Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Daniel, Abigail and I really enjoyed the Christmas season this year.  Abigail is at a really fun age now to start enjoying the festivities.  She loved having the Christmas tree and lights up.  Every morning she insisted that we turn on the tree and the lights on the mantle.  And throughout the day I would find her looking intently at the tree, touching each light on the string and the ornaments she could reach.  Abigail also got to meet Santa for the first time!

We attended the Christmas Eve service at church and all the kids were given little battery operated candles.  Abigail was enthralled with hers!  It kept her busy most of the service, holding it up in the air or putting it close to something to light up.  On our way home we drove around our neighborhood, oohing and ahhing at all the beautifully lit up houses.

Daniel made pancakes for Christmas morning breakfast and then we opened gifts.  Abigail quickly got the hang of tearing open the wrapping paper and even helped mommy and daddy with unwrapping our gifts.  Later we went to the park.  It was a beautiful warm day in the mid 60's.

December 29th brought our first snowfall of the season.  We only got about 2 inches of snow during the night and then turned to a rain/snow mix.  Abigail and I put on our snow gear and headed out to play in the snow first thing in the morning.  Abigail wasn't too happy to be outside and just stood there saying, no, no, no."  She liked looking at the snow from inside the warm house, though!

Vote for Abigail!

We have entered Abigail into the 2015 Gerber Baby photo search contest!  We need your help to vote for Abigail's photo.  The child from each age category with the most votes will win.   Please go to https://gerber.promo.eprize.com/photosearch2015/ and click on "Vote Now".  Abigail's entry ID is 156458.  You may visit the site and vote for Abigail once per day through November 24th.  We've also post the voting information on our Facebook pages.  Please vote for Abigail!  And tell your friends, too!

18 Months Old

Abigail is a year and a half!  It has been a lot of fun to watch her grow and change this past month.  She is turning into quite a little girl.  She is continually adding new words to her growing vocabulary.  Her most recent new words are moon and Makwa.  Abigail also loves to play peek-a-boo and dance to music.

This has also been a month full of fun activities.  Daniel's parents spent a week with us and Abigail soaked up the extra attention.  She loved reading and playing with Babu and Bibi.  While they were here we visited the Topsfield Fair and picked apples at a local orchard. 

Saying "buh-buh" to Babu and Bibi

 Peek-a-boo!  I see you!

 Ridin' along in my automobile!

 Smelling a flower



17 Months Old

 

Vacation Fun

Abigail and I just returned home from a trip to Minnesota to visit family.  Daniel joined us for the first part of the trip, but had to fly home earlier to get back to work.  While he was with us we enjoyed time with his extended family and took a drive to the family farm in Esko.  Abigail loved exploring and Daddy loved showing her around!  After Daniel left, Abigail and I went to stay with my parents for an additional week.  We went shopping, played on the backyard playground, and visited a petting zoo full of deer, goats, sheep and ducks.  She even pet a skunk!

Going for a ride with Great Grandma

 

Climbing the slide with her cousin

 

Play Time Moments

 

She's got some moves!

Our 15 Month Old

Our first visit to the neighborhood park!

 

 

Happy 4th of July!



 

Snack time in my toy basket.