Barn Raisings, Sunday Company, and Uncle David Comes to Town

Saturday morning Jon was up early and off to help Mr. Frey at his barn raising. After giving Ellie a bottle around 6:30 she slept three more hours, with me waking her up at 9:20 to head to Elverson. Mom's former piano student, Shannon Smith, was in town during her Mom's craft show in Honeybrook. Kelly and I met up at Mom's and took my car to the event. The first thirty minutes were spent meeting Shannon and catching up. Shannon also babysat us but I don't recall much from anything before age ten. Apparently Mom gave Shannon Corinne's blog information and Shannon has since caught up on our lives through the blogs (Shannon, this is a shout out to you!). I was impressed by her memory and a bit embarrassed since the amount of time I spend on writing and editing (I usually skip editing) is paltry. We shopped around the stands and Kelly and Mom picked up some gifts and I snagged a pair of gloves that are handmade from recycled wool. They are for Ellie and I think they're adorable.
Following the craft show we drove back to Elverson and Mom, Ellie, and I went to the Frey's to check in on the barn raisers. Mom had agreed to help Mrs. Frey with lunch and had made cookies for the event. Mrs. Baskin was also there to help so we watched the men work and saw their progress before setting up lunch. Laurel McDermott (formerly Shirey) was there with her son Hunter and at one point we were all looking at Hunter pet the dog, Zoey, and Ellie must have realized the attention was on him because she started waving, then she clapped, then she blew kisses. Oh goodness. Jon ate lunch with Ellie on his lap and I pretended to help serve the lunch. We headed home and left Jon to work more once the baby girl started to fuss.

Loving the tractor

The men did the top part

Enjoying the warm sun

Following the barn raising (anyone quoting Seven Brides for Seven Brothers yet?) Jon and his dad went and picked up some wood for our stockpile. He cleaned up and our family headed over to Doug and Donna's for dinner to celebrate Jon's 33rd birthday since he had been away over his actual birthdate.
Jon grilled steak (provided by Doug and Donna) and Donna made a salad, french fries, and had a potato salad. Grandma Mountz and Omar were also present. Ellie refused to show off her walking skills but ate a good bit of dinner. We left at 8:30 since Ellie was cranky. It was fun to celebrate Jon's birthday again.

Sunday morning we went to first service worship and second service Sunday School. I had signed up to bring a casserole to Sunday School so I baked it during the service and it was ready to go for Sunday School. Ellie behaved in nursery but she was pooped when I picked her up. Jon and I went home and Ellie went down for bed while Jon and I prepared for our guests.
Olivia DeWalt and Nate Hupal (her fiance) came for lunch following church. I needed to try a recipe I'm making for company later this week so I used Olivia and Nate as my gineau pigs. I made a vegetarian chili and corn bread. I personally didn't miss the meat (there were three types of beans, two peppers, onions, stuff like that) but Jon did mention that the meal made him appreciate meat. Haha. More leftovers for me, I suppose.
Olivia and Nate gave us an update on their lives and we enjoyed hearing about their goals and desires. Nate works with Jon at Iron Mountains, Llc on the marketing spectrum so we were able to discuss work stuff, too. They stayed until around 3:00.
Ellie woke up before our guests left and Jon and I took turns hanging out with the baby and taking naps. He got the first nap and mine was a bit short...I'm not bitter or anything. We left at 5:45 for prayer meeting.
Following evening prayer meeting Jon and I came home and put Ellie to bed before eating some dinner and heading to bed early ourselves. We probably watched a bit of our favorite TV show in bed (Foyles War - check it out on PBS.com but be warned because it is in the seventh season).

Monday morning David Canche was set to be at Mom and Dad's house so Ellie and I planned to go to Elverson as soon as Hunter came for babysitting. His mom dropped him off at 9:00 and we were in the car by 9:05 heading towards Mimi's. I explained who Mimi was to Hunter and told him that Clark and Kelly would also be there (Hunter knows Clark and loves Kelly). Dad had made my favorite breakfast for us all - pancakes. Hunter polished off eight (I only ate six) one at a time, asking politely for more. Mimi was very impressed. We played with toys, caught up with David, heard exciting news, and ate pizza for lunch. Mimi and Pops not only provided breakfast but bought Giovanni's pizza, since David really likes Elverson's pizza.
Elisha picked up Hunter at Mimi's house and Ellie and I left soon after lunch since she was tired and I had piano lessons at 2:00. She slept until right after the lesson ended, which was wonderful. We cleaned up the house and played outside. My third lesson of the day came at five and Ellie played with Brenda during it. Jon was working over dinner (he had some sort of seminar he had to attend) so Ellie and I grabbed a quick dinner then headed to Walmart.

Trying to play with the big kid toys

I bought apples, caramel, popcorn, and M&Ms for the craft night snacks. I somehow got signed up to be in charge of them (Mom) which is fine with me. It was a small group but I enjoyed myself. Ellie helped set up (picture her cruising around the church with her walker) and Jon came after he was finished the seminar at work.
Jon took Ellie to his parents' house and they did some walking practice. She took ten steps from Nana to Pop-pop, her first time showing off her skills to them. He took her home and had her in bed by the time I came back at 9:30.

My snoozer 

Ellieisms:
Ellie has really been rocking the walker. She loved the open hallways of church and once I followed her into the foyer and she was backing up with the walker. She needs to drop the whole "I can't walk" act and just move.
Today Jon was playing with Ellie with her little people and she played with the car making rumbling truck noises. I'm not sure where she learned to do that. Maybe she's a genius (probably not).