Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas Morning!
A sleepy smile from Maya for the grocery cart from Santa. She played with it all day long! We had a white Christmas in WA - snow on the ground and sno
Back to the routine
We returned from Florida and got back to the regular routine for a couple of weeks before the holidays arrived. Here is Maya with her daily bran muffin for breakfast. Every morning, she wakes up early (she definitely takes after her mommy - up before 6 am most days!) and she heads straight to the refrigerator for a bran muffin and a cottage cheese pancake! 
A dream come true for Daddy!
Daddy has been dreaming of doing 2 special things with Maya: Riding the Dumbo ride at Magic Kingdom and going skiing in CO. So, that is a smile of a dream fulfilled on his face. 
Surprise: Disney!
We surprised ourselves with an impromptu visit to Disney on our last day in FL. We just couldn't pass up the opportunity since we were so close and the weather was absolutely perfect. Maya was pretty overwhelmed and we only stayed for 4 short hours since we had a flight out of Jax that night (that we came very close to missing due to our Disney adventure...). We were lucky to have very short lines and Maya got to ride the classics during her first Disney trip: Dumbo, It's a Small World, and the carousel. 
Chased
She loves to be chased, anywhere and anytime, but her smiles were extra wide during this game of chase on the beach.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
The beach!
Her first trip to the beach!
This is a beach really close to where we got married, and one where we spent lots of time when we were dating in PT school. A very special place. And super special to go back with our Maya. Looks like she likes this beach too!
This is a beach really close to where we got married, and one where we spent lots of time when we were dating in PT school. A very special place. And super special to go back with our Maya. Looks like she likes this beach too!
St. George Street
We stayed a couple of extra days after the wedding and enjoyed being in our old stomping grounds with our baby girl. Here she is walking down St. George Street in St. Augustine, not having any fun at all. She's a blast!
The beautiful bride!
We failed to get pictures of Maya with the bride, so here is Mommy with the bride. She was beautiful, calm and totally in love. Everything about the wedding was absolutely perfect and so much fun!
Memaw!!!
We got to see Memaw twice this fall - she came to visit us in WA in November and then we met again in FL in December in honor of Darby's wedding. Dad performed the ceremony, so Mom and Dad met us in FL and we all enjoyed staying in a gorgeous condo in sunny Palm Coast. Mommy was busy having fun with wedding stuff, but Maya got some good Memaw, Papa and Daddy time!
Thanksgiving Smiles
Thanksgiving brought a first - Maya's first hair bow! Her hair is finally long enough! Mommy was VERY excited!!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
We celebrated Thanksgiving by serving dinner to those in need in downtown Tacoma. Maya was a big help and brought smiles to the faces of many! We have so much to be thankful for this year - our beautiful daughter and her joyous spirit, good health and stable jobs, selling our house in an unlikely time, lots of fun trips and visits with friends and family. We are blessed and were honored to be able to help those in need during this special time of the year. 
Great Wolf Lodge!
We were lucky to be able to visit the new Great Wolf Lodge here in WA - it was 2 days of pure bliss - Maya loved the water and was walking around in water up to her chest and going down the baby slides by herself. Mommy and daddy enjoyed the big slides, but most of all just enjoyed playing with Maya in the baby pool!
Another favorite pasttime
Again, who needs toys when you have a vacuum? Maya LOVES to vacuum. She can actually vacuum the entire kitchen floor by herself and one of the few times she throws a fit is when we have to turn the vacuum off. I think she could play with it all day long...
Sunny Smiles
We continued the celebration at Snoqualmie Falls after the train ride - had a wonderful lunch at the restaurant there and Maya loved the walk down to the falls viewpoint. Happy Birthday Daddy!
Daddy's birthday!
We celebrated Daddy's birthday with a train ride through the mountains and Mother Nature gave him the perfect gift - a pristine fall day! Beautiful scenery and just a great time together as a family.
Snuggles
Our nightly routine consists of Maya holding her orange dog and sippy cup as we read her favorite books of the day (she has strong opinions about which ones to read!), sing and rock in the glider. The perfect way to end my day!
Shoes!!!
Who needs toys when there are shoes? Maya loves shoes - she is getting really good at putting them on and once she does, she heads for the front door and stands waiting to go outside. So cute to watch her concentrate fully on getting them on and then parading around in them with pride!
A trip to the zoo
Maya's first trip to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle - a cool, clear fall day and beautiful sunflowers greeted us there. She was more interested in the people than the animals, and Daddy spoiled her with 6, yes 6, carousel rides, because she loved it so much!
Aunt Jodi!!!
Wonderful Aunt Jodi came all the way from CA to help us on moving weekend! September brought us the blessing of selling our house (maybe miracle is a better word than blessing in this market) and Jodi enthusiastically volunteered to come up and help us with the big move. It all went smoothly, thanks to Jodi's help and we moved out of our house 5 years to the day from moving in. We were full of mixed emotions, sad to leave the wonderful memories and beautiful backyard of our first home, a little scared but also excited to move into the unknown...
Great Grandma Doris
The highlight of our visits is always seeing Grandma Doris. What a beautiful backyard to visit in! Maya had a blast playing with grandma's ball popper and all the toys Drew played with as a wee one. We took grandma on the breathtaking drive up Flagstaff and on an outing to the park...to watch Maya swing, of course. Lots of time outside and lots of time with grandma - just perfect!
Colorado beauty
Drew taught Maya to skip rocks in this stream - she's a quick learner and loved every second of being by the water.
Mountain Highs
As you can tell, Maya wasn't having any fun at all in Colorado...
We were blessed with a visit to the Dillons' cabin AND perfect weather during that visit. Of course, she loved going for walks and greeting each tree, plant and rock along the way with a vigorous wave and her trademark, "Hi tree!"
We were blessed with a visit to the Dillons' cabin AND perfect weather during that visit. Of course, she loved going for walks and greeting each tree, plant and rock along the way with a vigorous wave and her trademark, "Hi tree!"
Troy and Jennie
Finding ourselves in CO again this fall, we had a wonderful visit with the newlywed and newly Coloradan couple. WA just is not the same without our dear friends Troy and Jennie. But it was great to see them in their new home and hear about all the recent changes in their lives!
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