Unexpected Gift for Christmas

Violet got some teeth for Christmas! Guess which ones!

Riding and Walking Tour of Monterey

Violet's seat in the bike trailer...She was keeping warm.

Koala baby

Sweet face

Cannery Row

 Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving and NPS Winter Ball

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with our neighbors and my friend Amaya and her mother. We were so blessed to share a chilly, but sunny day together. Delicious food and wonderful company. We are so blessed everyday but it was wonderful to share the specific holiday with them.

Here we are in the kitchen after clean-up.

Last year Daniel and I attended a fancy fundraiser dinner at NPS and this year we were invited back. This time under different circumstances. Last year at the beginning of the evening the school's president spoke and then a tenor sang the National Anthem. After the evening was over, some weeks later, Daniel emailed the coordinators and told them I was available to sing this year if they needed it. Well, lo and behold, they emailed Daniel a few months ago and asked if I was still available to sing. Of course I accepted and we were invited to the ball again. Woohoo! It is super fancy evening with beautiful decorations and a great live band playing music all night.

I sang the anthem in the beginning and felt okay about it despite my nerves causing me to start a little higher than planned, but I had taken that into consideration and was practicing it in a lower key. I was glad I sang early on because the rest of the evening was a breeze just chatting with the donors at the table and dancing with Daniel. It was so much fun!

The students and their guests were supposed to line up in the entry as the donors walked into the hall. The entry was lined with all the flags of nations that have sent students to attend the school. Great time of greeting and ushering in the evening

Several rooms were decorated, not just the ballroom. We took a few snaps in the chapel with the pretty trees set-up.

One of my favorite parts of the night was sporting my fur. It was a gift from Daniel's grandmother. She gave me two furs several years ago and I have just been waiting for the right time to wear them. I think she originally thought they would be worn in some stage appearance. Well, I felt like I should be on stage in this thing. It was lovely as a little cape over my dress. Just perfect for the chilly night.

Thank you so much for the furs Grandma Scherer. I can't wait to wear them again!

We had a wonderful evening. I wish we could be here next year for it again. Enchanting evening with my handsome Marine, I couldn't ask for more!

MD Visit and Cousin's Wedding

A few weeks ago Violet and I flew back to Maryland for a visit with family. We stayed several days at my parent's home and Sarah and Andrew came up to visit while we were there. Violet and I visited Lauren and Kris at work the first full day in Maryland and that was a real treat.

Vi enjoyed the snuggles.

Violet with her Nonni, learning how to use the shape sorter.

Uncle Andrew flying Violet around in a box. :)

While we were back east we drove down to Alabama for some time with my aunt, uncle and cousins. We spent several days in the forest where they have a cozy place just right for getting "away from it all". We loved it. Violet got to see several different kinds of animals and ride around on a mule (not the animal, the motorized cart kind) for a tour of the forest. She really enjoyed it. My aunt borrowed a walker for her to play in while we were there and Vi really got the hang of it. By the time we had to leave she was running in it and lifting her legs so she could continue moving in it...really fun to watch!

Violet with her Great Uncle Jimmy. He is my Dad's older brother. Vi is blowing kisses in the picture. That won over a few hearts.

On Friday night before we drove back up to Maryland we went to my cousin's wedding. It was a sweet ceremony and reception.

Here I am with two of my cousins, Jill and Lauren. We served cake and punch.

The pretty bride, Hilary.

When we got back to Maryland we had a couple of relaxing days before we flew west to return to Daniel. We had a great visit with family!

Poppa with his Violet. She loved time with her Poppa.

He made her this cute stool. It is purple and just the right size for a little one.

Nonni and Poppa got a set of instruments for children. We enjoyed playing with them the whole time. Vi learned how to blow in the recorder and she was demonstrating as she modeled her new stool.

Thank you family for the sweet visit. I am so thankful we were able to make it back.

XXOO

Happenings

We have had a steady flow of activity around here keeping the family busy, but not too busy. I don't like to be to busy anymore. (It is funny how things change over time.)

The World Series was a great chance to get together with the dear Reynolds family. We enjoyed every minute watching game 4. The boys even opened up new packs of baseball cards, and I know it brought back some good memories of watching baseball as a boy for Daniel.

I planned a craft for our newest family member (soon to arrive any day now) months ago and was happy to complete it this weekend. I planned on sewing some little birds together and making a mobile for the baby room. Without talking with Meghan, my sister-in-law, about my craft idea she decorated the new nursery with birds. I was overjoyed when I saw the pictures and I hope the bird mobile works well in the already lovely nursery. It will be the perfect nursery once baby girl or boy makes it home. We are so excited for you guys!!

This past weekend we stayed busy. Saturday evening we celebrated he Marine Corps birthday with the Birthday Ball. The actual birthday is November 10th. We are celebrating 235 years that the Marines have protected our nation's freedom!

This year we invited our neighbors to go as guests and we had a lot of fun! The ball was held at a local hotel and this year they had a theme of Casino Royale. During dinner they had a professional dance duo come out on the dance floor and do a tango routine for everyone. After dinner there was a room set aside with casino game tables set up. There was no exchange of money. Every person present was given a ticket to redeem for $500 (fake moola) worth of chips to play some games. No one could buy more. You just had to play with what you had. Being the casino lover I am (all sarcasm here), I lost my chips in about 15 minutes. I enjoyed learning how to play blackjack though. They also had tables of roulette and craps available. At the end of the night the top three people with the most chips won prizes. It was a nice spin on the evening activities.

The DJ was pretty fantastic and Daniel and I danced for probably half the time he played songs. It was so much fun! The guest of honor told all the Marines they had to dance with their date at least for two songs. Daniel exceeded that requirement and it made this one happy wife. Our neighbors enjoyed dancing as well. All in all it was a wonderful night and we were happy to have them join us for the evening.
The crew

The gentlemen

The ladies

Wendy showing off her massive amount of chips. :)

So much fun!

Sunday afternoon we celebrated our friend's son's birthday. He was turning one! They are moving next month and it will be a sad goodbye. I have been able to get close to the mommas and babies that were at the party through playdates, and all three of them are moving in December. It is always different being the one left behind.

Adorable cupcakes

Rebecca and birthday boy

Bradley and baby girl. This sweet family will be moving in December as well. :(

Daniel feeding Vi some cupcake

Brief snuggles before returning to the ground to play

Our little pumpkin

We had a special time celebrating and eating Rebecca's amazing feast and yummy desserts. She is an excellent cook.

We have been abundantly blessed with dear friendships in this place. We are very thankful!

Olives

Daniel and I love olives. We always have. We both recall stories our families have told about our great olive consumption. We both were fond of putting whole olives on our fingers and eating them.

We are proud to discover our love of olives has been passed down to Violet. :)

Posing with Daddy

Getting the hang of it.

Enjoying the chopped up olives. Fit for a Violet sized mouth.

Daddy moves in for a bite. :)

YUM YUM

One-Year Photo Shoot

We know a young woman from our church that is currently taking several photography classes and was wanting some more portrait experience. We decided we would love to have her do Vi's one year shots. I had seen some of her pictures on facebook and she is very talented. It helps that she is super energetic and very friendly, a wonderful person to spend time with!

We are getting a taste of some of the shots she took last Friday and I can't wait to see more. They will be posted soon enough. Here are a few so far...

I can't wait to see the rest!!

Happy Birthday One Day Late!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

We love you so much!

Our Birthday Girl

Last Tuesday was Violet's birthday. My Dad arrived Wednesday night and we had a sweet visit with him. Violet seemed to enjoy every minute with her Poppa, and for that we are very thankful. As I had alluded to, she has been going through a clingy stage lately and we were glad to see it coming to an end during my Dad's visit. It can be pretty miserable when you can't pass the baby off to someone else, much less walk out of the room. She is better now and we are thankful for her attachment to her parents. It is as it should be.

Tuesday evening a quick family picture of Violet when she turned one.

Saturday we kicked off the party at noon with hot dogs and the fixins'. We had a combined birthday with our neighbors daughter since Violet and her were turning one one week apart.

We were thankful for warm weather after several overcast chilly days.

The cake was ready and so were the girls.

Vi dug right in. She knew what to do with the cake. EAT UP!

Sweet presents were shared. 

The tu-tu was worn. What better day to wear it than the birthday party day!

Birthday girls!

Violet's own crayons. To be used at a future date. :)

Sweet Niya-girl.

Some of the party decorations.

Yeah for our one year old!

The girls!

The cake before she dove in.

 The sharing of the cake. :)

Pillowcase dress from Wendy, our neighbor. So pretty!

We had a special day with our big girl. She really is changing in so many ways so quickly. Still no teeth and real crawling, but she is learning new sounds and words daily. She is beginning to be quite the cruiser around our couch and she is in general changing to look like a big girl. God has blessed us abundantly with her little life. This past year has been so sweet.

Thank you family and friends for making her birthday a special one. The sweet cards and gifts are treasures. Love y'all.