Let’s travel back in time…

December 12, 2012 9:32 pm

…to the end of October.

Heather is one year old! I can’t believe it. She has grown and changed so much in the last 12 months, but it seems to have gone by so quickly.

She is currently obsessed with picking up multiple things at once. She’s really good at grabbing two or three of her links in one hand, and it makes her very happy. She’ll try it with pretty much anything, though.

She can point to Mama and Daddy, though she’s not saying anything yet. And she knows more objects, too—if you ask her where certain of her toys are (Mousey or Penguin, mostly), she’ll crawl to them and pick them up. And then hold them up in triumph! Heather loves both those stuffed animals; she’ll hold them close and snuggle them. It’s too cute.

She’s just starting to stand independently, but usually only for a few seconds. Oh, and she’ll fold her arms for prayers! It’s awesome, but only lasts a second or two.

At Heather’s 12-month checkup, she weighed 19 lbs 4.1 oz, which the doctor said is her best growth so far. Yay for chunking her up a bit! And she’s 30″ long—time for a new carseat. Guess we should have known she’d outgrow her infant seat in length long before weight.

Kyle and I both love our little bear so much. She has certainly changed our lives in this last year, and we look forward to whatever this next year with her will bring!

And now, some pictures from her birthday. Enjoy!

Family Vacation 2012 – Part 4

September 23, 2012 10:00 am

The way home took us right past Four Corners.  So we stopped and took some pictures.  It’s pretty much as you might expect; some lines on the ground to mark the borders of the four states.

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It was a nice break from driving, but then it was onward to Grand Canyon National Park.  We would have been driving right near the park and decided we might as well drive through and stop at some lookouts.

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This view is from the Desert View Watchtower.  Below is the inside of the watchtower.

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Here’s another view from a different lookout.

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After we drove through the park our adventures were over and it was time to get home.  From the Grand Canyon we drove to Needles, CA just inside the Arizona border.  We stayed the night in Needles and the next day, Friday, September 7, we finished our driving and returned to Livermore.

The trip had a lot of driving, but we were able to see lots of friends and family and sites that would not have been possible with other forms of travel.  And as a bonus we never had to stand in line waiting to be scanned or groped.