Christmas

We were up north for Christmas this year and we did not have a white Christmas as has been the case in the past. Even though there was no snow it was still plenty chilly and we had a lot of fun.

Here's Ari in her Christmas jammies from Uncle J and Aunt L.



Thanks to Uncle D for helping put Ari's kitchen together.



And the final product.





Here's Ari checking out her kitchen. She wasn't so sure at first, but warmed up to the idea very quickly.




As usual the stocking were stuffed to the brim.




And with some help from Grandma and Grandpa Ari's Sesame Street friend line up is nearly complete.




She kept coming back to the kitchen and loves opening and closing all the cupboards.



And last but not least, the tree before all the presents were opened.

Thanksgiving and More

We went to Grandma and Grandpa E's house for Thanksgiving this year. We tried to get some pics of all the grandkids together. Some turned out, others....not so much. Here's a little sample.







Jana saw the camera and wanted to show a talent very few possess. I believe the motivation was a cross eyed Bullwinkle.



Ari and Kara goofing around after playing some piano. The faces are the result of Mommy asking them the saw cheese.



When there are sweets around, Ari is all over them. Here she is eating a slice of pie with Auntie K.

Fun with Flour

On Friday night grammy came over to bake cookies. Ari played in a tub of flour for over 2 hours. She had a great time, as you can tell from the pictures below.

C is for cookie

Halloween

We had an awesome Halloween with our little Elmo. When we first got the costume, she didn't really like wearing, she just liked to carry it around and give it hugs. On friday we finally convinced her to wear it and she loved it. Here she is walking down the street trick-o-treating. She did great walking around, she stayed out for quite a while.

We had some Star Wars friends up to our house, too. Here's Princess Leia. She was joined by Princess Amidala, Darth Vader, and Annikan Skywalker.

Grammy and I taking the kids out trick-o-treating. Yes, that's my real hair.

Grammy with her little buddy Reese.

Hamper

Before bed Ari found the most comfortable seat in the house.

Fall Trip To The Park

On Saturday Mommy had to go pick up some breakfast fixings and made a quick stop at a beautiful park. She got some awesome pictures of Ari enjoying the park.

























Then it was time to go.

ABDCs

Twinkle Twinkle

Go Zags

Geography

Ari learned this phrase all by herself, she copied me after I said it into my phone.

Rooster Seat

Ari calls her new booster seat a rooster seat.

18 Months and More

Ari's 18 month's old! She's becoming quite the talker and likes to let us know what's going on in her world. When she bites the dust we've heard "head.....broken" and "teeth.....broken".

Here's a picture of her enjoying some macaroni and cheese. Really spreading the joy of the meal over her head and face.



Here are a couple pics of her enjoying her rocking horse, creatively named "Rocky", that Aunt Lisa and Great Grandpa made for her. Aunt Lisa did the painting and Great Grandpa did the wood work and paint. She loves playing on Rocky.









After the last weekend at the lake we got a big tub of pop. Ari had a lot of fun removing the cans from the bin and placing them around the kitchen.

New Haps

Every year Pops has a golf tournament, the Shamrock Open, for family and friends.




Jana with Ari's aunt Katie. They hit it off because Jana has a river otter with the same name.


Ari was a trooper. She was upset when we folded up the shamrock table cloth. she promptly took it out of my hands and found a place to curl up and close her eyes.


Last month we were also able to go meet our new nephew/cousin, baby Quenton. Ari did great and was very gentle.




Ari's been talking like crazy. She knows a ton of words and is starting to make short phrases like "hold it" and "where's blanke?". She also knows most of her abc's, twinkle twinkle, and ba ba black sheep. She loves the moon, and points it out every time she sees it. She loves the moon so much she points out every crescent shape she sees, like the "Nike moon". Ari also loves to point out Gonzaga's bulldog logo, Red Sox, and Seahawks. We'll hopefully have video of her soon, but every time we take out the camera, she wants to hold it.