Christmas was good to us

More pictures to post!!

We celebrated a week early at Grammy's so some of these shots are from there. We got hit with the Blizzard of '09 this week. It started raining on Wednesday and by Thursday evening the snow was coming down hard. This after are big snow a few weeks ago...there is A LOT of snow on the ground here. We feel like we're in the mountains!

Taya being silly with uncle Wade.

Niece Jayden got Nima a collar for Christmas. She usually doesn't wear a collar but this was a cute one and was elastic. Doesn't she look adorable??

Aunt Jillian, Uncle Wade, and Taya

Grammy with her pile of gifts. After many years of only a few things to open, she is finally getting some big piles to open.

Wade and Jayden

Taya discovered how to open her gifts but she lost interest pretty quickly.

Cousins..Jayden holding Taya and Beau

Family photo op

Santa arrived at Grammy's early. She put in a personal call to have him come early...

Me, Taya, Emma, and cousin Katie

Taya in her new chair, reading a Christmas book on Christmas morning.

Our tree with a nice pile of gifts underneath. I don't know what we'll do when we have more kids and MORE presents...

Taya decided to push, stand, and sit on some of the gifts.

Snow anyone?

Videos!!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

A view to the north of the neighbor's icicles.

Two weeks ago we decorated for Christmas. The tree is in a new spot this year and we really like it in the dining room. There is just a lot more room. Taya has only bothered 2 ornaments, one being her "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament with a picture of her and Santa from last year. The other is a "Hoops and Yoyo" Hallmark one that sings. Otherwise she has been a good girl. You will also seen tons of gifts (and I have more the wrap). Taya hasn't bothered them one bit. She did "help" me wrap yesterday and they were both her own gifts! She just wanted to write on the wrapping paper.

Taya perched on her stool upside-down this morning. This is her "boat" and she likes us to push her around on the stool like this. Her little nose is red and running. I think she is cutting another tooth. She does not like to see me coming with a tissue anymore.

Ethan trekked outside to scoop snow and go to work for a bit. Here are a few pictures he took from this morning. Below is the driveway looking out to the street.

The Trailblazer in the middle of the street.

We watched dad-0 from the window If you look really hard you an see Taya's little face.

View of the house from the street.

View from the driveway looking north.

Nima's potty area.

More November pictures

I have to say, as I am working on adding these pictures, I have a helper and it's not Taya. I'm watching Paula Deen on TV, Taya is jabbering in her crib because she is supposed to be taking a nap, and Nima is laying on my lap cuddling. It kind of inhibits my typing abilities, but she is a warm body :). Although it's kind of annoying not being able to work I am enjoying the days home and it looks like a winter wonderland outside. Below are a few pictures I am slow getting on the blog but they are from a few weeks ago.

Eli Banks came to play one morning while his mommy and daddy were at work.

The weekend before Thanksgiving we met up with my mom and her friends in Lincoln during their annual "Girls Shopping Weekend". They have been meeting in Lincoln the past few years and eat at Olive Garden so we go over for a free lunch. Taya's BFF, Erin Dawson, also joined us and she was SOOOOO happy.

One nice day in November we decided to head the zoo after Mass.

First time going to the petting zoo portion; Taya wasn't all that interested but it reminded me of being at the ranch (yes, I used to have a couple of goats).

More from Cancun

It's a snow day so I have time to put a few more pictures up. Here are more from Cancun...

Cancun trip and late Halloween

Hi all. Yes, it's been a while. I can't believe it'll be December on Tuesday already. I was already trying to write '12' when I was dating my chart entries on Friday, so I guess I'm ready. November went by way too fast. Luckily we have most of our Christmas gifts taken care of and half of them are even wrapped! We also spent the day decorating the inside and outside of the house. We had a guest this morning, Mr. Eli Banks, so he and Taya "helped" but mostly stayed out of trouble. :)

Our trip to Mexico was fun but hard. It was my first time away from Taya and I did it cold turkey, to another country. Taya had a great time with Grammy! We stayed at the Hilton resort, where Ethan's conference was, and took a tour to the Mayan ruins, Chichen Itza, on our last full day there.

To cut this short, I will label the pictures (which are not in chronological order) and hope that suffices.
Happy Holiday season!


A building at Chichen Itza
The observatory

Temple of the Warriors

A temple at the game field

The main temple on the site

Another view with me :) I hope you like my hat!

A sink hole on the way to the ruins. These are apparently very common in the Yucatan.

The view out of our room...

A carmel apple pie our friend, Jennifer Endres, made for Halloween. She has a little one but still makes time to bake goodies. Thanks Jennifer!

Family photo op on Halloween

A better picture of the little monkey, Eli Banks. He was an adorable monkey. It was perfect!

Me with two bugs...Layla Endres (ladybug) and Taya (my little bee)

Layla stopped to trick or treat and drop off that yummy pie.