Christmas 2007: New Camera!

What you see above is our one picture from Christmas Day 2007. Yup, that's it. You see, even though we DID get a new camera, it came with a video option, something we'd never had before, and so most of our filming that first day was video rather than still pictures. However, this picture does show some of the Christmas loot (including the box for the camera and a disposable camera we used prior to the new camera), and it shows Amanda playing with her big present: Mega Blocks.

Some Christmas highlights not captured in still pictures from that day:

• We got a big Christmas tree. Bigger than usual, anyway. Up until this year, our tree was always the little two foot tall artificial tree that Grandfather got for Mom way back in 1989. Our new tree is also an artificial tree, but it's about six feet tall. Just big enough to be big for the kids, but not too big for our ceiling or for "easy" decorating. We also got some red balls to go on the tree, as Dad is a firm believer in red and green as the true colors of Christmas. (For what it's worth, the old tree is still around and used, too, as of Christmas 2009.)
  
• Amanda loved her new blocks!
• Jared, being only a month old, was rather indifferent to the whole thing. He was still cute, though.
• Mom loved the new camera and even learned how to set it to the correct date stamp, although not until after the above picture was taken. The camera had been a display model at Wal-mart, and so we got a nice year-end clearance deal on it just in time for Christmas and not too long after our previous camera, passed on from Grandma & Grandpa, finally gave up the ghost.
• It was our first Christmas with just us, Mom, Dad, & Muffins, no going to anyone's house and no one visiting. Made us feel like we were getting to be a "real" family tough enough to have our own holidays. :)
  

Christmas 2006

Amanda's first Christmas was all right, but she was much more excited about her second one, Christmas 2006. Grandmother and Grandfather came again, and the pictures are all courtesy of Grandfather's camera.

Christmas came on a Monday that year,which made for a fairly Christmasy time at church the day before. Here we have the family outside of the church building, which is conveniently located in the same lot as the temple.

Here's a shot showing both buildings:

After church, Amanda and Grandfather considered Santa logistics together.

And yes, there were indeed presents in the morning!

Here's Amanda with a Veggie Tales nativity set.

And here she is again with the Flylady dusters Mom got for herself.

Here's Amanda wearing a nightgown her Aunt Julie made for her.

Grandmother and Grandfather stuck around for a bit after Christmas, too, which gave Grandfather time to visit White Castle.

Amanda wasn't sure how she felt about the little burgers.

Grandfather also treated us all to breakfast at Bob Evans one day.

Our big outing during their visit was to the Amish area of Ohio. We didn't take any pictures of Amish people, but we did get these pictures from a Swiss area.

We had lunch here, too!

All in all, a good Christmas.

Dad's Family Reunion in Nauvoo

17 July 2006: Ah, Summer! That wonderful time of year when families all over the country decide to have reunions. Such was the case with Dad's family this year, and so we bought our tickets and flew off to Nauvoo, Illinois, to join in the fun. After surviving two flights and a very hot layover in Chicago, we arrived in St. Louis that night. Uncle Joe picked us up and took us to his house for the night, where Grandma and Grandpa were staying, too.

18 July 2006: We divided ourselves up between Grandpa's rental car and Uncle Joe's van and set off on the four hour road trip up to Nauvoo. Four years before Mom had been in eastern parts with her parents, and so the greenery along the way brought back good memories, which helped her cope with the conversation burden of entertaining a 17 month old girl fluent in gibberish while helping the driver stay awake as the other passengers slept. We stayed at the Nauvoo Family Inn and Suites. We'd heard that our room would have a kitchen, and so we stocked up on some supplies at the commissary at Scott Air Force base before we left; it pays to have a brother in the Air Force. :) That evening we all went to the pageant. Mom doesn't remember whether Amanda slept through it, but at any rate she was nice enough to let Mom & Dad enjoy the production.



19 July 2006: We saw some of the sights in historic Nauvoo, including the Browning gun shop, pictured below, along with the blacksmith shop and the brickyard. Mom seems to recall Dad seeing a few more things while she stayed at the hotel for nap time, but then again Mom could be imagining it.


20 July 2006: On our last full day in the Nauvoo area, we all went on an excursion to Carthage Jail. Those familiar with LDS Church History will recognize the significance of the room pictured bleow, the site of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. A special but rather sober outing, to say the least. However, cheer returned as we ducked into the Dairy Queen across the street after the big family picture session.


21 July 2006: The morning of the last day came, and it was time to fly home. Just to say we'd seen it, albeit from afar, Mom snapped this picture of the St. Louis arch as we drove past on our way to the airport.
Summary of the trip: Great to be with family, and great to see so many church history sights. Mom got to attend the Nauvoo temple with sisters Laura and Karen, which was a most enjoyable experience. Dad got to go later with the rest of the family, too; we girls snuck off to an early session so that we'd be available for childcare while the others were gone. The slight negatives of the trip: 1) Humid heat . . . ugh! 2) Long flight with small child; we survived, BUT . . . All in all, great reunion, though, and thanks so much to Uncle Ed for putting it together!

Seattle Zoo Trip (way back in May 2006)

As Mom types, it is Friday the 13th in May 2011. Maybe that's why Mom felt everything seemed strangely de ja vu-ish as she visited the zoo with the Muffins and our friends today. It wasn't just that Amanda was there at the same zoo at the same time on a field trip; it seemed like something to check into the archives about. And, sure enough, way back in May 2006, Mom and Amanda were at the zoo together, in Seattle. Since that outing occurred pre-blog, Mom's taking the opportunity to share the story now.

Here we have Amanda, around 15 months old at the time. It was spring, yes, but it was still cool enough to warrant bundling. We had been to the zoo as a family when she was about six months old, but even though we saw pretty much everything that day, we forgot the camera. So, Mom made sure to take the camera when she had the opportunity to return to the zoo for a mothers' group outing.

We saw giraffes . . .

and some otters . . . (otters keep warm partly by the air in their fur; note the air bubbles coming off the otter's fur as it swims)

and a bear, too!

Mom's favorite photo from the trip, though, was this optical illusion, created entirely by the water, not the camera or photo shop. Maybe this is where you go to order a half duck?

March Madness with Manda Monkey

When we first moved in to our Seattle apartment, our living room looked like this. Note the baby sitting serenely in front of the non-childproof entertainment center.

Here's the same baby in March 2006. Yeah, things changed a bit.