First Snows

2010...
2009...

2008 :)

Hello, Winter!!!

This weekend I convinced Travis that it was time to bust out the Christmas gear! Spent much of Saturday shopping and decorating. Dali was a sport and modeled a couple old Christmas Cat Hats we had kicking around!

Sunday we had a playdate with Amelia! One of the twins. She's gotten so much bigger... and way more chatty! Lots of practice sharing... and Sophia could use LOTS more practice!

Hello winter! We jinxed ourselves last week by talking about how lucky we were with our extended fall weather...

Sophia loves the snow!

I had to fetch a pumpkin from the squirrel food pile for our annual "first snow with the pumpkin" pic! And YES... the squirrels are devoring our fall decoration pumpkins/gourds/corn, so I just buried them all in the hedges! Happy squirrels!

New Fortress, Grandma Mary's 89th, Choosing outfits!

Last week Travis and I undertook a new project in Sophia's nursery--I mean "Big-Girl Room"-- creating a "secret fortress" in one of her big closets! She LOVES it! And it was so fun for us to work on all together!

The outside... she loves going up and down the ladder! Such a climber!

She's into dinosaurs these days.

This past weekend we spent the weekend in Grand Forks, and did lots of visiting with lots of family! Cousin Timmy did a lot of good bonding with Soph...

You know she likes you when she dumps puffs in your mouth!

Timmy getting ambushed by the youngest kids/grandkids

Sophia with her cousins Jaylin and Gabby!

Soph and Uncle John smiling nicely...

And sticking out their tongues!

Chowing down with Aunt Kathy... Soph found this bonnet in the dress up clothes and loved it! And, as you may have noticed, she was VERY sociable this weekend... getting more extroverted every day!

Joining the girls for a sing-a-long performance!

Uncle Dan broke out the guitar...

...and Travis joined on the harmonica! One of my favorite things about Williams family get-togethers is that they always involve lots and lots of music!

Grandma Carmen was a sport and played Sophia's favorite game: Grandma Horsey! (or mom horsey or dad horsey... she's not picky!)

Sunday morning! For Grandma Mary's 89th we all went to Catholic mass at St Mary's, and then to the Hilton for brunch with the whole family! Sophia and 2nd cousin Mairi are the two littlest, and both were in plaid on Sunday! Too cute!

The cousins, serenading Grandma Mary

The cake!

Grandma Mary is every bit the Williams family matriarch; she is one special lady!

More bonding with Timmy :) He totally has a way with the kids... a good skill for someone going into teaching!

The barbarshop quartet!

With cousin Magdalene

The group! About 1/2 of the Williams clan (close family) don't live in the area, so this is about 1/2 of the usual suspects... that family is SO big!

Mary with Ralph (her son), Carmen, 1/2 of Carmen and Ralph's kids/spouses and all their grandkids (and another on the way!)

Sophia and Mairie

Being babies!

Love this picture! Sophia is so happy around her grandparents!

Back at home on Monday... Sophia is insisting on dressing herself, and she picked out this outfit: pink mock-neck, boots, pearls, and playing with dinosaurs! (No pants) :)

Bath pics... I'm trying to recreate a bath pic my mom took of me when I was a toddler. Hopefully I'll have some side-by-side comparisons next week!

Clinging to the sunshine!

We are revamping Sophia's nursery to make it more "big-girl friendly." Travis found this counter scrap at the local hardware store and used it to expand her play kitchen area... she loves it! Next up: creating a "mini nursery" for all of her dolls and doll accessories, and turning one of her closets into a private fortress full of stuffed animals, toys, and lights that she can operate herself. Fun!

We've been taking advantage of our beautiful weather! Sophia helped string the Christmas lights :)

We're keeping the fall decorations out until Thanksgiving... then it's Christmas all the way!

Today (a gorgeous, sunny day in the 60's!) Sophia and I took the bike and cart to the library and then went to the park for almost 2 hours. We had so much fun, and there were lots of kids for her to play with! And trees to climb! (She's a climber, in case you couldn't tell!) :)

We knew it was nap time when tree-climber turned into grass-rolling!

If only it could last forever...