She's here!!!!!

Baby Ephrata has made her debut into this wild and crazy family!!!! She is sweet and smiley and oh so chunky! We are all in love with her. Lisa and Travis flew with her into the Minneapolis airport on June 1st. We were all able to drive up to be there when they arrived. Even Grandma Lois took the shuttle from Duluth so she could be a part of the welcoming committee too! Here we are, lined up at baggage claim, waiting for them to get home!!! The sign says "Liya" if you can't read it. Her name will eventually be Liya and her middle name with be Ephrata, but for now they are still calling her Ephrata or Liya Ephrata so that she isn't too confused.

They're here!!!! Doesn't Lisa look happy?! And Travis glad to be off the plane?! And Ephrata wondering what the heck just happened to me?

Charlotte of course wanted to touch her right away. Never mind the fact that we started off the morning with Charlotte throwing up in our bed. But she got better, so we didn't let it keep us from this happy occassion!

"Oh she has yitto (little) hands, doesn't she?"

"And a yitto nose!"

"Can I hug her?"

"Who are all these people?"

The newly expanded family. Aren't they beautiful together?

After the airport, we wanted to go somewhere else to hang out with the new cousin. We started heading toward a park, but it rained. So we went to Ikea instead and had ice cream cones in their cafe. Charlotte doesn't like ice cream....

My first duty as a new aunt: spoil Ephrata with her first ice cream cone! When I asked Lisa if it was ok if I gave her a few licks, she said "I don't know, can babies have ice cream?" I knew then that I can get away with anything with Ephrata. As the "experienced" mama I can tell Lisa whatever I want and she'll believe me! Oh yes, babies are supposed to skip their naps when auntie is here to play... Hey Lisa, stop reading this. You're ruining my game!

Lucky for us, Lisa and Travis were too tired to drive all the way home from the airport, so they stayed overnight at our parents' house. That meant we got to play a little bit the next day, and I got to play "dress the baby" in all of her cute clothes, including this adorable headband. When Lisa and I were putting together their baby registry, I kept picking out headbands and hairbows! Her curly hair looks adorable with little decorations!

And now we switch gears. Here is a trout Matt caught on one of his recent fly fishing expeditions. He has had good luck at Whitewater State Park, about 45 minutes from Rochester.

This morning we went for a ride with Charlotte's new birthday present! We found this bike trailer at a garage sale a couple of weekends ago and Grandma Lois got it for Charlotte's birthday coming up. We have had so much fun with it already. She loves to ride in it and hates coming back home when the ride is over.

She even has two little steering wheels so she can pretend she's driving! We'll be doing a lot more biking this summer!