A Babbling Baby

Alma not only looks like me, she talks like me too. For the past few weeks she has started talking more and more, sometimes she even babbles for an hour or more at a time. Every day when I pick her up at day care she talks all the way home - which is a half hour drive. It is so cute, I always ask her if she is telling me about her day. I'm pretty sure she is. I can't wait until she has words and can actually tell me stories. But in the meantime this is pretty stinking cute too.

Alma the Events Committee Chairwoman

For those of you who don't already know, Alma and I are very active members of the Latah County Historical Society. Every month we spend two afternoons at the McConnell Mansion as docents, and we are very active on the Events Committee. In fact, I am fairly certain that if I showed up to a meeting without her I would be run right out the door! All of the other members just adore Alma, and as a token of their love, they had this onesie made especially for her. Alma wore it today for the Valentines open house at the mansion. She was the hit of the party!

Alma was very excited about the party, and even more excited about the mini cupcakes!

Alma is getting some love from Connie - another member of the committee.

Alma got to make valentines for her grannies at the party.

Tax Season

When Dan sat down to do the taxes Alma really wanted to help him out, so we put her in charge of the calculator. We thought it would be appropriate since Dan has been practicing her times tables with her every night. She's a natural with numbers just like her Daddy!

*On a side note. I started loading Christmas pictures and never finished. Someday I will finish. Just not today.

Christmas!

Holiday Fun Part Three

Dan and I decided that it was finally time to tie the knot - so on December 11th we went to the courthouse with Alma and two of our close friends, Brian and Gretta, and did the deed. It was an absolutely perfect wedding, very casual and laid back. We got married by Judge Judge who did a very lovely job. He said a lot of great things and we really enjoyed him. Afterwards we dropped Alma off with a sitter and went to the Old Post Office in Pullman for a long dinner. We enjoyed good food with good friends and even had wedding cake at the end.

Holiday Fun Part Two

Because we were heading down South for Christmas we celebrated with Dan's family a little early. We went to his parents house for an afternoon and celebrated by eating a lovely pasta dinner and opening gifts from each other. Alma got a snuggly teddy bear from her Godfather Uncle Matt, a giant giraffe from her grandparents, and the promise of a toy box from papa BJ. Alma had the honor of being the only grandchild - except, of course, for Matt's new dog June.

This year when I asked Dan what kind of Christmas goodies he wanted he said Peanut Butter Bon Bons and homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries. I had a lot of fun looking for recipes and even more fun making a big gooey chocolate mess in my kitchen. Dan helped me roll the cherries and dip them in chocolate. The only problem was that the recipe said it made about 50 and we ended up with about 100. Even after giving them out to friends and neighbors we are still trying to eat them all.

Holiday Fun Part One

This year we had a very interesting holiday season. We were very excited about Alma's first Christmas, so we celebrated every chance we could get. One of the highlights of early December included going to Dan's parents house to cut down a Christmas Tree. We were a little nervous about taking Alma out, but we strapped her into the Moby and she had a really great time. She loves being outdoors, so she just looked around at all the pretty things around her and was completely happy the entire time. We had a lot of fun when we got home decorating the tree, the mantle, and putting lights up in front of the house. Another highlight was attending the Historical Society's Victorian Christmas party at the McConnell mansion. It was a very lovely affair, Alma got all dressed up, and was certainly the belle of the ball. A family christmas photo!

I really wanted to put Alma in a Christmas box. She really didn't like it much - but we got at least one great picture of her with a semi-smile.

I really love this picture. It is by far one of my favorite daddy/daughter pictures. This was taken at the mansion.

The belle of Victorian Christmas.

Our tree before we cut it down!

Daddy helping Alma hang up her Idaho Vandals oranament.

Dan worked really hard on the lights! The two bright spots on the house are candy canes - they didn't photograph that well.

Our stockings! A family tradition - my Aunt Karla, a.k.a. Granny Annie, makes them for everybody in my family. I have had mine since I was a little kid, but the other two are much newer.