Elise rolled over!

On Monday, July 14 Elise rolled over for the first time from her back to her belly. She has been uncooperative as we've tried to get her to do it again. This week she's also figured out how to roll from her belly to her back, a much easier feat and one she will repeat for us. (I don't know how much she likes her belly...)

She's also discovering new toys to play with. She's getting better transferring toys from hand to hand and doesn't drop them quite so easily. She always grins big when she can keep a toy in her hand.

Today she played with this toy in the picture for quite a while. We propped her up so she could practice sitting, and she played with the wires and the blocks on them for about 20 minutes before she lost interest.

Visiting friends in D.C. and going to Balitmore

Last weekend (July 11-13) we went up to D.C. to see my friends Blake and Debbie. They are in D.C. this summer for an internship. Debbie and I grew up in the same ward and have been friends our whole lives. Blake and I have been friends nearly as long, I first remember him being in my classes in elementary school, and then became better friends in high school. They have two boys, Zach is 3 years old, and William is 6 months old. William and Elise are about the same age and it was fun to watch them interact together.

On Saturday we went to Baltimore to see the sites. We first went to Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write The Star Spangled Banner during the attack on the fort during the War of 1812. It was neat to see.




James helping in a flag demonstration at Fort McHenry.











Elise in her stroller enjoying her ride.















After Fort McHenry we walked around downtown Baltimore. It was fun to see the city and all the historical sites that are there. We went up to the top of the World Trade Center building there and could see miles around. The city is huge! We walked into Little Italy and had some delicious gelato...it was worth the trip just for that!


Debbie, Blake and their sleepy children in Baltimore.



Julie, James and Elise on the waterfront in Baltimore.

We went to church with Debbie and Blake in their Maryland ward before we drove home. James had a pleasant surprise, the bishop of the ward was someone he knew from growing up in Wisconsin. Jeff was in James' Manitowoc Branch years ago and James had home taught Jeff's mom. It was a fun to see him.

After church Elise and William played together on the floor while we packed up and got ready for the drive home. It was a fun weekend!

Fun for the Fourth of July

We spent the Fourth of July holiday with James' brother, Ben, and his family. Ben, Susana, and Kyle came to stay with us for the long weekend and it has been a lot of fun. Kyle is only 5 weeks older than Elise and they had fun playing together.

We celebrated Independence Day by having a barbecue and having the missionaries over for dinner. James cooked a really yummy meal--he's a much better cook than I am. He made pork medallions wrapped in bacon that he smoked for a few hours in the smoker out back. It was delicious! We tried, unsuccessfully, to go see the fireworks, but they were cancelled because of the storm.

This weekend we went and saw the movie "Kung Fu Panda" which was hilarious--we all enjoyed it, even the babies. And then we went out for ice cream.

Here's Ben and Susana with the babies. Elise is intently watching Kyle.

Elise and Kyle are sharing toys and getting to know each other...

...and trying to hold hands...

After Elise finished eating her dinner of bananas she was thirsty. Somehow she does better drinking out of her dad's water bottle than she does out of a real bottle. But at least she drinks!

Here is Elise in her pretty new dress that Grandma sent to her. She looked adorable in it and loved to hold onto the blue waistband while she tried to chew on her skirt. She wore it to church today and looked so pretty.