Don't give up on us...

I promise we will return to blogging.  I've given up the idea of trying to catch up and simply accepted that won't happen and we should just jump back in!   For now this is the best we can do!

Third Birthday

Uncle Stan, Aunt Suzanne and Auntie Em made one little girl very happy on her 3rd birthday.  When we were in Alabama during Christmas, Liza had so much fun jumping on Mary Katherine and Summer's trampoline so much so that Aunt Suzanne sent her one of her very own.  It is the first thing Liza wants to do when she wakes up and the last thing she tries to sneak in before bedtime.  In this picture, Liza is hugging the box it came in.

Auntie Em came through again...she made Liza's wish come true and made 2 Hello Kitty cakes.  

If this smile doesn't tell it all, I don't know what does.

EP and his family gave Liza her very own laptop and she continues to love it.  Last night she was listening to email from Nana and Grandma. 

In keeping with tradition, Liza's outfit matches her party theme!

Liza had so much fun with her best friend Alex.  We are so thankful that they have so much fun together.  Liza showed Alex every present and asked Alex to help her open them.  I was so proud!

Without Sarah cutting cake and EP serving ice cream I'm not sure if dessert would have ever gotten served.  In the corner of this picture you can barely see the beautiful flowers Grandpa Jim and Grandma Marcia sent to the birthday girl.  I had a lot of fun with the food for this party - pink and items associated with cats. 

One of my favorite pictures of the day!

Showing Alex the cake Auntie Em made. 

 

Since we had the party the weekend before her birthday on her actual birthday we asked her what she'd like to do.  She said ride the carousel 10 times and so we did!

Making Cupcakes

In the winter, we have to be creative with entertainment. Liza saw a frog cupcake in a magazine and asked if we could make it.  My culinary skills are greatly out of practice so I was concerned about this project.  As it turned out it my skills were the least concern to Liza...she had so much fun it didn't matter how they turned out. 



I was a little bit impressed with our ability to make a cupcake that resembles a frog, however, others couldn't see the resemblance when we showed it to them.  I ordered a book of cupcakes and will do better next time. 

Christmas 2010 - Part II

After our quick stop at home we headed to see our family in Florida.  Each year Liza looks forward to the trip because she gets to go pet the sting rays.  Just last night, while playing with Iggy (her stuffed sting ray), she asked if we could go pet the stingrays every time we go to Florida.  Liza gets so excited every time a sting ray came into close to her and in this picture, Liza and Daddy were having so much fun with the sting rays.

This year Liza was old enough to pet the animals in the big starfish and loved doing it.  We just had to work on keeping them in the tank.

 

 We celebrated Christmas on New Year's Eve and that date is special for all of us. Because it was New Year's Eve we had extra entertainment with noise makers and Liza and Mary Katherine couldn't stop blowing them.  

Back at Grandma's, Liza and Mary Katherine had fun floating their boats, made of leaves, in the pool.

 

 Liza and Mary Katherine enjoyed each other so much! Any time it was possible they were together and in this picture they were reading to one another.

 

As I've reported before, Bair does a great job of scoping out places to take Liza.  One day while Daddy went fishing Liza and I went to a great children's center in Stuart.  In this picture she is taking care of the dog in the vet area. 

  In the grocery section we filled cart after cart. I think Liza had the most fun filling a cart with nothing but eggs!

Darden was a big hit with both girls - he was their jungle gym and entertainer.  Darden played a game with them lifting them up and letting them touch the ceiling at Gaggy's.  I am sure he was worn out at the end of the night because they wouldn't stop asking to touch the ceiling. 

 On this special night we had lobster and funny Aunt SuSu brought them around for us to see. Liza wasn't particularly fond of it and jumped in her Daddy's lap to avoid touching it. I think this might be payback for the days when Bair chased his cousins around with live lobsters! 

 I love this picture because Liza is so expressive and I was glad we captured it on film!  MK and LB are the best of friends and share everything they can!

 

One of my favorite parts of going to Florida is seeing the trees covered with Spanish moss! On some trip I'm going to take a picture that is worthy of framing but for now this will have to do.

 Liza asked specifically for Potty Time Elmo and once she opened it; she rarely set it down.

 

We had a great time in Florida, loved being with family so much and are ready to get back to that warm weather soon. 

Christmas 2010 - Part I

Christmas 2010 was many months ago and I am finally getting some pictures posted!  I have the day off today to recuperate from a 4 day Texas trip and want to get some pictures up for you.

We spent Christmas day with my parents and sister in Madison, WI and Liza had a wonderful time.  Auntie Em and Liza put together a plate of cookies for Santa Claus.  With the best of intentions, Auntie Em and I both bought stuff to bake cookies however we were too busy to actually get them in the oven.  Thank goodness a kind colleague of Auntie Em's made her some cookies and we swiped some for Santa. 

Liza was so excited the night before Christmas and asked to sleep with her Night Before Christmas book, matching teddy and her Dora comforter.  It was so fun to see her excitement!

It was important to Liza that she and I get Daddy some Christmas "jammas."  It was supposed to be a secret but the sweet girl couldn't keep it.  Daddy wasn't so sure about the "jammas", but after he put them on he asked us if they had others we could get for him.  Not to be out done, Liza and Mommy had Christmas "jammas" too.  This picture is a few minutes after Liza awoke on Christmas morning and she is so excited about heading downstairs to see what he left her. 

The baby center was her big Santa Claus present and it was love at first sight.  You never know how these presents are going to go over and fortunately Santa chose well - she is still playing with it months later!

Liza was astonished at all the goodies that Santa put in her stocking...so much stuff it took up an entire chair. 

Liza loves to read and she was so excited to get these new books - she was reading all about Wubzy and his crazy tail!

This wonderful gift from Santa was hotly debated by many and we are thankful it was such a big hit!  Liza loves her big bear and wants to play with it all the time.

The fairy princess put on a dress-up show for all of us.  She was wielding some of her magic power onto us!

Nana is teaching Liza about her new Mobi -Go!

Wherever we go we can count on Daddy to check-out the museums, libraries and other opportunities for Liza.  Madison has a great new Children's Museum and it was so much fun to take her to it this year.  The train table has cut-outs so children can be closer to the tracks - she had fun.

Here Liza is pausing on a run through the dinosaur bones!

We left the day after Christmas, headed home to Grinnell to unpack and repack for our trip to Florida.  We had so much fun with Nana, Poppa, Auntie Em, Logan, Hallie and Molly and thank them for all the kindness and generosity they showed us. 

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 was in the mountains of North Carolina and we had a great time with family and friends who are close enough to be family.  Liza and Nana made cookies with Liza's favorite part - putting on the icing.  If you look closely you can see they spelled Liza in cookies, Meg in cookies but somehow Nana forgot how to spell Chris so his name is now C-H-I-S. 

Hally and Molly couldn't miss out on the action and Liza had a great time taking them on walks with Nana. 

One day while Daddy was fishing, Nana, Liza and I went to the Grove Park Inn to see the gingerbread houses and we were amazed by the talented artists.  Liza's favorite gingerbread house looked like SpongeBob and I broke my camera before getting a picture of it. 

Auntie Em and Liza revived their Thanksgiving tradition and made a gingerbread house together. 

Spending time with family and friends was the highlight of the trip.  We are so glad to have the opportunity for so many wonderful people to be a part of Liza's life - thanks to all!  Judy and Dick came from DC and are always a HUGE help in the kitchen.  



Emmie, Mario and Phyllis were checking out the newly installed TV (thanks Uncle Jerry) and looking up things on the Internet. 

 There was no shortage of activities to partake in - some went hiking...

Others went bowling...

Others worked on their computer...

While others ate and drank...

Regardless of what activities you participated in, how many turns you took cleaning up dishes, walking dogs or cooking up a storm a fun time was had by all. 

We also celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary and my Mother's birthday.  So many reasons that make being with family and friends extra special.

Thanks for having us and we look forward to next year!