November

Dave says: Time for a quick November update. Skye loves going on regular trips around town. One of her favorite places is the children's museum although she also really likes the aquarium, malls with carousels, and parks with kids. 

I escaped for a quick overnight trip to Sedona. So beautiful and such tough and fun riding!

We took Skye down to the Gilbert city parade and she had a good time. There we a half dozen dance troops that passed by and she seemed pretty interested. It's only a matter of time.

She's always doing something new that is funny. Right now she loves the pantry. Partly, this is because all her favorite snacks are in here. But she also likes to hide in here, close the door, and peek out the bottom. She's starting to count to ten and will also try to sing some songs like the ABC song.

Payson

Dave says: My parents recently bought a cabin in Payson. It's only an hour away and finally has all the furnishings to stay there so we headed up for an overnight trip with the family. The weather was pleasant and Skye ran around at a holiday event while Parker and I bought and installed a flatscreen tv. As always, we enjoy visiting some of Payson's parks where you can play in the pine trees. Skye's favorite part was hanging out with all of her cousins.

First Time Fall - Prescott

Alisha says: We took a mini vacation to Prescott as part of our Thanksgiving celebrations. When we first arrived we spent some time at a park that had a lot of leaves on the ground. It was so much fun to watch Skye experience playing in the leaves for the first time. She loved running around in them and throwing them up in the air. Her face in the picture of her sitting in the leaves says it all, it is pure joy! After the park we went and did a little hiking around the boulders at Watson Lake. We headed to the hotel for a little rest and then it was pool time. Dave had booked a hotel with a heated indoor pool just for Skye. She had a great time going back and forth between the kid pool and the hot tub. For dinner we thought we would just walk to the mall that was close to our hotel but we it ended up being quite the journey with a lack of sidewalks. Luckily after dinner we found a much better way back.

Day two included a hike around Lynx Lake in the morning, lunch in the old Prescott downtown, and an afternoon at the little zoo. It was so nice to get a little tiny bit of that fall feeling. The next day was actual Thanksgiving so we got up and drove back to Phoenix where we met Dave's family at the park for a picnic. Later that evening Christine hosted a really nice Thanksgiving dinner at her house. I thought that the holidays would help make this pregnancy go by fast but so far they really haven't. Ha, oh well, Thanksgiving down and now on to the Christmas season.

A highlight was playing with the luggage cart, silly girl.

Happy Happy Birthday

Alisha says: We now have a two year old. She can be very sweet but we are also discovering the "terrible twos" at other times. We love her to pieces and had a fun birthday weekend celebrating her. Saturday which was actually the day before her birthday we took her to the train park in Scottsdale where she got to ride a mini train and a carousel. She likes trains and says "choo choo" a lot.  

We stopped on the way home and got some birthday balloons to decorate. She also just graduated from her backward facing infant car seat to a forward facing one.

Birthday morning. She woke up to a new kitchen play set. She loved the banners and balloons and kept pointing to them saying "happy, happy".

Strawberries are one of her favorite fruits right now and so I made her a strawberry cake.

She also loves hats and wore her birthday hat around all afternoon. We had Dave's family and my parents over for a little party with dinner, cake and ice cream. She liked being the center of attention and got lots of new toys including a wagon from Grandma and Grandpa Welsh, a cute bunny backpack filled with lots of snacks (she loves snacks and is always asking for a snack) from Grandma and Grandpa Bezanson, a cute dress and money from Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins and a play castle from the Leavitt's.