A birthday for the littlest Lady

 

Here is the littlest Lady on her big day. 

She is sitting at a little table that our friend Claudia sat at when she was 1.  

She even let me put a huge headband in her hair-and didn't rip it out! A miracle! 

We celebrated with a pool party at Steve and Peggy's with grilled fish that  Evan, Don and the girls caught.  It was a fabulous night.  

I remembered her birth: how I thought it was never going to end, but having this easy, happy, content baby at the end.  

She truly is such a joy to have around.  

Love her.   

The time has come........

Hey hey everyone! 

We are going private. 

Not sure how many readers there are out there-but I would love to keep you updated.  You know, like 5 posts a year! Ha! Going to go private by Friday.  

Send me your email to keep updated. 

Thanks for reading!

Lexington

 Maya and her fish she caught.  She was so happy to catch the fish, but not as happy to pose with it!

 Brynn and Maya looking through the door at Chipper the dog.  Poor Chipper received way too much attention by those two.  He is such a sweet, kind dog.  Zoe, however did not like him, and steered clear of him the days we were in Lexington. 

 A good friend of mine-Jorge Piercy.  I helped him find some shoes that fit when I worked at Walkabout  and we became friends.  He has extremely small feet, and is from Columbia originally.  Such a great man.

 House Mountain on the right.  The sky and mountains were incredible the days we spent in Lexington. 

 Maya, Brynn and Don Ellis.  This dear man is responsible for teaching Evan how to fly fish.  Don learned how to fish in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  Evan and I met Don and his lovely wife Claudia at the Christmas parade in Lexington in 2005. They are wonderful people.  He and Evan took Maya and Brynn fishing one afternoon.  They had a fabulous time and brought home trout to eat-it was delicious. 

 Brynn holding the fish-she wanted to remind me that she wasn't scared to hold the fish.

 Maya holding her fish.  She was hesitant, but then she did it!

 Izzy on her b-ba-birthday! 

 Zoe at the Riethmiller's home.  It's out in the country and has the best views.  We celebrated Izzy's birthday out there.

 In the pool at Riethmiller's.  And with this picture that I think it's time to grow the hair out.  :)

 Evan with his favorite Professor, Brian Murchison.  An amazing guy. 

 The Virginia country-Possum Hollow Road.  Yes, that's really the name of the road.  :)

 The ladies at Riethmiller's swimming. 

 Looking for snails in the grass with our good friend Russ.  He lives in an old schoolhouse out in the country and we spent many nights at his place that included bonfires and banjos.  Good memories!

 Evan with the girls on VMI grounds. 

 Don, Izzy and me on Izzy's birthday.  She celebrated with carrot cake star cupcakes.  Claudia and I were able to go antiquing one day while we were there, and found some little tin stars for baking. 

 Zoe + Dad.

 The sky on the night of Izzy's Birthday.  Happy Birthday, Izzy! 

 Evan's mentor Sally Wiant-an amazing lady.  Evan worked for her and she has become a dear friend.

 Somehow, this is the only picture I have of Claudia!  Here she is with the girls.  She has an incredible way with kids-bonding with each of them.  She knows just what they like, how to keep them entertained and was so kind to entertain us for five days.  Thank you Don and Claudia!

Steve and Peggy Riethmiller-another lovely couple.  Had such a fun time catching up with them.  Thank you for letting us swim and use your house for Izzy's party! 

For our vacation this year we decided to return to Lexington Virginia.  We spent three glorious years there from 2005-2008.  I couldn't believe that it had been five years since being there.  We stayed with our dear friends the Ellis'. 

Driving in from the West through West Virginia my heart leapt a bit.  We drove that road quite a bit during law school.  It made me so happy to be driving back to Virginia.  I have really missed that place.  Ah, the mountains!  The greenness!  The rolling hills!  Lexington, the tiny town tucked in the Blue Ridge mountains.  We absolutely loved our time in Lexington.  We added Maya to our family there, grew as a couple and made really dear friends.  

 

Don and Claudia live in a house that dates back to just after the civil war.  It is amazing.  Claudia is a master gardener and her yard is blooming with lots of flowers and greenery.  We tried some delicious shrimp from the coast, and ate many dinners outside.  The girls loved Chipper the dog, and kept asking me when we were getting a dog.  

 

I was able to see the old store where I worked called Walkabout.  It was great to be back and see my old boss Kirk.  I met up with my coworker Buddy who has the energy of a teenager and we listenened to some local Lexington music.  

 

And we celebrated Izzy's birthday-which deserves some pictures of it's own.  It was a great trip.  I was reminded of all the fun memories in that little town.  And someday I would love to live there again.  

 

Thanks to all the lovely Lexington folks:  the Ellis', the Riethmiller's, Jorge, Sally, Kirk and Tina, Russ and Buddy-what a great trip!  Until next time.  

 

 

 

Baltimore

 Wockenfuss chocolate.  Only the best chocolate in the world.  The Sanchez family introduced me to this deliciousness the first time I visited Baltimore in 2001.  And this time when we arrived at Deb and Sadie's house, there was a lovely two pound box of almond bark-my absolute favorite.  And you can bet it was gone within two days. 

 Sadie Lady.  She is the reason that Evan and I were ever introduced.  Thank you Sadie!!

 Sadie, Brynn and Mark, Sadie's boyfriend and coolest man ever.  Here they are making cookies.  And he played about 492 games of memory along with some puzzles, and tag around the house with the girls.  My girls absolutely adored this guy. 

 Zoe anticipating the cookies.  You can't see it here so well, but she has some spots where I did not do so great of a job with the sunscreen.  Poor little lady. 

 The coveted stuffed animals at the Sanchez house.  These never left the girls' sides the entire time we were there.

 Grammie Debbie is the best. Deb and Sadie had puzzles and the memory game awaiting the girls, which they absolutely loved.

 Grammie Debbie and Izzy.

 So sad this picture is out of focus!  This is Deb doing the hula!  And she rocked it!!

 Hours of coloring fun on the mini trampoline.

 Memory game with Mark.  Izzy is contemplating eating the pieces.

 Everything Deb said Brynn thought was hilarious! I love this picture of the two of them. 

 Deb + Brynn

 Downtown Baltimore.

 Grammie Debbie and the girls on our way to the aquarium.

 Izzy not having it as Sadie holds her. 

 Maya loved this snake at the aquarium.  Evan and I have told her that she can have snakes when she is 18 and moves out of the house. :)  Until then she is stuck with fish and hermit crabs. 

 Brynn and me being goobers.

 Oh humidity and my poor hair.  But!  A family picture! 

 Waiting at Matthew's Pizza.

 Brynn and Maya checking out the marble steps in Baltimore. 

 A family picture in front of the BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD. This could be our next Christmas card!  Seriously, if you live on the east coast, you need to eat at Matthew's. 

 Maya + Sadie Lady.

 I met Sadie Lady in 1999 when we were freshmen at Utah State.  She is responsible for introducing me to Evan!  We roomed together after freshman year, and in 2001 I went to Baltimore for the first time.  I was introduced to crab, the Atlantic ocean, wockenfuss chocolate, Matthew's pizza and it was just a blast to see where Sadie gets her personality from-her Dad, Joe.  Deb and Joe became my second parents, and referred to me as the 'good daughter.'  Evan and I went to Baltimore in 2004 when Evan did an internship, and we partied with the Sanchez's all summer long.  Then in 2005, Joe passed away, and we were in Virginia for school.  We were able to spend lots of wonderful time with the Sanchez ladies because we were just a few hours away.  This trip was so fabulous to let my girls see how fun the Sanchez ladies + Mark are!  Love me some Baltimore time!

The Beach

 Brynn checking out the Atlantic for the first time ever.

 Maya + Mika.  These two are about nine months apart.  Little besties.

 Brynn loving that another wave is coming!

 Maya about to run from waves-she could have stayed right there all day. 

 The ponies!!

 Mr. Puffer fish who dined with us at our beach bonfire.

 First thing Izzy did when placed in the sand was grab a handful and shove it in her mouth.  She was so happy!

 Brynn loved drawing pictures in the sand and then having Evan or I take pictures of them.

 Zoe loved digging in the sand.  She was always the one with the most in her hair at the end of the day!

 Maya watching the ocean. 

 Our souped up golf cart we took around the island.  Best sweet cash we spent!  I drove the little car with the littles while Evan and Maya rode a scooter. 

 Zoe sat up front and thought it was the best thing ever.  It was pretty hilarious to see others facial responses when we would cruise by with three car seats in that thing.

 This is Dagny, with her darling Mama Dalynn behind her.  She and Izzy are just one month apart.  Love her.

 This is the only pic I have of the Dads.  Evan and Daniel met as missionaries in Argentina. 

 And this is the only pic of Maren who is 3.  She is the happiest little lady. 

 Mika 7 1/2. 

 Ember who is 6.  Love those freckles across her nose and cheeks!

 The girls digging in a pit on the beach. 

 Sunset on the water-my favorite.

 Izzy + me.

 Taking Zoe on the scooter.

 She was sitting in her car seat outside of the hotel while Evan and I loaded up our car.  So happy to just sit and have a snack in her car seat. 

 The lighthouse on the island.

 Just doing her favorite thing.

 Izzy + Daddy.

 She is squealing here, you just can't hear it!

 

She did not want to leave the beach.

We partied out in Virginia and Maryland for our summer vacation this year, and it did not disappoint.  We met up with our fabulous friends the Thomas' who also have four girls who are in close age proximity to ours, which means they had the best time.  We played in the ocean as much as we could, had a bonfire, watched a guy catch manta rays out of the ocean, drove our scooters all over the place, had the best ice cream and our girls are still talking about how they a) wished we lived at the ocean and b) want to know when we are going back.  It was the best.