SNOW!

We finally got Isabelle out in the snow a couple of weeks ago. She absolutely LOVED it! She helped her dad shovel the driveway by touching, throwing, and eating the snow. Now she brings me her boots to go out and play. She is definitely her father's child when it comes to the snow.

Happy New Year (Only a month late)

We spent the night at Mike's parents, along with his sister, Sharon, and her family.

We had fondue for dinner and it was delicious! It's a great meal to piece on all night til midnight! Mike's dad got a little impatient with the oil heating up and decided to use some outside help. The torch got used later to roast marshmallows.


We played board games and the Wii for a very entertaining evening.


Isabelle wanted nothing to do with the new year's hat. She just screamed. Needless to say, she went to bed and didn't make it to midnight.


We were stuffed from the fondue but still had room for the bubbly at midnight. We celebrated at 10pm (New York's midnight) with the kids and then celebrated again at midnight our time.

California Wedding

My little brother, Matthew, got married between Christmas and New Year's. We left Isabelle and Jake at Mike's mom's and rode down with another brother and his wife, Danny and Karen, who also left kids with grandma. It was like a 3 day double date! Our 9-10 hour drive took 14 hours down and 17 home. It was LONG thanks to snow, blizzards, construction, and wrecks! Danny and Karen kept things interesting and it was quite the memory maker.

Here's a massive collage of some cute snapshots. Click on it to make it bigger.


Some of the girls. We didn't get a girls picture with Mom, Liz and Casey.


Here is all the boys.


The beautiful couple! It was a beatiful wedding. The weather was slightly chilly. I was glad I had my snow boots and a sweater. The reception was very "Father of the Bride." Just perfect! We love Casey and she's a great addition to our family.

Christmas

So after downloading pictures, I realize I have almost no pictures from Christmas events. I guess I was having so much fun I forgot to take pictures. Mike's family has lots of fun Christmas traditions and they all involve lots of people. We stayed at Mike's parents house for the week and had a great time visiting and playing games with family. Mike's sister from Texas came up with her family and his other sister's family also spent a few nights. It was a full house and tons of fun. All the cousins had a great time playing together. There was more than one occasion I couldn't find Isabelle only to find her 2 floors away playing with her cousins having the time of her life. I didn't realize she was old enought to play by herself with cousins! I guess my baby's growing up!

Here's a couple of Christmas morning pictures.

What's better than 1 baby? 2 BABIES! She's hilarious with her dolls. She rocks them and feeds them bottles and pats their back. She's already a little mother.


Isabelle got excited with each toy she got. She didn't quite get the ripping of the paper part, but we couldn't get the toys out of the packaging fast enough for her to play with. It's quite the event to get toys detached from wires, tape, and cardboard!

Isabelles favorite toy is probably her doll stroller. She loves to push all her babies around. It's so cute to watch!

Sunny Florida!!!!

The week before Christmas, we went on a trip to Daytona Beach, Florida with Mike's parents. Sharon and Joe (Mike's sister) and their kids, and Grandma Bird came too. We had a blast!!!! Here's the whole clan. Click on the collages to make them bigger. Too many great pictures!


My favorite part was Disney World! The Christmas lights were beautiful! I had the time of my life. Isabelle was getting cranky by the end, once she was able to walk, she was perfectly happy. She got tired of being held or in the stroller. She loved the rides and was very agreeable the entire day.


St. Augustine and the Daytona Speedway. We toured the oldest fort in North America in St. Augustine. It was very old and interesting. Another day we drove by the famous Daytona Speedway. There were cars speeding by and we just couldn't get enough of the noise! :)


The rest of the time we were at the beach or pool. We got to stay right on the beach. It was great! A couple of days it was a little chilly, but we still spent almost every morning at the beach and pool. The last few days, it was perfect and warm! We built sand castles, rode bikes on the beach, and body boarded to our hearts desires. Isabelle didn't eat very much sand this time, but played with the sand buckets at the beach or pool.


Isabelle's favorite part was the seagulls. She loved to chase them and took off after them every chance she got.

We had such a great trip. Isabelle loved spending time with her cousins and we had a great time with Mike's family. It was sad to come home, but great to come home for the holidays. Christmas posts yet to come.