Christmas Tree Farm

Cam finally had a Saturday off of work, so up to the Christmas tree farm we went. The drive into Alabama was so gorgeous. We had already bought a tree from Home Depot the week before, but it was nice to just have a look around and enjoy some time together. Plus, what's better than a cold day with delicious hot cocoa?

Once again, we had to try and convince Elliotte that Santa was not an evil man....

Didn't work.

She loved the reindeer.

What a good day. We will definitely be going there next year.

Hello Gorgeous

The other day I decided it was finally time to put Elliotte into a big girl bed. She had finally learned how to climb out of her crib and I desperately wanted to see her sweet little bed set up. Obviously, there has been some adjusting to do.....which we are still trying to get adjusted. Anyways, one Saturday while my parents were up visiting, instead of taking a nap, Elliotte decided to play in her room. She came out like this:

Yes, that is her with her bathing suit on and dress bloomers on under the bottoms with her church shoes. Oh, and her very stylish hat. Which I love.

Watch out Kate Moss.....you might have some competition!

A change will do you good

As most of you know, I have been a blonde my whole life. And since we've had a lot of changes in our life recently, I decided I needed a new change as well. I've been debating for a couple of years now whether or not to change my hair color. When I got to the hair dresser, I knew that today was the day. Here is a before picture.

and after!

Halloween

This was Elliotte's first year trick or treating. She had a blast and loved every minute of it! This is the only really good photo that I got. This is after we got back.

Remember us?

I really feel like I need to start this post with a big HHHEEEELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO THERE! Even though most of you know what has been happening with us lately, I felt it was much needed that I posted some pictures of us whilst things have been "happening." As you already know, Cam and I have been back in Niceville, Florida since around the middle of August. We were anxiously awaiting to hear about Cam's bar results and future jobs, so from there we start!

September 21,2009 <------- according to Cam, that date right there was doomsday. Until the date actually came and we found out that Cam passed the bar!!!!!! It was such an exciting moment for us. Cam had been nervous all day and the results weren't supposed to be posted until 1:00 p.m. Cam also had a 2nd interview that day with the State Attorney's Office. So he made sure he left nice and early for the interview, even though I told him I was going to look at 1 o'clock whether he was here or not! So I did! I was able to call him on the cell phone, crying of course, to tell him the good news.

October 5,2009

We headed over to Tallahassee for Cam to be sworn in at the Florida Supreme Court building. It was such an exciting time to sit and be able to watch my husband, who has worked so hard for the past 3 years, get sworn in. Thanks to Mom and Dad for sitting in the back with Elliotte!

After the ceremony, we headed about 20 minutes south of Tallahassee to Wakulla Springs to celebrate. It was absolutely beautiful. The pictures here do not do it justice. We (Mom,Dad, Cam, Ellliotte, Grandma, and I) went on this lovely boat ride into the river. We saw alligators, manatees, mullet jumping like crazy out of the water, and all sorts of beautiful birds. It was truly a perfect ending to a perfect day.

From the docks

Mr. Alligator on the shore (Elliotte now knows that they say CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP)

Manatee. This isn't a great shot, but every time they were right next to the boat, I was to interested in looking at them instead of taking a photo.

To put the icing on the cake, on October 9th, Cam and I decided to take a nap while Elliotte was napping. When we finally got up, we checked our cell phone. There was a message from the State Attorney's office. We figured that they had finally made a decision , but since the message said nothing of a job offer, we figured that Cam had not been picked. The next morning, which was a Saturday, we received another phone call at 10:00 a.m. This time we did answer. It was the lady whom Cam had interviewed with offering Cam the position. HOORAY!!!!!! Needless to say, I cried again for about an hour. (tears of job of course!)

Since then.....

Cam started work the following Monday. I've been lucky enough that my mom had driven me around everywhere to try to find a place to call home. We have narrowed it down to three homes and need to just make a decision.

Of course my blog would not be complete without telling you a little about some things Elliotte has been doing. Let me sum it up for you in one word. Talking. I think I should call up the Mr.Men books company and tell them that they now have a new face for Little Miss Chatterbox and that it would be my daughter. I do love it though. Here are some cute photos of her over the past two months.

Elliotte built this tower all by herself. She was quite proud of it (and so was I!). Look at the bottom how she balanced all of it on one block standing vertical. She even managed to balance one of her Tombliboos on top!

Notice Mr. Tombliboo decided to jump!

Here in Niceville, we hold a fair called the Mullet Festival. Jealous? Anyways, we thought we would take Elliotte there to ride some of the rides. She loved it!

And she's decided that Milo has better ideas of "comfy" than we do.....

Great action shot of her in the tub.

Summer Review

You would think with so much time on my hands, I would get around to blogging. So, I will give you a little review of our summer. Mine (Suz) and Elliotte's has been filled with beautiful sunny days at the beach and pool. Cam's was filled with studying, studying, and more studying. Let me back up a minute though. Since Cam studied all day for 6 days out of the week, during June, Elliotte and I headed over to my parent's house for a week. We had lots of fun canning green beans, running around the yard, picking veggies in Mom's garden, going to the beach, and swimming in the pool. Now before this, Elliotte would "swim" in a little yellow baby tube with holes in the bottom of it for her feet. However, Mom convinced me to try and let her swim with arm floaties. So I let her try and SHE SWAM! There she was, kicking her feet and swimming in little circles. It was a proud moment for me. Here are some photos of us enjoying some beach time.

After we arrived back home from Mom and Dad's, we would go to the pool most days and hit the beach about once or twice a week. Elliotte loves being outside and enjoying the sun, and of course showing off her awesome swimming skills! She has since mastered her swimming and now can swim where ever she wants. She also loves to jump off the side of the pool and has even jumped off a diving board a few times!

So our next big day was July 4th. CAM FINALLY HAD A FULL DAY OFF!!! It was great. We went to the beach in the morning before it got busy. It is also a dog friendly beach so we brought Milo with us. We came home by noon and had a yummy dinner with my grandparents and my parents.


After they left, we decided it wasn't July 4th unless we did some fireworks. I wasn't sure how Elliotte would react to them, but of course, she loved them. She even held the sparklers by herself. What a perfect day.




So after the lovely day with Cam, it was back to the beach and pool for Elliotte and I. Our summer continued on that path until around the end of July. One weekend, my Aunt Penny and Uncle Doug, Nikki, Stephanie, D.J., and Dom (Penny and Doug's Kids and Dom is Nikki's boy) came down to visit my Grandma and Grandpa in Ormond Beach. I was able to go down and see them for two days. It was a blast. I hadn't seen some of my cousins in years. Elliotte and Dom had a great time as well. I can't wait to see them again. We had a great time just hanging around talking and of course, going to the beach.

At last our summer has started to dwindle down. Cam left for Tampa July 27th to take the Florida bar. The test was the 28th and 29th. He came home, relieved and ready for some R&R. I am so proud of my husband and all of the work that he has put into his education. Two days after he arrived home from the bar, we went down to the condo for a whole week. We did absolutely nothing besides relax. It was wonderful and I am so happy we were able to spend some time together as a family, with nothing to worry about besides whether to go to the beach or not.............

Graduation

Graduation day has finally come! Cam graduated with his J.D. on May 16.  I am so proud of my husband, not just for graduating, but for the person he has become. I could not have asked Heavenly Father for a more perfect fit for me. I'm sure this degree will take us many places and will always be something we are thankful for. I look back at the past three years and not only has Cam gained a wonderful education, but also a beautiful daughter and the best family pet ever. I'm sure one day we will look back at these last three years and remember how great they really were.

As a graduating present we (families on both sides) decided to join together and get Cam one big present. He received a Breitling Superocean watch. He loves it!! (who wouldn't?)