Our Thanksgiving was different than any other for a variety of reasons. First, we spent it in Phoenix; second, we spent it with my brother Brad (who is usually in Alaska or Montana or somewhere else far away); third, we spent it with my cousin’s family (many of whom we’ve never met before)! It was a fun celebration with a lot of people. The kids had a blast as well as the adults.

Thanks, Jane, for hosting an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. My personal favorite was the yummy cream cheese, pesto, and sun dried tomato dip!!!

The kids loved playing in the rocks outside Jane’s house.

My brother brad and brother-in-law Paul in the background hanging out before lunch

Danae, Paul, and Aunt Lorna contemplating how to get the beautiful turkey onto the platter without making a major mess

The men hanging out and talking before lunch (notice Mackenzie smiling big in the background?!)

Mackenzie took a liking to Lorna’s friend Carol. She was all smiles.

One of the tables of people eating…

the second table of people eating (there were lots of people!)

Mackenzie having fun playing on the bed in the hotel where we stayed in Phoenix

later at our house…Maddie and Isaac enjoying some hot cocoa

Maddie serenading Aunt Ruth at the piano

Mackenzie playing with the Little People and the barn…with her Uncle Paul

Maddie and Isaac reading books in Maddie’s chair

Sorry I’ve gotten way behind in blogging again!! I just never seem to keep up. Be ready for another 2 or 3 posts in the next few days. I have yet to write about Thanksgiving and Maddie’s birthday.

The next few pictures are of a few weekends ago. We went to a Fall Festival at a local assisted living home. They had 3 bounce houses (which Maddie loved), a petting zoo area (which Maddie loved), and pony rides (which AGAIN Maddie loved). All in all, Maddie loved the festival! Mackenzie happily rode in the stroller while Maddie jumped around, pet animals, and rode ponies.

This is of Mackenzie getting a breathing treatment. She had a nasty cough and an ear infection, and the doctor gave us medication and this breathing machine to help Mackenzie’s lungs clear out. Mackenzie wasn’t a fan of breathing treatments, if you can believe that.

in the bounce houses

enjoying watching the animals

a little hesitant on the pony

These next few pictures are of Mark and me enjoying our weekend retreat in San Diego. We had a blast hanging out and attending a marriage seminar. You can see the highlight of our weekend…our date night at the Melting Pot. (BEST restaurant ever!!!!)

action shots…

Isn’t he cute?!

Yes, “ya ya ya ya” is Mackenzie’s official first word(s), and now it has caught on with Maddie. She is suddenly reverting back to her younger, baby days. Mackenzie is just starting to show some interest in crawling/scooting, and surprisingly enough, so is Maddie. We’re loving how Maddie and Mackenzie play with each other more each day. Here are some videos and pictures to give you an idea of what it’s been like at our house lately…

So here is the third and final part of my series. The following pictures were taken on Saturday. First we enjoyed carving pumpkins with the Penns. Then they had to get back to Redlands, so Mark, the girls, and I went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. It was such a fun day!

inspecting my hard work of cleaning out the inside of the pumpkin

The three M&M’s…and Maddie!

Mina is not amused in either of these pictures…she’s a fireman/woman, by the way.

Friday was a fun-filled day. We went to The Village (Redlands Christian Home) for the costume parade. The senior citizens loved seeing the kids all dressed up, and the kids loved getting candy. It was a win-win situation. Here are some pictures I got from that event…

Maddie was a princess, and Mackenzie was a goldfish. Some referred to her as the “beached whale” since the costume didn’t allow for her to move around much.

She started out happy…

It was nearly impossible to catch Maddie sitting still. This might be the only shot I have of her where she isn’t “on the go.”

Aliyah, the bee, had to check out Mackenzie, the goldfish.

I’m not sure what Maddie is saying in this picture, but it is definitely something very important!

Can you tell this is near the end of the morning…when everyone is ready to be out of their costumes?!! No more posing for pictures!!!

This is probably my favorite one of Mackenzie. I can’t help but laugh when I see those big fish eyes staring at me.

Later that night we went to a church in town that hosts a Halloween night…”Halloween Happening.” Marilyn, a friend from church, came along and helped me with the girls. (Mark was busy all day shooting a wedding in Redlands.)

Sorry it’s taken me so long to post again! Life has just been crazy, and we’ve been enjoying every minute of it (at least most minutes of it). I am posting a bunch of pictures in a series since we have so many fun Halloween shots. This first post is of a week or more ago…just the normal day-to-day stuff.

Someone left these sunglasses at our house, and Maddie loves them! (Cheryl, are they yours?!)

Maddie is loving playing with Mackenzie more and more each day…so fun.

Dad posing with his girls

We were hanging out with the Penns and thought it would be fun to attempt a group “kid” shot. The Penns look great, but the Leonards aren’t quite as cooperative.

Maddie’s favorite place to play with Mackenzie is inside our toy storage ottoman. She could stay in there forever; Mackenzie, on the other hand, gets a little sick of it after a short time.

This one is classic…it shows Maddie’s goofy side. She just laid down on the kitchen floor, and then Mina laid down beside her. Then she insisted that Mark lay down beside them…pretty cute (Mark wasn’t as excited about it).

picking out pumpkins at Oak Glen last weekend

Maddie got two hats from a friend and loves playing with them…and forcing others to put them on as well.

I just love this one of Mackenzie. She’s been so happy and content ever since she started sitting up on her own.

Here are some pictures from the last few days. Nothing majorly exciting going on…just the usual kid stuff.

Maddie had fun hanging out with Dad on Saturday.

He was busy studying, and Maddie was busy reading right next to him.

Maddie got a couple of hats from Marilyn…a friend from church who watches her and Mackenzie sometimes. She just loves playing with her new hat…and she loves putting it on “Kenzie,” too.

Our jazz combo is back together again! We first played together for my graduate recital and have had a couple of gigs here and there. We have our first official paid gig coming up in early November, so we’ve started rehearsing. Last night we rehearsed in the garage…so much fun!

And here is Maddie drinking her very first hot chocolate…she loved it of course!

Here is a video of Maddie reading to Mark as he was studying on Saturday…

Tonight I discovered that I was given the disc for  iLife 09 when I bought my Macbook! iLife 08 was pre-installed on the machine and the imovie application from 08 was not very good. Now that I have the 09 version, I’m pumped to play with some old video clips.

Here’s a little movie of Maddie in her first Easter egg hunt.

Here are a couple of videos that I got of the girls…kinda fun.

I feel like I have so many things to post…so here come a lot of pictures! We went to a birthday party this past weekend of one of Maddie’s friends who just turned 2. Maddie had a blast and even got to go on THREE pony rides! Notice the series of pictures…first she’s seriously anxious and uneasy, but by the end, she’s a real pro.

Holding on pretty tightly to Dad…

Dad’s still close by…

All by herself!

And here’s the birthday girl with her cool cupcake cake!

I had to post both of these pix…don’t you love how one girl is closing her eyes in each picture?! Mom Leonard, notice the cute “couch” they’re sitting on? I got it at a garage sale this weekend, and Maddie LOVES it! It reminds her of being at Gma and Gpa Leonard’s house.

We went to Oak Glen with a group of moms and their kids from church this afternoon. Maddie had a blast! Here are some pictures from our afternoon.

Our beautiful cousins

Maddie running with Cousin S.

Maddie and Mackenzie were spoiled by the cool older girls at Oak Glen.

Isn’t this such a sweet picture?!

And later today after getting home from Oak Glen, Sarah and Aliyah came to hang out with Mackenzie. Aliyah and Mackenzie had lots of fun while Maddie took a nap.

Aliyah tried so hard to get close to Mackenzie, but this is the closest that the Exersaucer would allow! She’s so sweet…always wanting to give kisses. We love you, Aliyah!