grass and having a grand old time (isn't it great that children don't know what cemeteries are about?) she spotted some stakes with flags on them. They were placed in a rectangular shape, and boy were they colorful! Well, Elle Belle starting picking them up out of the ground and tossing them all over. I was trying to keep up with her and replace them in the ground when I noticed a woman's name was written on one of the yellow flags....yes, Eliana was rearranging the grave digging flags....ooops!! After the service that night when we were re-hashing the day's events, we found ourselves holding our sides at the table laughing uncontrollably at what our little Pumpkin did on those cemetery grounds.

But, the sweetest and probably most sentimental memory for me was when all the Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren got to place roses on my Grandma's casket. Eliana took hers and mine and gently laid them on, and then without us telling her or us realizing she knew what was going on, she said, "Buh bye." I lost it then and will always remember that moment.

Grandma, you were a wonderful woman: gentle, giving, warm and strong. I will always remember the moments at your house and the days spent baking in your kitchen. I will miss your cluttered kitchen table and the treats in your cupboard. I feel so lucky to have grown up only 20 minutes drive from you. I got to know you and I am forever grateful for that. I'm so glad you're in a better, painless place now. Enjoy those cups of coffee up there and give Grandpa a kiss from us. Eliana is learning to blow kisses so she can send them up your way, just as you would stand at the window and blow them to us every time we drove away. I love you and will miss you, Grandma.



Grandma as a young woman. She was a teacher for over 30 years and loved her job.



Esther Lucht and Oscar Swanson on their wedding day; March 2, 1946


The Swanson family. I loved having the job creating the slide show as I got to sift through so many wonderful old photos.



Amy, Grandma and I at Jeff and Cinda's wedding; July, 2005



4 generations: Esther Swanson, Kathleen Dahlgren, Erin Snodgrass, Eliana Snodgrass (5 months)



Our wedding day; September 8, 2007. It just so happened that Grandma was buried on our 4th anniversary.



Waiting at the airport for Jen's flight home. In the old days when we could all go to the gate together:)



Amy, Jennifer, Grandma and I at Elitch's in Denver. What a fun Grandma!



My parents and Amy were so kind to fly Grandma out for my college graduation. She may not have enjoyed the flight that much, but made it and was so excited to be there to celebrate with us. Thanks to Mom, Dad and Amy for making this happen.

"Wow"

After returning from our camping trip to the North Cascades, we found Eliana stacking blocks. It was so cute because each time she got so excited....Nate and I started to look at each other and ask if that's what we say when she stacks them? Anyway, couldn't help but share this one since it shows how proud she is of her hard work. And, we love the excited intonations in her voice.

Talking up a storm...

Yesterday, Elle Belle started saying, "Katherine." It's so cute because Katherine Newman, 6 months older, has called her "Nanna" for a while and now she's able to return the favor. She was so proud of herself when it came out yesterday. Then, she just kept repeating it over and over; practice makes perfect! She also started saying, "Dada" which really sounds like "Gaga." She stands at the stairs when she hears Nate come home and says, "Gaga." What an explosion!

Fearless Water Baby

After a few swim lesson sessions, Eliana decided to crawl out of the pool by herself, walk up to the kiddie slide, snake slide her way up the stairs and launch herself tummy/head-first down the slide. She did this over and over until I could distract her enough from it. It was either a) I get out of the pool with her to help her up the stairs and risk her quickly getting up and sliding down without me in the pool or b) me wait in the water, hoping she can safely crawl up the slippery stairs. I opted for option b. Not very good options, but it all worked out. She is completely fearless and loves the water. (see video below)

This summer, we've been going to swim lessons twice/week and whenever we can during night swim, taking advantage of the fact that by living in Magnolia, we live close to only one of two outdoor pools in Seattle. The Seattle summer is not always hot, so they "warm pool" they have, at a balmy 95 degrees, is perfect on those early June swim days; but makes for a not-so-refreshing summer dip in mid-August. Either way, it's a joy to watch Eliana in the water, going off kiddie and big slides and splashing about.


One of the first sessions in June...still gray skies out.



Possibly one of our favorite pictures of Elle Belle - just hanging out with snacks in tow prior to class.



Family swim night after work - not a better way to end the day!



Daddy, hair stylist extraordinaire

Words

Eliana has had an explosion of talking lately. Last week she picked up 3 new words, "hat" (sounds like 'ha'), "hi" and "bye". "Hi" and "bye" are most likely associated with meeting a dog; she feels very inspired to go, "ruff ruff" and say "bye bye" to any dog she meets. Her animal noises now include "quack," "ruff ruff", "roar", and "ba." So cute! The lion one is the best as she usually increases volume, too! As mentioned before, her first true word was "boat" inspired by our camping trip at Baker Lake a couple weeks ago. So fun to watch her develop and communicate.