Ellysa Has Successfully Turned 16!

As I pulled into the driveway after work this evening, I saw the door of Ellysa's new car close... And as I was walking in to the house, I heard its engine start up... And I chuckled to myself, because I remember doing the same exact thing! Sitting in my car, starting the engine, dreaming of the day I would get my license and be able to actually drive it... Tomorrow after school, she'll take the test for her permit, and then after dinner I'll be giving her her first lesson on the finer points of driving with a clutch!

But first, she just wanted to soak up the ambiance of her little blue Mazda.



I came inside, and saw that in today's non-Ellysa related news, we had received a wonderful gift basket of baby goods as a gift from the company I work for!



Very cool stuff, and I LOVE duckies, so it's a great bunch of clothes and stuffed things!

We went out to dinner tonight, so Daneekins had her very first babysitter... The honors went to a really good friend from church named Jennifer. Jennifer is now the proud owner of our chickens, as well. She's been wanting to get some hens for years, and with all that's been going on around here, the girls were being quite neglected. So now she's spoiling them rotten, and for a couple hours tonight, she did the same for out sweet tiny girl.



She thoroughly enjoyed her time with the little angel, and we were so glad to be able to go out to dinner in full confidence that she was still being surrounded by love!

Then it was off to the Sakura Japanese Steak House, for food, presents, relatives and fun! Cindy's brother and his family joined us, and the evening also served as a trade-off point for her mom, who likes to split her visits between our two families.











When we got back home, I went to get some milk for breakfast in the morning, and also to fill up the van for Cindy. I made it about 50 feet, when the van sputtered and came to a halt. Wow. Completely out of gas! Just minutes earlier, it had delivered us home from our evening, with a baby who was ready to be fed! I couldn't believe how blessed I was - and though I don't even remember the last time I ran out of gas, and it's never a good thing, I'd much rather have it happen right outside my house - to have first, gotten my family home safe and sound, and then, still be right in front of our house, so I could easily run to the garage and grab the gas can.

Now there is milk for tomorrow's breakfast, the van has a nice, full tank, Danee has a nice full tummy, and I've got to get to bed.

One last thing though...

Remember the camera I got in my "Bag o' Crap" that arrived on New Year's Eve? The cable I ordered for it arrived today, and once it was plugged in long enough to put some juice in the battery, it works great! In fact, every picture in this post was taken with that camera! Not bad for a buck!!