Maya's Christhanukkah

Maya had a great first holiday season! We celebrated Hanukkah with gifts from Rachel and her side of the family and then Christmas with gifts from Ken and his side of the family (and Santa, as Ken reminds us). Maya got tons of cute outfits and a cool kick toy from Mommy and a wagon and monkey from Daddy and lots of other gifts from those who love her. Daisy, in sharing in the holiday joy, did manage to decapitate one of Maya's gifts. We were also exicted to receive holiday cards from so many friends with super cute pictures of all of their kids.

Maya's first Hanukkah gift!

Maya and Mommy lighting candles on the first night of Hanukkah


Maya, Mommy, and Daisy Christmas morning. Maya is sitting in her new Radio Flyer wagon with her new stuffed monkey.

Maya playing in wrapping paper Christmas morning.

It has FINALLY stopped snowing here. Our total was somewhere around 2 feet. That is a crazy amount of snow for us in Washington, but no where near what Chicago has apparently gotten this year. Rachel's parents are really happy that this was the year they decided to retire and not spend winter in Chicago. We're hoping we're done with snow for the winter!

A White Hanukkah!?!?!?!?!?!

So, last we checked, we're not living in Chicago, but it's sure snowing like we're there! It's been snowing since about 2 pm yesterday and is showing no signs of stopping. We NEVER get this much snow in Washington, so things have been interesting. The city of Seattle has 21 snow plows. I think that O'Hare Airport has 21 snow plows, so you can imagine how quick and efficient snow removal is here. To make things worse, they don't use salt (bad for the environment apparently), so they use a dirt/sand mix with de-icer in it. All this seems to do is leave sand on the roads when the snow melts and lovely little pieces of gravel to chip your windshield. Rachel says who cares about the environment, salt the freaking roads!

At 9 am, we had 11 inches on top of the 4 hanging around from earlier this week. It hasn't stopped snowing since then, so we've probably got another inch or two, at least.

View down the street

Our poor bushes are getting buried in the snow

Maya's first snow picture. Thanks again to Tina for the hat, it's working out great!

Even Daisy, who normally loves being a snow dog, is not enjoying this. She keeps sinking when she goes outside to potty and the snow is up to her belly. We're both waiting to see if work is cancelled tomorrow. The rumor is that the highways are fine, but you can't get to them. But (and everyone knock on wood), at least the power has not gone out!

And, of course, Happy Hanukkah to all! Enjoy your latkes, gelt, and menorah lighting!

It's Daisy's Turn

Poor me...my life is so rough!
Hmmm...wonder if any of these presents are for me??

Finally! That darn baby is good for something!

I don't know why she's laughing, there's nothing funny about petting me!

Trip to Baltimore

We apologize for the lack of posts lately, but things have been busy. Last week, we took Maya on her first plane trip. We went to Baltimore so Maya could meet her great-grandma Rogers, Maw. We were also going to attend a wedding for one of Ken's college roommates.

Maya was a superstar on the airplane....she did fantastic! She slept in her seat throughout most of the trip and didn't seem to have any trouble with her ears. We definitely recommend getting babies their own seats on the plane, it made things so easy for us.

Maya had a great time visiting Maw and meeting her Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ken (Ken's aunt and uncle) and all of her cousins. She also got to spend time with her Grandma and Grandpa Rogers. She even managed to squeeze a visit with Santa Claus into her very busy social schedule.

Maya and Maw

Maya and Aunt Sandy

Maya talking with her grandparents

A family portrait

Unfortunately, we have no pictures of us dressed up for the wedding. Rachel got really sick (and that's an understatement!) right after the ceremony, so we had to leave before any pictures could be taken. But rest assured, Maya did look very cute!