Scott, Becky, and Amaya's blog

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

It was a happy New Year's indeed. Whenever New Year's Eve lands on a weekday, which is most years, it is "end of month" for Scott. The last business day of every month is a big day at Scott's work. He goes in early and works late. So needless to say, when NYE is on a weekday, we keep our celebrating pretty low-key. This year with NYE being on a Saturday, we decided to "do it right" and take advantage of neither of us working 12/31 or 1/1. Amaya got to go to a slumber party with Papa Jerry and Grandma Cindy and Scott and I got to have a night to remember out with fabulous friends. We had a blast ringing in 2012. Thanks to Mae, we even had an 11-passenger vehicle arranged to take us all home. This way, everyone was able to have a good time. Here are two photos that are safe to show. The rest were viewed once by the gang together and destroyed, "Hangover"-style. Happy New Year, everyone.

A December to Remember

2011-12-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

GINGERBREAD HOUSE MAKING

COOKIE BAKING...AND EATING

CHRISTMAS SINGING

HOLIDAY PARTYING

SANTA VISITING

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATING (#1)

FIELD TRIP TAKING

CHRISTMAS TREE ROCKING

CHRISTMAS TRAVELING

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATING (#2)

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATING (#3)

COUSIN BONDING

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATING (#4)

Some Snapshots from November

2011-12-04T09:38:00.001-08:00

November was another busy and fun month. As seen in previous blogpost, it was kicked off with a girls weekend in Vegas for me. Then came our annual journey to the Frozen Tundra. Amaya stayed with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry while we were gone and she got to get a mani/pedi again just like last year. See pics below. Next came a weekend of fun with Zoo Lights and Breaking Dawn. And the last weekend brought Thanksgiving, Christmas activities and Zackary's (Amaya's bff at pre-K) birthday party.

Clay and Becky
Sar and Jer

Now that's friendship!

I love these fingers and toes....

this silly face...

and that beautiful smile.

We sure missed this little munchkin while we were gone!

Zoo Lights with fabulous friends.

What a cute family!

Daddy-daughter carousel time.

Snuggling with Santa.

Amaya and Aleah ready to cheer for their team.

This baby carrier was a toy I had as a young girl.

Amaya even insisted on bringing Aleah to B-dubbs to watch the game, with the infant carrier. She makes a great little mommy.

Zackary and Amaya

Amaya and Zachary were so cute at Zachary's party! They rarely left each other's side for almost 3 hours. They climbed, slided, played games, won tickets, bought lizards and army men, played more games, won more tickets, bought more lizards and army men, ate together, and played somemore. Amaya was even right by Zach's side as he opened gifts. Then their pre-k teacher said ever since the party, they are inseparable during school, too. So sweet. They light up when they see each other. I love watching childhood friendships blossom and develop.

October- part 2...and a little Nov.

2011-11-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

FALL FESTIVAL

at Amaya's Preschool

petting zoo

"pony" rides

The ponies looked like horses to me.

Amaya loved riding the "pony." But the "pony" got a little skiddish causing mom and dad's hearts to skip a couple beats.

ballon creatures

Amaya sliding with Ilayda and Taylor (wish I captured Danica in the picture, too).

Amaya and Adia: sisters from another mother.

Miss Vicki and her band rocking it out.

Check out the sword fight.

Ellie and Adia: sisters from the same mother.

train time

AN INTRODUCTION TO BOWLING

After the fall festival, we went bowling with friends.

The girls had a BLAST, and so did the parents.

Amaya

Adia

Ellie

SCHNEPF FARM

a few snapshots from our annual outing at schnepf farm

Feeding....

admiring....

petting.

I love, love, love this picture. Brooklyn and Amaya, holding hands, waiting for their turn to ride.

Adia, dreaming of bumble bees.

The 3 Bumble-teers.

I love, love, love this picture even more. So sweet!

Brooklyn and Amaya

Adia, Alexis, and Ellie.

Whoa....where'd Alexis go? ;)

Whoa, where'd Alexis go again? I tried getting a pic of the two little ones together. But that teeny-tiny Alexis is fast. I had better luck on Halloween.

HALLOWEEN

Rapunzel and Pascal

pre-k party time

trick or treat time

VEGAS

What happens in Vegas stay in Vegas. But I just have to say thanks to the Anjee's 40th crew for a fabulous weekend. So. Much. Fun. We had a no-posting pics pact, but since this pic was taken at the airport, it's exempt. So here is the one picture I can share. Oh, and I have to add that I won so much money gambling that I paid for my entire trip and then some. Booya! Can't wait until next year girls!

October....so far.

2011-10-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Visitors

Kasey, Connor, Amaya and I, circa 2011.

Amaya and Connor, circa 2007.

Kasey, Connor, Amaya and I, circa 2007

Love those dimples!

Amaya and Connor then......

.....and now.

We've visited MSP as a family twice since Amaya and Connor were born, but this is "Amaya and Connor then and now AZ style."

Pumpkin Patch

Hiking at Silly Mountain

September.....barely

2011-09-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

September was a busy month. It has flown by and I almost didn't get a blog post done. Whew. I made it. Barely. So that means that I have managed to blog at least once a month in 2011 so far. We shall see what the rest of the year brings.

GRANDPARENTS DAY AT PRE-K

TAYLOR'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
JAXON'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

DONUTS FOR DAD DAY AT PRE-K

First Day of Pre-K (and other fun stuff)

2011-08-08T14:03:00.001-07:00

First Day of Pre-K

Before we left the house for pre-k, I asked Amaya if I could take a quick picture. She proceeds to pose like she's doing a photo shoot for a magazine. The following pictures are the result. Where do they learn this stuff? You'd think she's been to a modeling academy or something. Granted....she has "modeled" in the past. Twice. Both times as a baby. Don't think that's where she learned this. Funny. She makes us laugh. (I suddenly remember my m-i-l telling me how much of a ham Scott was as a young child. Connection? Possibly.)

Fourth of July Time

Bath Time

Amaya's new thing is lining up all her little bath friends and having them take turns going down her Dora bath slide. Weeee! Fun times.

Play Time

Computer Time

Waterslide Time

Pool Time

Movie Time

Dance Time

Amaya had so much fun dancing, dancing, dancing we had to physically remove her from the stage as the sun was going down and it was nearing her bedtime. This was during our stay-cation with friends at the Arizona Grand Resort. Watching her move and groove to the music made me think we should pull her out of tap and ballet and put her in hip hop. We don't know where she gets her moves. It was hilarious. I wish I had my video camera handy. Now granted, the majority of the songs were Black Eyed Peas songs and ask those who know her best and they will tell you how she loves the Black Eyed Peas. So it was her music. Clearly she was in her element.

Parent's Night Out Time (at the gym)

Amaya loves, loves, loves her "gym parties." Her two bestest gym buddies for 3 years now, Avery and K.J., are always in attendance, also, and we hear the trio is usually inseparable. This past month one of the "teachers" photographed the event and she was nice enough to email me the photos. Thanks Naomi. So now we get to see for ourselves what goes on while we are away.

Avery, Amaya and K.J. making caterpillars out of egg cartons.

A and A, painting away.

There they are again, play-doh time.

And again.

Yum, pizza.

The night always ends with a movie. You can see the trio watching in the background. When we arrived to pick up Amaya, K.J. and Amaya were walking around holding hands. It was so cute and sweet. She later told us she is going to marry K.J. K.J. is a great kid so we are cool with that. We simply requested that she have an 18 year engagement.

Quality Cousin Time-South Dakota Style

2011-07-16T10:15:00.001-07:00

I am finally blogging pics from our SoDak visit. Don't have much time, so I will have to let the pictures speak for themselves. We had a fabulous time visiting family and friends. As usual, I wasn't the best about snapping pictures. But at least I got the camera out during our trips to the Sioux Falls and the zoo, and a couple other times.

Grandma K. with 6 of her 9 great-grandkids.

Minot Flooding

2011-06-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from facebook friends of my hometown flooding. Most of these pictures are from today. There just aren't words. If you feel like helping out my hometown, check out http://www.minotredcross.org/.

Roosevelt Pool-many memories of summer fun there
Corbett Field- countless memories made here watching Scott play baseball.

First Lutheran Church-my favorite memory was 6-7-97 (wedding day) ;)

more baseball fields and homes

Minot Country Club- memories of swimming and golfing.

Minot Country Club entrance

Souris Valley Golf course: a before picture from fall time and now

Minot Public Library

Lake Darling Dam 6/24/11 at 10a.m.

more homes

and more homes

trailer homes floating into each other

Enough commentary.....the pictures speak for themselves. It's a sad day for Minot. But, North Dakotans are strong people and know how to come together as a community. They will rise up from this. Just praying for everyone to stay safe!

A Few Special Moments

2011-06-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

Donuts for Dad at Preschool

Post Donuts for Dad

Amaya and Her Fabulous Preschool Teacher Mrs. Gretchen

Last Day of School

(She insisted I photograph her "Rapunzel" hair first. She continues to be anti-haircut.)

Story Time with Daddy

Tennis Time= So. Much. Fun.

Amaya as Rapunzel

Follow up to yesterdays blog post....

2011-05-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

.......we did indeed find her in her fort this morning. She insisted the hard, tile floor was comfie. Below are photos from tonight. Yup.....she wanted to sleep in her fort again. I see camping in her future. :)

Randomness- Part Two

2011-05-09T18:47:00.001-07:00

I set the goal to take more pics of special moments in Amaya's life. Special everyday moments are easy to capture. It's the special moments with family and friends that don't get captured enough. I think it's because you get wrapped up enjoying the moments with your family and/or friends, that the next thing you know the event it over and you forgot to take out the camera. I shall keep trying! Meanwhile, here are more random but wonderful moments from Amaya's life.

Amaya and I built a fort this afternoon and she decided she wanted to sleep in it tonight. Really? On the hard, tile floor? So here she is with her pillow, blanket, blankie, and doll, ready to go to sleep. Once she got settled I thought for sure she'd change her mind for the obvious reasons. But no, she fell fast asleep and 3 hours later she is still there, sleeping soundly and peacefully. So sweet. Will she still be there in the morning? My money is on no, but I wouldn't be surprised.

EASTER

I managed to get a photo of Amaya outside of church on Easter and checking out her Easter basket. But I neglected to get any photos of Amaya hunting for Easter eggs, having brunch with her friends Adia and Elliana, or having dinner with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry. :(

Scooter Time

Another special everyday moment.

AFTERNOON IN THE PARK

Amaya loved listening to a local band perform in the town center at Verrado with Grandma and Grandpa. The music inspired her to hop up on her own little "stage" and bust a groove. It was a precious moment.

SHOPAHOLIC

Amaya loves shopping and Amaya loves shoes, specifically heels. Wait until she's had to walk in heals for several hours. :)

Though she does rock a peep-toe pump!

A reminder that she's thankfully still just a little girl. A sweet little girl... most of the time;).

MUFFINS FOR MOMS

Amaya sweetly invited me to her preschool for Muffins for Moms, where she served me delicious muffins and juice. Before eating all the kids pampered their moms by doing their hair. Then after eating we all got awards, which were all different but equally funny. They were very clever....each award was a theater size box of candy and the name of the candy was indicative of the award. For example, I got the sweetheart award and Amaya said it was because "my mommy's favorite thing to do is love me." Melt. My. Heart! Amaya also made me a book entitled "My Mom Becky and I." It had fill in the blank sentences in it and it is soooo funny how the blanks were filled in. I love it when my mom (takes me to get a burger). My mom's favorite thing to do is (love me). My mom is (20) years old. My mom weights (39) pounds. My mom is cuter than (my dad). My mom and I like to play (games).

FUN WITH FRIENDS

Feeding the ducks.

Sweet baby ducks with their momma.

Teeter totter fun.

Amaya wasn't impressed with the movement of the teeter totter. She wanted a better thrill. So......

.....she found a way to make it more fun.

She got that teeter totter to bob and bounce to her friends delight.

Laughter and giggles and squeals aplenty.

Randomness

2011-04-21T11:05:00.001-07:00

Randomness...this is what I have to name my latest blog entry because I have been so bad about taking pictures lately. :( I should have a blog entry titled "Family Bonding" with pictures from visits by Uncle Chad, Uncle Brian, and both sets of grandparents. I should also have a blog entry titled "Birthday Fun" with pictures from Will's, Maxdyn's and Adia's birthday parties. And it would be fun to have another playdate blog entry since it's been awhile since I have blogged about playdates. Amaya's has had some fun and fabulous playdates lately! So, I am setting a goal for myself to capture in pictures more moments like those mentioned above. For now....here are a few "random" pictures.

Sleeping Beauty: Children look so sweet when they sleep. Amaya doesn't usually nap, but on this particular day she was wiped out. She fell asleep at 5pm and slept until her usual time the next morning. Her usual bedtime is 730 or 8pm. She even stayed sleeping while we put her pajamas on. Had to be a growth spurt.

Scary monsters: Amaya has been having scary dreams lately. Sometimes we find her asleep on our bedroom floor in the morning. This is how we found her on one of those mornings...sound asleep with her head under our bed. Did she randomly roll into this position or was this intentional to hide from the scary monsters? I decided not to ask. Come daylight, it's best to let all thoughts and talk of scary monsters fade away into the sunshine.

Polka dot princess: Thank you Great-Grandma Keiser for this adorable dress. I love it!

Amaya's Four-Year Pictures

2011-04-04T16:26:00.001-07:00

(For those that like to read blogs and not just look at pics, I apologize. Blogger wouldn't let me make paragraphs for some reason. Even though I made multiple paragraphs when creating this post and retried a few times, upon publishing, the typed part would always appear as one long paragraph. Perhaps because the typed portion is "a little" long. :) I put in asterisks to break up the typed portion a bit.) ****Can it be? Amaya is now four. No longer a baby. No longer a toddler. Now a kid, a child. Growing up and on her way to independence. She is already striving for that. Amaya likes to do things for herself. "I can do it" is a phrase we hear frequently. She doesn't want help. ****She also has a clear idea about what she wants to do and when. When that differs from what mom or dad wants her to do, she will debate the issue with determination and fortitude. She doesn't give up easily. We have to be strong and unrelenting so that Amaya doesn't take over the roles of CEO and CFO of the household. But trust me, somedays it is hard not to cave. Perhaps she will be on debate team when she is older. Maybe law will be in her future. Scott and I agree we wouldn't want to face her in court. ****She even makes sound and rational arguments when pleading her case. Example: me- "No Amaya, you can't eat your cupcake until after dinner." her-"If you let me eat my cupcake now, I will eat my dinner." me-"Um, no, that's not how it works." her-"How about one bite, then I can have my dinner." me- "No Amaya." her "If you let me have a bite I will be a good girl." me "If you're not a good girl, you won't get it all." her-"O.k. How about I can have the cupcake after dinner." She says the last comment as if it was her idea. Example two: If we are busy cleaning, making dinner, working on a project or something like that but she wants you to come see something or play something, she will say things like "come and play princess castel and then you can make dinner" and she will say come, come, come now, come, come while pulling on our arm or hand until we cave. In these scenarios we usually do cave because she just doesn't give up. She will pull and say come until the cows come home. And she knows by now she usally wins those battles. ****At four, Amaya enjoys learning about any and everything. She is a typical preschooler in that regard, asking countless questions everyday. She continues to love storytime and likes to "read" to us or her babies. She continues to work on writing her letters and numbers and can write her own version of her name. She spells it AMA or AMAA. It's crazy how proud I felt the first time I saw one her drawings with a AMA written at the bottom. I can only imagine how proud I will feel when she graduates high school. ****Amaya continues to enjoy swimming, dance, soccer and running. She loves the Disney princesses. Her favorite movies are Tangled and the Toy Story trio. She loves the whole Toy Story gang. She is a thrill seeker and loves roller coasters/rides. She has recently fallen in love with drawing and goes through reams of paper weekly it seems (slight exaggeration). Her fave foods are to numerous to list. So far the only food she doesn't like is bananas. She will eat anything else and lots of it! She continues to be very loving and sweet, but does have her moments, let me tell you. Though those moments are usually when she is hungary or tired...or wants something we've said no, too. She is definitely learning that no means no, though, and having a "moment" over it will only cause her to lose priveleges. So moments are fewer and further in between. ****We continue to feel blessed to have our little princess in our lives. She has caused us numerous smiles, chuckles, fits of rolling laughter and heart-melting moments. So many precious memories already. We are looking forward to another year of them. Each year just gets better and better. We love this little girl so very much! More and more each day. Here are some of our faves from her four-year pictures.

March Highlights

2011-03-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

March has been a fun and fabulous month for Amaya. Here are some pictures from the highlights.

Amaya got to spend some quality time with Grandma Kim and Papa John.

Then Amaya went on her first tv commercial audition and she landed the job. Here she is in hair and make up. She enjoyed that part so much we played beauty parlor when we got home that afternoon.

Here Amaya is with her co-star James Taylor. That's his real name, I swear.

The crew setting up.

Amaya and James passing the time by playing hop scotch on the stone walkway.

Then they decided to go for a stroll. They spontaneously grabbed each others hands and began walking. It was sooooo sweet. A couple of the crew made comments about how cute they were and a few asked if they either knew each other before, no, or if they were siblings, no. Just hit it off from hello.

Meeting their co-stars.

More strolling as the crew is getting ready. It was a cool but beautiful morning.

Last minute touch ups.

Amaya was so excited for them to hand over the puppies!

Almost go time.

Once they called action, I put my camera away. I was pretty certain my taking pictures during the shoot wouldn't be appreciated. :)

Overall it was a great experience for Amaya. She had fun and when we were done she didn't want to leave. It was a fun experience for me, too. It was neat to see the production process and all that goes into a commercial shoot.

-That brings me to Amaya's 4th Birthday Celebration at..............

........DISNEYLAND

-We were able to keep Disneyland a secret until we were heading to the park on day 1. It was fun to surprise Amaya. She didn't know that Grandma Cindy and Papa Jerry would be joining us either. We had a blast riding rides and roller coasters, seeing shows, and meeting mice, princesses and fairies.

-Our little thrill seeker continued being just that preferring the regular rides over the kiddie rides. She just barely made the height requirement with not a centimeter to spare. Phew. She rode Big Thunder Mountian Railroad 3 times. She even rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds. She loved "Soaring Over California." That was one of her faves. Finding Nemo, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, Astro Orbitor, and Toy Story Mania were also faves of hers. Scott and I utilized grandma and grandpa's services to ride Califonia Screamin' 3 times and Tower of Terror. It only took us a total of about an hour for all 4 rides thanks to Fastpasses.

-For shows we saw World of Color, Aladdin the musical, and Fantasmic, among other little side shows. We hit disney hardest on Tuesday, spending 15 hours straight in the park. That was Amaya's actual birthday and the day we dined with the princesses. Amaya loved meeting and chatting with the princesses. I soooo wish I could've heard the conversations! I am sure they would have been a mixture of sweet and comical.

-Overall, we had a blast and look forward to going back sometime. It truly is a magical place!

The pictures for the most part explain themselves. But this picture requires a little explaination. By the time we met Repunzel and Flynn it had warmed up outside. Waiting in line, I had asked Amaya if she wanted to take off her sweatshirt. She refused adamently. When she met Repunzel, the reason was apparent. She wanted to surprise Repunzel with the fact that she was wearing a Repunzel t-shirt. She walked up to her and unzipped her sweatshirt, proudly pointing to what she was wearing underneath. It was so cute. Amaya also inquired as to why she had shoes on, since she didn't wear shoes in the movie. And she was wondering where Pascal was. Flynn told her he was playing hide and seek. Oh, such memories we made on this trip!

-When we returned home, we had a little birthday party with just Scott, Amaya and I. Her birthday present was Disneyland and her birthday party was the fancy lunch with the princesses. But for months she's been telling us that she wants a Rapunzel cake for her birthday party, so we decided to get her a little birthday cake so we could celebrate again and open presents sent by family.

She got Woody from gma Kim and papa John. She also got a Slinky the Dog from gma Cindy and papa Jerry. So now she practically has the whole gang. Thank goodness she has a full-size bed! :)

Packers Win!

2011-02-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

Our Little Packer Backer (aka Aaron Rodgers biggest fan)

Our household is still reveling in the Super Bowl win by our beloved Packers. A huge congrats to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, and all of our fellow Packer Backers. Let's do it again! :) No strike, no strike.

Amaya's First Heartbreak

2011-02-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

Since the first week of preschool, Amaya and Mia have been inseparable. We call them preschool bff's. But sadly, Mia is moving to Florida. Kim, Mia's mom, and I took the girls out for lunch after preschool yesterday for one last playdate. Mia, Amaya will miss you so!!! Good luck in Florida!

While Mom and Dad are Away, Amaya Will Play

2011-01-21T16:33:00.001-08:00

While we were away, Amaya got to have fun, fun, fun with Grandma Cindy and Papa Jerry. The following pictures are courtesy of them.

Sliding and
swinging are

exhausting.

Grandma Cindy took Amaya to Alexis's birthday party where there was a bounce house, petting zoo, and horseback riding.

Clearly Amaya had a ball.

Onto the highlight, horseback riding.

Amaya loves, loves, loves horses, so this was a dream come true for our little cowgirl.

I am sure she felt like Jessie riding Bullseye.

I hear she insisted on riding twice. Here she is on horse #2.

Amaya and her BFF after the party. I am sure they rode horses together in Amaya's dreams that night.

Vegas Vacation

2011-01-18T12:39:00.000-08:00

*Oops...I forgot...what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. ;) The pictures have been destroyed (we all looked at them once and deleted them) and the stories have been classified top secret. But, I can share that our Packers are fabulous and they are going Bear hunting this weekend. ;) Go Pack Go!

*While I can't share pictures from our weekend, I can and will share pictures from Amaya's weekend. Look for that posting later this week.

*Before signing off on this post, I wondered if you all had heard they found more dead birds. 53 of them in Antarctica. Did I say Antarctica? I meant Atlanta. Sounds like they died from eating too much CHEESE. Ha!!! I heard this on sports talk radio this morning and had to share. Go Pack!

Amaya Cheers Her Team On To Victory!!!

2011-01-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

Our little Packer Backer cheered her team on to a fabulous victory today. YEAH!!! We are so excited!!! Atlanta here we come!!! GO PACK GO!!!

Sleeping Beauty Doubles As a Ballerina

2011-01-07T11:51:00.001-08:00

Amaya and her bff Jessie sleeping. Two cute and sweet sleeping beauties. I thought it was so cute the way Amaya had Jessie sleeping beside her and them facing each other that I had to snap some pictures. I wonder if they fell asleep while chatting. ;)

Below is the way Scott and I found Amaya sleeping last night. Now that must have been the ultimate of deep sleeps. To fall out of bed and just keep right on sleeping. Guess the little ballerina was danced out!

Here is the little ballerina dancing her heart out on New Year's Day. I had dvr'ed the New York Symphony Orchestra playing Tchaikovski music on New Year's Eve. We were watching it the next day and The Nutcracker came on. Amaya recognized the music from her dance class and started dancing. So we got her and her doll all decked out in their matching ballerina outfits courtesy of Grandma Kim and Grandpa John.

Christmas Traditions

2011-01-04T16:28:00.001-08:00

Despite having just moved, we managed to get unpacked and settled in time to enjoy Christmas and keep all our Christmas traditions alive. We kicked off Christmas Eve with our tradition of attending Church with the Luedy's.

Here Amaya and Jaxon are enjoying bubbles before heading into "Sunday" school. Do you still call it that when it's not Sunday? It is tradition to meet at the bubble blowing elephant.

It is becoming tradition to eat a yummy Christmas Eve meal at Chili's with the Luedy's. Probably because it a restaurant that is convenient after church, open on Christmas Eve, and liked by all of us.

Amaya is absolutely in love with Maxdyn. And from the looks of this picture, the feeling may be mutual.

Amaya even calls her baby dolls Maxdyn.

After church and dinner, it has become tradition for the Luedy's and Mitchell's to caravan around looking at Christmas lights, then head to our place for cookies and beverages.

Here are Amaya and Maxdyn snuggling on the couch.

So sweet.

I love the still of the night after Amaya has gone to sleep on Christmas Eve, and after Mr. and Mrs. Santa have eaten the cookies and stuffed the stockings. I will always linger a moment after Scott heads to get ready for bed, and sit in the quiet, gazing at the tree with all the lights off except those twinkling from the tree. I love this moment every year. I reflect on the magic that is Christmas, give thanks for all my blessings, and look forward to a fun-filled Christmas day. Then I always snap a picture of the tree, complete with Santa's additions, and head to bed myself. This is a picture of that moment. Yet another tradition.

Christmas morning=our traditional time to open presents. Amaya must have been a very good girl this year. Santa brought her her talking Buzz......

and her Barbie pool. She has been asking for a Barbie pool since JULY! You can tell by her facial expressions.

So excited.

Two down, a bazillion to go. Presents, presents, everywhere. Next year we are starting our long-planned tradition of letting Amaya go shopping for under-priveleged children. She's old enough to "get it" now. And since she gets spoiled by grandparents, cousins, parents and friends, we decided the majority of our Amaya Christmas dollars will start going to this tradition. Such a good lesson to learn that it truly is better to give than to receive. And it feels so good and is so fun to give!

Amaya wearing a gift and getting ready to ride a gift.

Peeling rubber! We had to get her dressed and let her loose outside.

After our new traditional (kind of an oxymoron, huh) Christmas dinner of standing rib roast we headed to the park. Regarding our "new tradition" (this is the second year we did it) of having standing rib roast, that came about because I always thought it seemed a little silly to just repeat the Thanksgiving meal on Christmas. I wanted to make it our family tradition to do something different than a turkey and I came upon a fab recipe online for a holiday standing rib roast. Turns out having standing rib roast is a holiday traditon for many that I am glad we have adopted. It's expensive, but so deliciously worth it. After all, Christmas only comes once a year. I think this idea rubbed off on the SD Mitchells....they 86'd the turkey for prime rib and shrimp this year. Yum. What will you ditch your turkey for? :)

Amaya being chased by daddy at "the green park" as Amaya calls it.

Amaya looking back to see how close Scott is and Scott closing in on Amaya.

Scott looks like Gulliver on that itty bitty slide. ;)

After park time we watched a Christmas movie (Elf) and played games which is also traditional. And it appears I am trying to start another tradition. I neglected to pick my camera back up to snap some pics of Amaya with Grandma Cindy and Papa Jerry...again. Gul darnit. Oh well. It inspired one of my New Years resolutions....to stop forgetting to take pictures of Amaya with the adults in her life.

It was a wonderful and fun-filled Christmas. Can't wait for next year. ;)

Our Journey to the North Pole

2010-12-22T19:32:00.000-08:00

Amaya's had a fun Christmas season so far! She kicked it off with a Christmas festival with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry in their neighborhood. There she got to see a tree lighting, during which she reportedly said, "that blesses my heart." So sweet. At the festival she also got to roast marshmallows, drink hot cocoa, AND, see Santa.

In addition to the usual tree decorating, carol singing, light looking, cookie eating activities of a 3-year-old during Christmas, Amaya also got to go to the Star of Wonder show at Phoenix First Assembly. The production was fabulous. Amaya's favorite part was the flying angels. Mine was the fact that the camel didn't fall on us since it knelt down right next to us. (For those of you who haven't already seen it, check out "Camel Falls into Crowd" on you tube.)

Amaya also had a pajama party at pre-school where they celebrated the season by making Christmas cookies, then watching Polar Express. This was the perfect segway into our weekend because during this past weekend WE WENT TO THE NORTH POLE. It's just a hour-long train ride on the Polar Express. Amaya had a ball. I recommend the Polar Express journey to anyone that has kids that "believe." Here are some photos from our journey.

Living dangerously posing in front of a train. J/K. Obviously said train is retired and on display.

We were cracking up watching Amaya walk to the train from the train depot. She was all shivering with her teeth a chattering away, complaining of the cold.
You can tell she is an AZ native! Cold? This isn't cold my sweet! Cold is January in Minot, North Dakota!!!

"Warming up" on the train.

So excited.

She warmed up enough to take her coat off. This is a picture of Amaya looking out at the Christmas lights as the train embarked on it's journey.

Enjoying her hot cocoa.

She saved the cookie for later. CRAZY!

Laughing at the conductor's Santa jokes. Check out her adorable Santa pajamy's.

Amaya looking out the window as we arrive at the North Pole.

Amaya in awe!

Excitedly waiting for Santa.

The big moment finally arrives. A special moment with the man in red. Note Santa giving Amaya a bell.

Amaya checking to see if she can hear her bell ring. She could! It worked! She believes!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

Amaya made this hat and t-shirt in pre-school. Our little turkey enjoyed dressing up in her turkey gear. Gobble, gobble. She was going to sport her new jeans and sneakers with it, but since we were forecasted to have the coldest Thanksgiving in 80 years today, I convinced her to sport a warm and cozy sweatshirt under her cute, turkey t-shirt. We hope you all had a fabulous turkey day!

Winter Wonderland

2010-11-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Minneapolis Thursday just in time to see the beautiful fall weather. Friday night it started to snow and by Saturday, I awoke to this winter wonderland. It snowed and snowed, with accumulations ranging from 8 to 10 inches. It was that heavy, wet kind of snow, which is the hardest to shovel and get around in, but also the most beautiful. Big, fluffy snowflakes floating to the ground and sticking to the tree branches. It was fun to see and experience for a former midwesterner-turned-Arizonan... even despite the soaking wet socks and pant legs I had from trudging around in snow and slush on Sat.

Thank you to my wonderful hubby for taking such fabulous care of Amaya while I was gone. Thank you to my wonderful friends for a fabulously fun girls weekend! And thank you to my wonderful brother for a fabulous sister/brother lunch date! I feel blessed to have so many wonderful and fabulous people in my life. I love you all!

Amaya's Halloween Festivities

2010-11-07T16:34:00.001-08:00

Amaya's Halloween festivities kicked off with her annual Halloween party at the gym. She had a blast with her friends Avery, K.J., Gavin, and Sebastion. They are her gym BFF's. She went as Abby since after her gym parties her clothes frequently need major stain treatment, and her new costume is not washable. She makes such a cute Abby it was fun to get use out of this costume again.

I took the following two pictures when we picked her up from her gym party. She cracked us up making scary faces and growling at us with her new purple vampire teeth in her mouth. Scott gave an oscar worthy performance acting scared.

Next up, her Halloween party at pre-school. She was soooo excited to wear her Ariel princess costume! I only have these 2 pictures from before I took her to preschool. But Amaya's pre-school BFF Mia's mom told me she snuck in and got some great pics of the girls during the party. I will share them when she emails them to me. Mia went as Strawberry Shortcake, complete with hair dyed red. She was adorable....as was my little princess.

A few days before Halloween Amaya had a Halloween blast at Will and Ella's house. Thanks Anjee for hosting!

Snow White, aka Kate

Batman, aka Will

Tinkerbell, aka Sophie

Ariel Princess Twins, aka Brooklyn and Amaya

Catwoman, aka Ella

Sebastian, aka Alexis

the srw toddler trio

the srw baby trio

My Little Princess

Brooks exploring in the dirt.

Jaxon the UPS guy moonlights as a lawnmower.

Leave it to the princesses to play in the sand. (Brooklyn, a fairy-sorry I forgot her name, and Ellie as Tinkerbell)

I uploaded a picture of Maxdyn the princess and Ben the pumpkin, but don't know what happened. Take my word for it, they were adorable.

*And lastly THE BIG NIGHT*

Again, not all the photos I uploaded appeared (hmm) but you get the jest.

We trick or treated, then ended the night at our neighbor's driveway for a little campfire action and s'mores. Amaya like that better than the trick-or-treating.

Our neighbors (and fellow Packer fans) Carrie and Nate's 'puppies' were festive as a pumpkin and a witch.

Packers/Vikings Weekend

2010-10-28T10:32:00.001-07:00

We traveled to Green Bay this past weekend for the Packer/Viking game and had a fabulous time. Although our journey started off a little shakey. We were delayed due to crew rest requirements. We made our connection with less than 5 minutes to spare after a 1.5 mile (that is the distance our flight attendent said it was between our gates) run through the MSP airport wearing long sleeves, jeans, and for me heels, with luggage in tow. We collapsed into our seats sweaty and out of breath but thrilled we made it. The next flight wasn't until 7 hours later. We would've missed out on all the fun we had planned for the evening. But, we made it there and enjoyed a fun-filled weekend with our great friends and travel buddies Sarah and Jeramiah.

Starting off game day at Brett Favre's Steakhouse. The food was fabulous!

After eating, we moved to the sports bar at Brett Favre's steakhouse to watch some football.

You can see Joe Nathan (MN Twins pitcher) hanging out behind us. He was there with some buddies, but was very nice about signing autographs and taking pictures with people. He even bought a round of drinks for a group of fans who approached him for pictures.

I walked around taking pictures of all the paraphernalia of Brett Favre's career on the walls. It was fun looking at all his game balls, awards, personal photos, etc., etc. Here are some pictures of packer fan license plates from around the country. Kind of fun.

After we were done hanging at Favre's, we wandered around outside checking out the tailgating festivities. There's nothing like tailgating around Lambeau in Oct., especially when it's Packer/Viking weekend. There is an energy in the air you have to experience to understand. A sea of green and purple, united in their mutual passion for their teams, enjoying the day together with good sportsmanship. The Packer Viking fans really are good sports and are respectful of each other. Except for those occasional bad seeds, which we were fortunate not to experience on this trip.

Next we hung out at Stadium View. Here we are having a shot for good luck. Green ones for the Packer Backers and purple for the Purple People Eaters.

Go Pack Go!

Heading to Lambeau Field.

Such a special place!

Tailgaters, tailgaters everywhere.

My favorite tailgater!;)

Time to head in to the game!

The four of us with coach Lombardi.

We hung out at Curly's before heading to our seats to watch the pre-game warm-ups.

Waiting for kick-off.

Rodgers enjoyed some protection this year. I won't bore you with any more game photos.

Post-game celebration and interviews.

After the game we came upon these fine automobiles.

Thanks John and Kim for the tickets. Thanks mom and dad for taking such great care of Amaya while we were gone. And thanks Sarah and Jeramiah for joining us. We had a blast!

p.s. More travel probs on the way home. We arrived at the airport to learn the airline erroneously switched us from the Phoenix flight to a Portland flight. We had our itinerary with us to prove we had confirmed reservations on the Phoenix flight, but they said they didn't show us on it and the flight was full. What!?!? Sigh.....the joys of flying. We missed our baby girl and didn't much feel like a trip to Portland. We eventually got it all straightened out (hours later), but did end up home 3 hours late. Bottom line, though, we got home! :)

Amaya's First Day of Preschool

2010-10-21T10:30:00.001-07:00

Amaya started preschool today. She was soooo excited. She's already been there 3 times. Once was for a tour and registration. The second time was for the grand opening (see first 3 pics below). The third time was for "meet the teacher" night. So the surroundings were familiar to her and she was off and running the minute she walked into her classroom. I barely managed to get a hug and kiss. So I know she'll have a great time and love it. Oh, to watch them grow and develop......sigh.....she's getting so big, smart, and independent already. Can we hit the pause button? :) I am full of feelings of love and pride, excitement for her and this new adventure, and protectiveness all at once. I can't wait to go pick her up and hear all about her first day of school.

Enjoying cotton candy at the grand opening.
She loved the karate demonstration. Now she wants karate lessons. Yesterday she built a tower and karate chopped it.

A grand opening celebration isn't complete without a bounce house.

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL

So excited!

Enjoying the crisp, cool fall morning before heading to preschool.

Time to get in the car. She was bummed she didn't get to ride a school bus.

Eating a quick snack before heading in. I am sure she'll still be starving when I pick her up, even though they do have snack time. We still can't keep her full!

Admiring her classmates backpacks.

Hanging up her backpack.

Checking out her cubby bin.

Amaya's First Trip to the Beach

2010-10-19T17:13:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from Amaya's first trip to the beach. She had been asking to go to the beach for months. That is the main reason we planned our San Diego trip. And it didn't disappoint. She had a blast playing in the sand, from building sandcastles to making sand angels (like snow angels). But her favorite part by far was the ocean. She loved, loved, loved wading through the waves (despite the cold water) and walking along ocean in the wet sand. She was a little too brave for our taste, wading further and further out. We never took a hand off of her while she was in the water and miss independent didn't like that very much. Our beach day was a cool one with an overcast sky, but we had a fabulous time anyway. We can't wait to go back.

I also threw a picture in at the end from a recent visit of some extended family. 2 of my mom's brothers and 1 of her sisters-in-law were able to pop out for a quick visit to help her celebrate the big 6-0. It was fabulous to see them and made us wish the whole gang could have gotten together. :)

Summer Travels

2010-10-08T17:54:00.001-07:00

Dakota Dunes

Playing on the patio.
Amaya's BFFF (Best Furry Friend Forever) Meggie

Amaya and the Golfers (sans Corey-on his way to a wedding, and Matt-don't know where he disappeared to)

Amaya getting drawing lessons...
...and loving the attention.
Enough of those boys, let's go blow bubbles.
Look mommy, the tree has a face.

That is so funny and...

silly (giggle, giggle).

(I included all of these because her facial expressions crack me up. You have to click on the picture/enlarge the picture to see them.)

Toy Story 3 night with the cousins-Jena, Lauren, and...

...Brycen.

Daddy and daughter at the Omaha Zoo.

Lauren checking out all of the bees.

A bird's eye view of the zoo (1st chair: Amy, Brycen, Brian; 2nd chair: Jena, Grandma Kim; 3rd chair: Lauren and Grandpa John)

Amaya just looking sweet.

Taking a load off and enjoying the a/c in an indoor exhibit. It was high 80's and low 90's with like 70-90% humidity while we were there. Sticky!

Lauren enjoying a breather, too.

Amaya and her bestest Jena.

Fish Lips

The Gorilla's foot is bigger than Amaya's head!

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the cave!

Look at Brycen checking out the gorilla in the background. His expression is priceless. It's like "whoa that gorilla looks mean...I am glad this glass is here."

Brian chuckling. Brycen still not sure what to make of it. And the gorilla, well, he appears to be pondering something. Perhaps he's trying to figure out a way to make the glass not be there/wishing he could meet this cute little boy.

Then the gorilla turns and makes eye contact with Brycemeister and we get more priceless expressions. The gorilla seems to sigh in resignation realizing there is no way to meet this little guy.

And again, more priceless expressions checking out the gorillas.

Amaya's favorite part of any zoo. The carousel.

Brian and Brycen

Amaya and Jena

San Diego

This guy was actually stacking and balancing these rocks. No apparent tricks here. We couldn't figure out how the heck he was doing it. He had quite the crowd gathered, too.

A carriage ride in a Cinderella carriage. Priceless.

Our horse was even named Prince Charming.

Sea World Blue Horizons show. It was fabulous, though it was more like a Cirque de Soleil with divers, trapezists, bunjee jumpers, etc.

The Shamu show was of course fabulous. It was my favorite.

Amaya and Scott had the Shamu chant down.

Had to throw this picture in. Many of you know how I looooove sharks.

Amaya made friends with this little girl while waiting in line for a ride at Sea World.

Their dolphins made friends with each other, too.

Watching the ride and waiting patiently for their turn.

Finally our turn! Amaya said it was worth the wait.

Legoland

This is Amaya's first time going up on this ride.

She's still oblivious to what's coming in this picture.

And then it happens. The ride drops down suddenly and fast, and Amaya's expression is one of "whoa, what the heck" as she grabs on for dear life.

White knuckle grip, but then.....

she realizes what a thrill this ride is.

A look of sheer exhilaration and jubilence.

She insisted on riding again....

...and again. This last time even keeping her arms up like daddy to add to the thrill.

On to the cars.

And more thrills with arms up. She had to ride this one multiple times, too.

This was a self-powered roller coaster. Kind of different.

San Diego Zoo

We got some great pics of the koala bears, polar bears, and grizzley bears. But this is my favorite picture from the San Diego Zoo. Amaya just hanging out with her friend Mr. Seal.

-I just realized I need to upload photos from our beach days. We used a disposable waterproof camera at the beach, so those photos are on a disk. Oops. Amaya had a blast building sand castles, making sand angels, and spish-splashing in the ocean. It was love at first sight when she saw the beach and ocean.

-That's all for now. I hope to get back to my monthly blogging sessions so hopefully it won't be several months between blog entries this next time. Happy Friday everyone!

-Check out the other 2 blog entries I did this week entitled "Summer Activities" and "The Many Faces of Amaya" if you have more time to kill. :)

Amaya's Summer Activities

2010-10-06T18:49:00.001-07:00

Movie Time

The local theater had $2 morning matinees of previously released kids movies this summer. We saw Charlotte's Web, Shrek the Third, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

Computer Time

Amaya loved her computer class. Amaya hated her spanish class. She said the teacher was mean and threw her out the window. Both classes were at Snedigar but on different days. When she noticed us heading in that direction in the car, she'd always ask which class we were going to. She begged not to go to spanish class. The poor sweetheart. I finally let her stop going to spanish towards the end. (The a/c broke down in the building her class was located in so we got moved to the employee break room in another building.)

Dance Time

Amaya loves, loves, loves to dance.

I included this picture because it shows Amaya talking to one of her 2 little friends that are a sister duo whom know the FAVRES! They've hung out at the FAVRE's home when they lived in Green Bay. The sister duo are the girls in the black leotards with the colorful skirts. Their mom and I love chatting about the Pack while our girls dance.

An Action Shot
And Another Action Shot

Run Time

Slide Time

Birthday Party Time

Amaya and Jaxon waiting patiently for cake at little Brooks birthday party.

The Birthday Boy

Kate and Jaxon chatting it up.

Amaya pushing Jax on the swing.

I had the cutest picture of Amaya and her friend Will at the party that was suppose to upload here. Don't know what happened. :(

Soccer Time

Pre-practice stretching.

Cheering on her "teammates."

Soccer Stop

Running Drills

Kick that Ball

Hula Hoop Time

You go Amaya!

More drills.

Great dribbling Amaya!

Way to control the ball!

Notice the dress and sneaker look. Didn't you know that's the latest thing? :) Atleast to Amaya. I was rarely able to convince her to wear pants or shorts to soccer. She very much prefers to wear dresses.

But, the dresses don't slow her down.

She shows the soccer ball who's boss.

Play Date Time

Amaya enjoys just hanging with her peops. Here she is with Jax being silly.

Amaya also enjoyed playdates with her other friends. I just don't take pictures as often anymore.

Puppet Show Time

Enjoying a Cinderella puppet show with one of her good buds Brooklyn.

It was cute.

Pool Time

Fun in the sun with Ellie, Brooklyn and Alexis.

We also enjoyed pool time with Brooks, Ben, Jax, and Felicia at various times during the summer but I neglected to take pics.

*Other summer activities Amaya enjoys include sidewalk chalking, hop scotching, bubble blowing/catching, waterparking, splash pading, lunching, bounce housing, and gym-going. Don't have pics of these fun activies, but she loves them no less.

The Many Faces of Amaya

2010-10-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Sweet

Little Lady
Annoyed

Ear-to-Ear Smile

Superstar

Strong and Tough

Exasperated (these dance moves are hard to learn)

Impatient (let's get going already)

Stay tuned for pictures from summer later this week....FINALLY.

Amaya Update

2010-09-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

(Falling asleep at dinner, see story in paragraphs 3 & 4)

I have been a bad blogger this summer. It didn't really register that I hadn't blogged all summer until Scott got a hole-in-one and I went to blog about it. Oops. I hadn't even uploaded any photos since May. Guess it's time to upload, edit, and print the entire summer's photos, all 1000 of them. Then I get to put them all in albums. Fun. Anybody enjoy that task? If so, first of all you can come help me....then you can go see a therapist. ;) The finished product is worth the effort, though. Amaya loves to look through our photo albums and someday she'll cherish having them. So I shall keep doing it.

Now that our summer photos are on our computer, I plan to start a series of blog entries entitled Amaya's Summer Fun to share what she has kept us busy doing all summer long. But first, since it has been soooo long since I've blogged, I thought I'd simply do an Amaya update. The photo above inspired me to do so.

The above photo was taken early last week. Amaya had about a 10-day period of record eating even for her. And those of you who have seen her eat know it would be hard to top her normal eating. But she did. I shall give you an example. I swear on the bible and all that I hold dear none of the following is an exageration.

The first day of this tremendous growth spurt started with Amaya eating her usual piece of pb and j toast with some milk. She then asked for a 2nd piece and ate 3 of the 4 triangles. Then she proceeded to ask for a bowl of cantaloupe, followed by a piece of cheese, then blueberries (where she consumed half of the container). She still wasn't done. After eating all of that she asked for grapes and ate atleast a cup full. When she was finally done eating "breakfast", we went to the gym. We would normally eat lunch when we get home at 11am, but I thought there is no way she will be hungary already, we'll swim first. But nope, she proceeded to ask for a ham and cheese sandwich, eating the entire thing sans the crusts. Then she asked for some cucumbers and some peppers, along with some more milk. Sheesh. I couldn't eat that much. I was beginning to think she had a tape worm. I couldn't keep her full for about 10 days like I said above and during this time she'd take naps in the afternoon where we couldn't get her to wake up even at dinner time. We make her wake up and she'd just fall asleep at the counter as you can see above. It was so funny. She'd sleep for up to 3 hours where as her norm lately was to more often than not not even take a nap. Well, it was indeed a growth spurt. She gained 2 lbs. and grew 2 inches. We could see her dresses visibly getting shorter and shorter on her. So bizarre when it seems they practically grow over night. She now weighs 30# and is 39 inches tall.

Other than growing, Amaya stays busy dancing, talking, "playing soccer", talking, playing in general, including playing princess and toy story, swimming, doing art projects, doing puzzles, reading books, going to the park and more talking. She loves to play with all her friends and frequently tells me she misses them. She loves playdates. She loves ponies, mermaid and buzz lightyear. Those are her current faves. She already has her wishlist ready for Santa and reminds us daily, but atleast she understands that she has to wait for Christmas. Got to love commercials. We do limit her t.v., but the sheer volume of toy commercials on one episode of Yo Gabba Gabba is plenty to get a toddler in a toy frenzy. Got to love marketing. We hear daily that she wants a mermaid scooter, a barbie pool, a pink pony like Brooklyn's, and a big, big, big buzz light year. Boy, she's going to have to be a very, very good girl!

So, that's Amaya's latest. Stay tuned for pics from summer. Happy football season all. Go Pack!

A Special Day Calls For Me To Come Out Of Blogging Retirement

2010-08-23T15:53:00.001-07:00

*Saturday morning we were eating breakfast before Scott left to go golfing. He asked me the question he always asks me before he golfs. "What am I going to shoot today?" It's been a tradition around our house that I give him my prediction before he leaves. Sometimes I am right. Sometimes I am close. Sometimes I am pleasantly surpised. And occasionally we have to hit the driving range :). It's a fun tradition.

*Well, last summer I decided it's about time Scott hits a hole-in-one. I planted that seed in his head that he is due. It's time. I tried to 'law-of-attract' that for him. I first mentioned it when we were back for our annual visit to S.D., thus Scott's annual tourney at Dakota Dunes with some of his closest buddies, his brother and his dad. I thought that would be extra special if it could happen then. Nope, not yet. Occasionally since then I will tell Scott today is the day in addition to making my total score prediction. Well, I did add that "today was the day" on Sat. I didn't necessarily believe it. I say it all the time, knowing that eventually it would happen, but who knows when.

*Well, turns out I was finally right.

*Scott arrived home on Saturday with nothing seeming out of the ordinary. He casually held out his score card for me to see. He usually just tells me what he shot, but I didn't think anything of it. I looked at his score and I was excited to see he had a fabulous round. He shot a 73. I was happy for him and said something congratulatory. But he told me to take another look. Now I knew something was up. I scanned the rest of the card and immediately saw the 1 with 2 circles around it. It stood out like a beacon on a foggy night.

*We proceeded to do a bit of celebration. Hugs, high-fives, laughter, some fist pumps, some hoots and hollars. It was like the Packers just won the Super Bowl (law-of-attraction please work again). It was a fun moment I will always remember. Scott will always remember that moment in addition to "the moment."

*THE MOMENT: It was hole #17, 195 yards, at Club West. He hit a 5-iron. He hit it well and the ball appeared to be "right at it." Which means right at the pin for those of you who don't golf. He thought it could go in and conversation among his golf buddies ensued regarding this exciting possiblility. The ball landed directly in front of the pin and rolled right in. Celebration ensues. One of Scott's golf buddies, Mike, took pictures with his phone and emailed them to Scott to capture the event. See below. Then after the round of course they followed tradition and celebrated with a few rounds of cocktails. That was the best bar tab Scott's ever picked up in his life!

*CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU! I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR NEXT HOLE-IN-ONE! ;)

Busy Little Amaya

2010-05-16T16:56:00.001-07:00

It has been a month since I have blogged. [Are you really surprised? ;-) You must have realized I am a monthly blogger by now. :-)] So just what has our little princess been up to lately? Check out the pics and captions to see.

Helping dad with household duties like changing the furnace filters.
Morning lattes with friends.

Date nights with her boyfriend. He likes to take her for rides on his "motorcycle."

He even lets her drive sometimes.

Spending time at the neighborhood waterpark, one of her happy places.

Splash down. The water kind of camouflages Amaya and Ariel.

"This is the life."

Time for the red slide.

"Weee."

Now that is a look of joy and happiness.

Quality daddy time.

Priceless.

Swimming. Even when she is in shallow water where she can touch, she usually opts to swim. Note in the picture above in front of the little boys there is a pink hue and a brown hue just under the surface of the water. Yup....that's Amaya swimming.

Here is a better view of what she looks look when under the water.

She loves swimming soooo much, it just dawned on me that perhaps that is why she loves Ariel so. Perhaps she aspires to be a mermaid. She looks like one here.

Our little swimmer.

Dancing.

Making friends.

Practicing her moves.

Looking cute and being sweet....most of the time ;-).

Playing dolls.

Playing My Little Pony.

Playing kitchen.

Being silly. Brooklyn is like why is she picking up her necklace with her toes.

Taking friends for rides in her jeep. This is Brooklyn's first time riding with Amaya. She's not too sure about Amaya's driving.

Brooklyn's enjoying the drive a little more now.

Sneaking into mom and dad's bed. Amaya had a nightmare a couple weeks back in which she said an astronaut flew over our house and then came in her bedroom window, after which he bit her in the face (as recounted to me) or bit her tongue (as recounted to Scott). After said nightmare, she was scared to sleep in her room by herself. We started to leave her door open at night with the hall light on and that seemed to solve the problem...for a couple weeks anyhow. This week she was back to being scared despite the door open and hall light on. She'd ask me to sleep on her floor. She'd come out 3 or 4 times every night seeking reassurance before finally giving in to her sleepiness. Then one night this week she only came out for reassurance once....so we thought. She just found another way to feel secure. Mommy and daddy's bed. When we headed up to bed after the news, this is what we found in our bed. Little stinker. Now that's thinking. Note the time on the clock.

Playing t-ball and soccer. Haven't taken any pics of soccer....oops.

Holding babies. This is Amaya's first time holding a baby. Her newest little friend Maxdyn (Jaxon's baby sister). Amaya was enthralled and seemed to absolutely love it.

"Look at me mom, I am holding Maxdyn."

"Uh, this isn't fun anymore. She's crying."

"I love pacifiers. This is fun again."

"Oh, she is soooo sweet. This is so fun." Future babysitter? Probably. Future NICU nurse? Perhaps. Future mommy? I'll bet on that. :-)

Toddler love.

Amaya 3 Year Photos

2010-04-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

Easter, Animals, and Friends

2010-04-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

I have not been very good about taking pictures lately. I've reverted back to my old ways and just don't usually think of it in the midst of whatever activity we are partaking in. For example, on Easter, looking back there were some great photo ops that I missed. Amaya went to Sunday school with her boyfriend Jaxon. They had so much fun and even ended up being dressed in matching outfits. It would have been cute to have a picture of them that day. And, their daddy's were dressed alike by chance, too. I would have liked to have a picture of that even more. :-) Then after church there was an Easter egg hunt. Again no pics. Didn't take pics of dying Easter eggs either, but they were yummy. I need to get better about taking pics again! I did have a light bulb moment and thought I should snap a couple pics as Amaya checked out what the Easter bunny brought her. So we do have a couple pics from Easter. See below.

Thank goodness most of my friends are good about taking pics, which reminds me to grab my camera and snap a few myself. Here are some pics from "Meet the Creatures", which Mae and I took "the girls" to last Tues.

Amaya's buddie Brooklyn, sweet little Alexis, and their mommy Mae.

Amaya feeding the guinea pigs (above and below).

Amaya petting a rabbit I think.

Stolen pic #1 from Mae's blog. She had a better angle and got both Amaya and Brooklyn in the photo.

Stolen pic #2. This "creature" (see pic above and below) was a padagonian cavy that roamed the room saying hello at will.

Stolen pic #3. The cavy again and a brave little girl in an orange dress.

Stolen pics #4 and 5. Brooklyn, Will, Amaya, and Ellie having a snack in the middle of playing HARD! Amaya was exhausted after this playdate last Wed. She took a loooong nap AND went to bed early that night. Got to love that! :-)

FUNNY STORY: Amaya had so much fun with "her friends" last Wednesday that she talked about it all Thurs. We had plans to meet her buds Will and Brooklyn and their mommies for lunch on Friday, but daddy ended up surprising us by getting home from golf 2 hours early. So, since we don't get him home on a weekday very often, we took a raincheck on lunch with our friends and went shopping and to lunch with daddy. I didn't think I had told Amaya that we were meeting Anjee, Mae, and kids for lunch, but I must have. Because as we sat down at Oregano's, Amaya looked around and said "where's my friends, where's Brooklyn and Will?" Oops. When I told her they weren't coming she was not happy. So I told a little white lie to pacify her. I said that Mae called and said Brooklyn was sick, so we'll have to do lunch another time. And being the great friend that she is she said, "Mae and the baby can come." She really does care about Brooklyn. She just wasn't thinking. :-) Scott and I found this so funny.

I took Amaya to get her 3 year pics a couple weeks back. I will post a few later this week. Out of time for now. Happy Monday everyone.

Happy 3rd Birthday Amaya

2010-03-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today our precious little daughter turns 3. My how time flies. We celebrated yesterday, a day early, with friends and family. It was such a fun day! Thanks to everyone who helped us make our little sweetheart's 3rd birthday special. We appreciate it. You guys are all the best. Here's a couple pictures of Amaya on her big day. This is all I have time for because I am finding 3-year-old's have double the energy and curiosity of 2-year-old's. :-)

Here is our little princess anxiously awaiting eating some cake. You may notice that her little mouth is already tinted with blue. Yup....she swiped a finger full of frosting while the candles were being lit. :-0 To those in attendence, don't worry, we didn't serve cake from the fingered area. :) Amaya managed to blow out all of her candles. I wonder what she wished for.

Waiting patiently for a fork.

Now that's how you eat cake. :-)

Dearest Amaya, May your life be full of having your cake and eating it too moments because you are as sweet as frosting. Never lose that joy that I see on your face every day. You are the best!!! Mommy and daddy love you soooooooooooo much!!!

Amaya's Fun February

2010-02-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

Amaya had a very fun and full February. Here are some pictures from some of that fun. And no, I still haven't had time to go purchase a new camera. That's on my March agenda. So, again, excuse the quality. Some of the pictures are better quality and have the date on them. Those are from my mother-in-laws camera. Ironically we have the same camera, but clearly she hasn't dropped hers on the cement multiple times. :-)

Amaya full of joy after her Valentine's Party at the gym. She didn't want to leave. Her face paintings were so cute we had to snap a picture.
One more picture before washing those adorable cheeks.

Amaya and Dora out for a drive.

Ready for a stroll in the sun.

Amaya randomly started rapping. She had never done this before and she hasn't done this since. Oh she cracks me up!

Look out Beyonce, here comes Amaya.

Mommy and Daughter snuggle time.

My Cousins are Coming, My Cousins are Coming!

Amaya was so excited for aunt Amy, uncle Brian, and her SD cousins to visit. We had a blast while they were here!

"We are family......I got all my cousins with me." The kids provided us with great entertainment during the superbowl! Look out Jonas Bros., here come the Mitchell cousins.

Amaya's cousins joined her at one of her happy places...Bounce Jungle. They all had an absolute blast.

Jena and Lauren jousting

A, J, and L about to slide.

Weeeee. By the end, they were all jumping out at the top of the slides to catch air before hitting the slide and sliding the rest of the way down. Soooo fun!

Strike a pose.

Brycen and the girls.

Brycen without the girls.

Dinner at Oregano's....YUM!

The whole gang.

Zoo time!

This ended up being the favorite activity of the week. Fun times.

Carousel time.

I soooo wish I had my new camera for this picture. It's a momma monkey with a brand new baby monkey. So sweet. Momma is gazing lovingly at baby as baby is nestled in her arms. Aaaaah.

Train time.

Feeding the Giraffes.

Melman, is that you?

The boys: Brycen, papa John, and a Rhino.

Next stop.....The Phoenix Children's Museum

"My groceries sure add up!"

"Give me all your money!"

Amaya off to get groceries again in the background. Those who know Amaya shouldn't be surprised that she's already out of food. She eats like an NFL linebacker. :-)

Brycen and Amaya racing cars.

J and A triking it.

L and B triking it.

Back to the grocery store. The was the fave of the girls. Brycen loved the ball room.

Channeling my Miracle Mart days. :-)

Amy day dreaming of hitting the race track in her hot rod.

Brian remembering his motorcycle days.

Grocery time again. Clearly none of the girls are going to be into cooking. They didn't even pause in the cooking studio or pizza shop.

Out to dinner one last time before the Mitchell 5 head back north.

Was a fun week!

We miss you guys!

Back to Blogging

2010-02-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

Now that football season is over (after tomorrow), the holidays are over, I am done reading the Twilight series, and our very busy January is over, it is time to get back to blogging. We've had a very busy, but fun past few months. We had lots of fun watching our Packers this season. We even had fun watching Favre silence his critics. I had a blast reading the Twilight series. Scott continued and continues to enjoy golfing.....frequently. Oh, the perks of living in the Valley of the Sun. We had fun watching the Australian Open. And we even went on a getaway with friends. And now on to Amaya.

Amaya has had a blast on many fun playdates. She continues to love the park, the bounce house, and she even got to go to her first movie with her little buddy Brooklyn. See Mae's blog for photos. Mae is a much better blogger than I. :-) Amaya also got to go to the Wildlife World Zoo with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry and she's been enjoying lots of quality time with Grandma Kim and Grandpa John while they're in AZ escaping the cold for 2 months. Lately Amaya also enjoys cruising around in her first "car." See pics below. She also loves playing musician with the instruments she got for Christmas. She sings various songs while playing various instruments. Perhaps we have a budding musician in our midst. Another interest of hers is puzzles. Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles. She has gotten quite good at them. She is still a lover of snowmen and still asks to go see the snow. Our snow day with the Luedy's didn't cure her of that (see previous blog entries). But, she shall have to wait until next year to see the snow again. We are booked on the Polar Express next December (or as Amaya calls it...Choo Choo Express). That should be fun!

So...here are some pics from some of our events of the past few weeks. Excuse the quality. I've dropped my camera 12 too many times and am currently shopping for a new one. :-) If anyone has any camera recommendations, I'd love them!

CHRISTMAS

Having fun at church on Chirstmas Eve with the Luedy's.
Music and kids mixes so well.

This is Amaya after church. She found a soccer ball in the greenbelt and away she went. She ran all over kicking it along, controlling the ball the whole way. I saw her do this on the monitor at the gym one time, so it was fun having Scott see for himself. He believed me, but still, 'til you see it with your own eyes. No one ever taught her this. She's a natural at soccer I guess. Go figure. It's a sport neither of us enjoys. But even so, I signed her up for soccer this spring. Hopefully she'll love tennis and golf, too. :-)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree (on Christmas Eve shortly before Santa arrived)

Amaya opening Santa gifts on Christmas morning.

So thrilled with her new Minnie and Mickey.

Now that's a happy face. Santa done good.

Stocking time.

Checking out her stocking stuffers.

She opened candyland, some new slippers, etc., etc. She was happy with each item. She said thank you after opening each gift. But it wasn't until she opened her new Abby that we saw the expression of pure elation again, similar to the one she exhibited with Mickey and Minnie. As always, she is most passionate about her animals and dolls.

A Frosty Ornament for our little Frosty Fan

Thrilled again. It's another doll. A beautiful Dora doll. She opened it and immediately hugged the box. Love at first sight was the look on her face.

She was desperate to get to Dora. She kept saying excitedly, "Open it! Open it! Open it!"

Dressing up in her princess dress and shoes.

After opening gifts we showered up. Next Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jerry arrived and we had Christmas brunch. Then mom and dad had one more present for miss Amaya.

In this picture, she looks confused and/or unsure about what this big, bulky present could be.

But when she realized what it was, she was ready to go for a spin.

She loves, loves, loves cruising in her jeep.

PACKER TIME

4 Packer Fanatics about to watch their beloved Packers (myself, Scott, and Scott's parents)

NUEVO VALLARTA/PUERTO VALLARTA

Scott and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation with our dear friends the Melquists (Jeramiah and Sarah) and the Fullers (Mike and Krista). We enjoyed lots of pool time, lazy river time, a little waterpark and ocean time, lots of golf for the boys and spa time for the girls, and an all around great time. We pretended we were in our 20's again part of the time and had lots of fun doing so. We enjoyed many a happy hours poolside, and sometimes at the pool bar. We even had a fabulous poolside waiter one day, Javier, that "kept our glasses full" while we enjoyed the lazy river. We got to see Tim Mahoney and GB Leighton perform. We enjoyed many a fabulous meals. Saw some beautiful sunsets (although we missed as many as we saw, oops). We even risked life and limb one night on the craziest cab ride ever, after which we bought shirts that read we survived a cab ride with Julio. He was crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't too good about lugging the camera around, but for our last 36 hours there I decided it was time to bring the camera along and get some pics. Here are a few.

We missed Amaya, but also enjoyed the R and R.

A lovely evening out with friends.

The start of a very fun night! Margarita's at Pipi's. We heard over and over from EVERYONE that we had to go to Pipi's for their "killer margaritas." They were fab...

and large!

The boys at stop #2...

...and the girls.

We didn't end up staying at stop #3. We used the facilities and moved on! Here are some pics from stop #4.

And here is a picture from stop #5. No.....we didn't end up in a Mexican jail. We were simply "on stage and in the cage" at a nightclub.

Amaya's First Snowman

2010-01-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Erin, here are some pics of Amaya's first snowman. (See previous blog entry). Yeah! Here is the whole gang posing with Frosty the Packer Backer and Amaya giving him a kiss. He wasn't the cutest snowman in the world. The snow was quite hard from meltage on warm days and refreezing on cold nights making the snow very difficult to work with. But we love him just the same. :-) Hopefully next year we catch a day that's actually snowing so that is soft and fluffy! Then we can even do snow angels.

I will try to post a few Christmas pics soon. Been busy. What can I say. :-)

A Song, A Story, And A Picture Or Sixteen

2009-12-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays

Dearest family and friends up north... We shall miss seeing you all this holiday season. But here is a little song to explain why we choose to make our annual visit up north in the summertime instead of during the holidays. It's to the tune of "Let It Snow. Let It Snow. Let It Snow."

Let's Not Go. Let's Not Go. Let's Not Go.

The weather up north is frightful,

But down south it's so delightful,

So since we don't miss the snow,

Let's not go, let's not go, let's not go.

We'll go instead in summer,

When we won't have to bring a sweater,

The temps won't be quite so low,

Then we'll go, then we'll go, then we'll go.

Scott'll golf a round or two,

And have more than just one brew,

He may win some money, too,

That sounds fun, now that is true.

If you're north this Christmas we'll miss you,

But feel free to visit us, too,

Christmas Photos Of Our Princess

2009-12-16T19:34:00.000-08:00

It's Chilly Outside

2009-11-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

Brrrrr.....

To kick off this blog entry, I thought I'd start with this picture that I snapped of our tv screen during the news the other night. I thought you midwesterners would get a kick out of it. Notice the adjective used to describe Sunday. :-)

New Outfit

That brings me to these next 2 pictures. Amaya was sooooo excited it was finally cool enough to wear her new "Pooh" outfit. She had been asking to wear this outfit every day for like 2 weeks.

Happy Dance! "I get to wear my new outfit! I get to wear my new outfit!"
"Look at me!"

Talented Toddler

Check out these 2 pictures. Too funny. I didn't know that I had caught this "talent" on film until I looked at the pics after uploading them. Lucky timing!!!

Bear is about to fall, but....

Amaya's quick feet save the day! :-)

Maternal by Nature

It has long been apparent that Amaya is naturally maternal. She's so loving, caring, gentle and sweet. For instance, on Sunday, Nov. 15th, Scott, Amaya, Grandma Cindy, Grandpa Jerry, and I were hanging out in our family room watching the Vikings game (the Packers played the late game that day) and I got sleepy and dozed off as half-time neared. When I woke up I was told about what great care Amaya took of me. She covered me up with one of her blankets, then turned to the others, put her index finger to her lips, and whispered Shhhhh. After that she proceeded to gently stroke the blanket over my leg. Soooo sweet. Here are a couple pictures demonstrating her maternal instincts.

She takes great care of all her baby dolls and animals...except when she's distracted while taking them for a walk and they are half hanging out of the stroller that is. :-)

But here she is being ever so gentle and loving. What a lucky bear. :-)

Shopping Time

Amaya loves to shop. This cute, little grocery cart and the groceries have proven to be a great investment! She goes grocery shopping every day. Now, if only she could drive and go to the real grocery store. :-)

Brrrrr again......

It was only 71 degrees in the house on this morning. Amaya complained that is was cold. These are the moments when I am reminded that she is an Arizona native. Soooo funny! We better not take her to Minot in January!

Trying to warm up before breakfast.