Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were surrounded by family and friends!

"Pretty Lights"

We have really been getting into the Holiday spirit lately. It is so fun now that Gabi is understanding most things. She loves the tree and all of the lights that she sees around town -- "pretty lights!" She also enjoys decorating Christmas cookies, getting a treat from her Advent calendar each day, and singing Christmas carols! She is actually pretty good at "Jingle Bells" -- we will try to get her on video one of these days! We also took a trip to Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo -- it was actually really cool!



Maya is doing well sitting by herself now. She loves it when Gabi sits next to her to play. Maya has started to say some syllables -- mostly "lalalala, wawawa, dadadada" She has always been very vocal, but it is still kind of fun to hear her starting to understand the beginnings of speech.

Maya is also really into eating lately!

We all know that this time of year...THIS....

leads to....THIS....Thunder Thighs! Gotta love it!

(She is going to kill me when she is older!)

Have a good week! Gabi is counting down the days until Grammy Mary, Papa Gary, and Tom get here. We're headed up to Breckenridge for a week over Christmas! Happy Holidays to you all!

All our love,

Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya

Thankful

It has been so long since my last post, that this one is lengthy! We are all doing great -- staying healthy, busy, and happy as always. Here are some events that have made us so thankful for the wonderful family that we have.

My Mom came to visit in early November. She watched the girls for a day while Joe & I went a Wyoming football game. I know Gabi & Maya enjoyed it and I'm sure she did too! Thank you Mom!


We spent an entire week in Buffalo with Joe's family over Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to just relax and enjoy each other. Gabi & Maya got lots of quality time playing with their cousins Gio & Marco.


Amanda & Greer hosted Thanksgiving dinner -- it was outstanding! Thanks you guys!


Gabi went on her first horseback ride! She didn't like it at first, but warmed up pretty quickly. She rode Buddy, the horse, with Papa Dave first, then by herself, and then Gio got in on the action. She loved it and was a natural! She still keeps saying "Giddy Up, Buddy!" When we say our prayers at night, she now prays for Buddy in addition to all of her family and friends.


Look, they're taking turns!!! ;-)


Even Maya was able to meet and ride Buddy:


We had some family pictures taken a month ago or so. Here are a few of them. If you would like to see more, click HERE.


Here are some more pictures from around the house this past month! Gabi has been talking so much lately -- we can't believe how fast she is picking it up now. She has even started singing to herself (especially the ABC song).


Hiking on South Table:


Maya is still a calm and happy baby. She has been filling out ever since she started eating cereal, fruits, and vegies! Her legs are so strong and she can scooch herself and roll around on the floor. She loves to "talk", squeal, bathtime, anything Gabi does, and cuddles.
I took Maya to see Dr. Julia yesterday for her 6 month check-up (yes, 6 months already!!) Here are her stats:

• 16.4 lbs (61 %ile)
• 26 inches long (61 %ile)
• 17.5 inch head (90 %ile)

We hope this finds you all healthy, happy, and enjoying the Holiday season! I'm excited for Gabi to help me decorate the tree and house today!

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

A Happy Halloween

We hope you all had a fun halloween! Here are a few pictures of Maya and Gabi in their costumes. Gabi was a giraffe and Maya was an octopus.

The cutest part of the costume!

Trick or Treat, Angie!

Hopefully we got the correct legs buckled in!

Carving a pumpkin!

We trick or treated at Joe's office and the rest of downtown Golden on Friday night. On Saturday, we just visited a few neighbors and friends that were close by.

We're looking forward to my mom coming to visit this weekend. She is even going to watch the girls on Saturday so Joe & I can head up to the Wyoming vs. BYU game in Laramie.

Check back later this week for a link to family pictures that we had taken last Sunday!

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya

Snow Day!

We are getting our first storm of the winter and it is a big one! Meteorologists are saying that Golden has received 30" so far and it is still snowing! Maybe I will get a 3rd snow day from school tomorrow!

Gabi & I ventured out this morning after putting Maya down for a nap. I was hoping to be able to build a snowman, but the snow wasn't wet enough!

Have a great day!

Happy Fall!

Fall has always been our favorite season -- I think it comes from the fond memories that we have from running cross country -- the briskness of the air, the smell of fallen leaves, and the extra motivation to get outside before it gets too cold!

We headed out to Anderson Farms, a little east of Boulder, to celebrate the harvest and pick out some pumpkins. They had all kinds of animals to see (Papa's are better according to Gabi) and we took a hay ride on a tractor ("like Papa's") out to the pumpkin patch. Gabi had a blast and as usual, Maya was just along for the ride, happy as a clam to be out and about.

I think she wants this one. :-)

Riding the barrel train:

Family picture time:

Here are some pictures from the past week or so. We're staying healthy and busy.

Loving my girls:

Take care and happy fall!

Love, Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya

Hall Happenings

We hope this finds you all happy and healthy! Here are some pics and updates from the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!
Gabi & Maya are both doing great. I took them to see Dr. Julia for their 2 year and 4 month old appointments a few weeks ago...here are the stats:



Maya: 24in (50%), 13lbs 12.5oz (50%), 17in head (90%)


Gabi: 35.5in (>90%), 29.2 lbs (80%), ?head(a lot to remember with 2 kids at once!)



Both passed the developmental questions/tests with flying colors. The 3 of us left with a total of 6 shots amongst us -- Maya got the worst of it...poor girl!




We started feeding Maya rice cereal a few weeks ago as well. She is finally getting the hang of it and doesn't make quite as big of a mess as she did in the picture below.



Last week, my friend Char hosted a scrapbooking baby shower for Maya. Everyone made scrapbooking pages for Maya's album. They turned out wonderful and will make putting the album together so easy! I was especially glad that everyone signed the pages that they made, so we will always remember who contributed to the album. Thank you to all that came! Here are some pictures from the party.

Marisol & Maya the drooler!

Morgan, Marisol, Maya, & Danielle playing Ring Around the Rosy

Gabi & her beloved Elmo

Good friends, Donna & Kristine, with Maya

Last Saturday, Joe & I went to the Booklover's Ball, a black tie event benefiting the Denver Public Library. It isn't very often that we get dressed up, so I thought I would put a picture of us that was taken for Black Tie Colorado. Even though we were definitely out of our element and didn't know anyone (except Mayor Hickenlooper & Governor Ritter!), we made the most of it and had a good time. We've decided that our next Saturday night out will be dressed in jeans, joined by good friends, with cold beers in our hands! ;-)

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of Maya. She is such a happy baby -- we have really been blessed. Gabi & Maya have been sleeping in the same room for about a month now and it has gone really well. Both are hard sleepers, so that helps. Maya sleeps from about 8pm - 8am, waking up once around 4/5 to eat and then goes back to sleep. Gabi is just zonked from 8-8. Even our extremely creeky floors don't wake her very often.

We're headed to a pumpkin festival tomorrow and to Marisol's 2nd birthday Sunday. Should be fun!

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya