Snow Day!!

The weather surprised us with three inches of snow yesterday morning!! It was so beautiful. I thought I'd grown out of my excitement about snow but when I woke up at four in the morning and saw it I was so excited I woke Mark up and we snuggled in our cozy bed and talked and just watched it swirl out of the sky. Maysie and Scout were very excited when we showed them what was outside. Maysie just smiled at it in awe, but Scout knew what it was and got super hyped up, running from the kitchen to look out the window then up on the bed in our room and then into Maysie's room on the couch! We let him outside quick before he could tear the whole house down! We bundled Maysie up good and took her out to see what she thought. She could barely walk in her pink stay-puff marshmallow suit:) You can see her "just ate snow face" in the second picture. She really wanted to touch it without her mittens on but she's trying to get over a cold and we didn't need any finger-sicles. Our power flickered on and off til noon when it went out for good. Lucky for us it came back on at six so we didn't have to worry about cooking over a camp stove or freezing to death. I was supposed to go into work but ended up getting the day off:) Mark got to stay home long enough to play with Maysie and his Jeep truck in the snow, have a yummy french toast breakfast, and then head to work:) What a fun day.

Maysie's Baby Blessing

Now that the adoption is final, Mark was able to give Maysie her official baby blessing. She was very good and didn't cry when all the guys circled around her to lay their hands on her head. She sat on my lap and daddy made sure to keep it short and sweet as she was a little squirmy. She looked like a little angel in her white dress, it was a beautiful day!

Adoption Day Quilt and Bear

I really wanted to get some cute pictures of Maysie with her beautiful quilt from Adoption Day and her bear, "Addie". Taking pictures of Miss Maysie since she's become so mobile is quite a challenge but I got a few good ones. Mark says she look like me in the last one:) Partly the fact that she's wearing my dress I think, but that smile too. She refused to hold Addie for the pictures, which is funny because she carries her around all day, but she let her sit next to her while she read her book.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated four wonderful Thanksgivings this year. Unfortunately I only got pictures at the last two because my camera was in the shop being repaired.
The first big feast was the Sunday before Thanksgiving at my brothers house. We had fun visiting and enjoying our mexican food. My sister in law made mexican manicotti and boy was it delicious!!
Our second Thanksgiving was at my cousin Ben's house on the actual day. We had the traditional dinner with all kinds of delicious sides. Maysie had fun playing with her cousins.
The third one was held at Wally and Sandy's, the kids had fun playing outside until it got dark. There were almost as many puppy cousins at the party as there were children! They had a blast running a muck! I made a cute pumpkin bundt cake, it turned out rather well. The boys and Maysie Started a little Red Neck band in the kitchen after dinner with a banjo, a ukulele, a washboard, a strange instrument made out of a shovel handle a string and a galvanized wash tub( played very well by Mark) and Maysie with her wooden spoon:)
Our last Thanksgiving was again at Wally and Sandy's with Grandad and GoGo. We enjoyed visiting with them and eating lots of food again! After all that eating it's a wonder I still fit into my jeans, good thing they're stretch jeans:)

Adoption Day!

Tuesday November 17th, 2009 was a very special day! We went to the Placerville Court House to finalize the adoption of our Maysie. As much as we had wanted to finalize sooner, it was really neat for Maysie to be able to enjoy the day and participate with us. Though she still wont remember this day when she's older, it was still fun to see her joy and happiness along with our own. This was a special day to have her adoption finalized because it was National Adoption Day. The court room was decorated with balloons and banners, there was a photographer, beautiful quilts made by the Gold Bug Quilters Society for all the babies, gift baskets from Abel's Acres, and an adorable teddy bear we now call Addie (for adoption day). It was wonderful to be able to share this unforgettable day with some of our family members including, Oma and Papa Jukes, Aunt Marie, Uncle Carl, Aunt Pam, and my cousin Megan who was adopted by my Aunt Pam 25 years previously on the same day. Megan's little boy Michael, who is 3 months older than Maysie was there to help us celebrate as well. Sending a big THANK YOU to all of our friends and family who have been so supportive of Mark and I during this long process. We love you all!

Big Girl Chair

A few weeks ago Maysie started climbing up on top of her toy basket to sit and watch cartoons. Fearing that she was going to do a face plant off the thing Mark suggested getting her very own chair to sit in. I was dissapointed when I looked online and couldn't find anything under 50 bucks. Last week Danielle and I were at the Home Goods Store (neat place) and we came across this cute little denim arm chair for 15 dollars, SCORE! We tried it out in the store and Maysie quite liked it, so now she has her very own big girl chair. Someone else seems to quite like it too:) I guess they'll have to take turns. I'd have to say her favorite place to sit and watch cartoons is still daddy's lap though; she also likes to thumb through daddy's hunting magazines (she turns each page one by one and is very careful not to rip them). The last pic was just a cute one of her and Hope (the pony) hugging in their overalls. So precious!

Cousins!

We had a great time at the Punkin' Party hosted by Aunt Sharon this year. The kids had a blast playing together. Maysie absolutely loves playing with other kids, I think she'd be perfectly content for days if I just let her run around and be a nut with her cousins. It reminds me of my childhood and makes me so happy:) Maysie was very intrigued with her baby cousin Abbie. She was the youngest up until little Abbie joined the family so it has been fun to see her reaction to her and especially her reaction to me holding the baby, which seems to be ok with her as long as she has something more exciting to do. In the middle picture we have (from the left) Jesse, Ben, Abbie, Maysie, and Lizzy. We went to visit Grama and Grampa Miller two days before halloween so they could see her in her costume. They really got a kick out of watching her toddle across their floor. She and Grampa played ball together and Maysie learned how to kick the ball and tried to dribble it too. When Aunt Pam got home she brought cousin Michael down to play. Grampa had this cute little musical flower pot with dancing gerbera daisies. Maysie wasn't so sure of it at first but when she saw that Michael wasn't afraid she got brave and went over to do a little jig with him. It was pretty cute.

Cutest Bugs on the Block

Maysie made a very cute ladybug this halloween, her costume was actually quite simple to put together. The backpack took a few hours to make, but with a few alterations can probably be used again when she's bigger. Scout will forever be a bumble bee for halloween because I'm not planning on buying a new costume for my dog every year. It suits him well anyway because he's as busy as a little bee buzzing here and there. Getting pictures of the both of them together was, as always, interesting. But I got a few good ones. Even Danner the cat came over and climbed the tree behind the bugs so he could be in the picture too!

Bundled Up

It was pretty cold out the other day but we went for a walk anyway. Maysie looked so precious in her fuzzy little hat that I had to take some pictures.

Un-Hen

This is a picture of one of my cute chickens. This one is especially manly looking because it's a ROOSTER, not a hen like I was told I was getting. Oh well, I guess that happens sometimes, now I just have to figure out what to do with him and eating him is not an option! Taska already named him Lisa before we knew she was a he. I could craigs list him but I'm kind of fond of him, he's a nice rooster. Hopefully he wont start beating up the hens and we can just keep him.

Punkins and Ponies

Maysie was so excited when she saw the ponies! Her little legs started flailing and she squealed with delight! Truly a girl after my own heart<3 As soon as I sat her down on "Peaches" she reached right down and started petting her mane. We got to pet her head too and Maysie really liked her soft nose. The people right before us tried to set their little girl on the pony and she totally freaked out, when we put Maysie up there I heard them say "look, that little baby isn't afraid." Yep that's my Maysie. It was so much fun to see her excitement, I can't wait to get her a pony of her own someday!

Apple Hill

We took Maysie to have her first Apple Hill experience the other day. We had a great time together. I love this last picture of her with the gourds. She's like "what the heck is this mom?" We played with the gourds while waiting in line for apple donuts until she started tossing them out onto the floor, then we had to find something else to do. Mark's super duper nose sniffed out this old truck to check out so we took some pictures with it. Maysie recieved so many compliments on her outfit that day, I'd have to admit she was the cutest most stylish baby there!

Grouse Hunt?

Mark and my brother James attempted to go grouse hunting a couple weeks ago and this is what they ran into. They got as far as Caples Lake and decided that the grouse probably weren't going to be out flittering around in this sort of weather so they came home. Bummer, no grouse this year.

Look What I Can Do!

Maysie discovered the other day that she can climb things, lucky for us her legs are still on the short side, so for now most things are safe:) She looks so cute in the top picture surrounded by her toys, believe it or not she was throwing a little fit there on the floor about 30 seconds before I took this picture. She saw the camera and decided to put her happy face on. Such a funny kid. Maysie took her first steps on the 15th! It was so cute and exciting. I got home from work and she was playing with Papa, she saw me and took about six steps to get to me. I felt so special I almost cried. Later when Mark got home she did it again for him and we got it on video tape (face plant and all!) Luckily she wasn't hurt. Watching her learn and experience new things has been so exciting for me, I never knew it could be so enjoyable to watch a kid take their first bite of solid food, discover that they can make "music" by beating their toys on the floor, or pet a pony for the first time. It's all so magical.