One Last Christmas Celebration

Between all of the festivities and other holiday events, we had a bit of a delayed celebration with my sister and brother in-law. Nevertheless, we managed to get in a fun evening of wining,dining and lots of fun with Auntie Heather and Uncle Dan! Thanks for the beautiful hat and scarf - - it is super cute!!

Random Pics

Here are some random pictures from the past couple of weeks....

What a Christmas......

We had a wonderful Christmas..Meredith is at a great age for celebrating. She is still fairly patient, but really had a blast opening gifts, (hers and others)! She especially enjoyed spending time with her Jie Jie and John (Dohn) who brought her fun toys and played with them, too!!






We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa G the week before at their condo in Summit County before they left for Michigan.

And Now it is November

Wow - -It has been a long time! Where do I begin? First of all, let me say that it has not been so fun being a banker these past several months.....There are days I hesitate to even pronounce my profession lest I get scorned, or lectured at the very least! Plus who'd of ever thought that real estate and the general economy in Aspen, Vail, Telluride and Steamboat would look like it does today?!? Definitely long days, tough conversations, empathetic situations and trying times.......
However, at the end of the day when I walk in the door, I have the most beautiful, happy, intelligent, loving little girl waiting to greet me and suddenly the world is perfect!!!
Meredith has grown SO much over the past several months. She has gotten tall and her hair has finally started to grow, but most impressively, her language skills have taken off. She carries on full conversations - mocking Eric and I completely. She is singing, counting to 10 and beyond, knows her ABCs, all of her colors and most every shape imaginable. This little girl has most definitely caught up to her peers and probably has gone beyond many!! I think she is ready to learn a second language and I would love to find a Chinese linguist to work with her. That is one of the most challenging aspects about living in a rural city - - the lack of diverse educational specialists. I will do my best to find someone, though - I think it is important. I would also like to get her into some sort of gymnastics program.
Meredith still loves her day-care and now interacts with several of her "friends" there - so fun to watch these relationships grow.
We seem to travel fairly regularly and she is a good little companion. Her latest passion is going on a boat! She sure enjoyed riding with "Pop Bob and Geny" in Florida.


As we head into December and the rush of the holidays, I will try to keep in touch more often. As I read all of your wonderful blogs out there I realize how important it is and that it really doesn't take that much of an effort!!

My Best to All.

My Mommy......

Promises to update this blog real soon.
In the meantime, here is a recent picture of me..............

Traveling

We spent a few days in Michigan visiting relatives and gathering for Eric's high school class reunion a couple of weeks ago. Meredith had a good time playing with her cousins and being spoiled by her aunt Kirsten and Grandma and Grandpa! Here a couple of fun pictures from our trip.

Meredith is TWO!!

Merdith's birthday is June 30th, which fell on a Tuesday this year. We celebrated with family on her birthday and then had a little larger gathering on Sunday, July 5th. She still is a bit overwhelmed by crowds and obviously had never dealt with a "birthday candle" before (no worries, she did not burn herself)! Also, sweets are not exactly her favorite food either, so delving into the cake was not a gimme. Nevertheless, she did enjoy the gifts, guests and extra attention. It is funny all of the things that we take for granted - such as birthday parties and cakes and presents. I remember even when Lindsay was 2, she knew what was going on and never hesitated to take full advantage, but it is a lot different with a child that has come from a life of basic necessities and limited foods.
Looking back over the past 12 months I see a baby that has flourished and grown and turned into a happy and beautiful toddler. I feel so fortunate and blessed to have this child in my life.

Fun at the amusement park!

What is summer without a day at the amusement park?

A Day at the Zoo

What a great time we had at the zoo!




We saw Zebras and Giraffes..





Monkeys and Yaks




But the day would not have been complete without some goldfish snacks, a carousel ride on a panda bear, and a kiddie train ride!!

Gotcha Day + One Year

Now

Then

Be The Match Marrowthon

Meredith's foster sister's Jie Jie has a life threatening blood disease and is looking for a potential bone marrow donor. This has prompted me to register my bone marrow with the hopes of helping at least one person.....I figure it is the very least I can do. After all, I have been blessed by good health and I never want to take that for granted.
Honestly, this process is SO simple and the registration can all be done on the web! Seriously - they will mail you the kit to take the necessary cheek swabs and even pay for the postage to send it back. There is no cost involved and you could be saving the life of a child......
Please consider registering your bone marrow!

My dirt girl!

Meredith has always loved to be in the dirt. She was SO excited when I ripped open the bag of top soil, she came running over, tore off her shoes and literally stood in the bag before helping me unload it and spread it around!!
Fortunately she went to help her Daddy with another project when it came time to plant.......

Video from Mothers Day 2009

So I had a wonderful day, topped off with a delicious dinner out with my girls! Since we try to dine out early for Meredith's sake, we often have the advantage of a less crowded restaurant. Such was the case last night, and we used it to our benefit. There was no one sitting directly around us so Meredith was free to roam around the table from lap to lap taking in all of the loving she could get, plus play some games around her high chair. Her big sister was happy to oblige with the lyrics and film footage...
Enjoy!

A Week in P.V.

 

We spent a week in sunny Mexico that consisted of three (not so square) meals a day, several hours of beach time, a little pool activity, some seaside napping, multiple bottles of appropriate liquid per person,a little bargaining and foreign trade and we even managed to sneak in enough hours of slumber each night to get us through.
Turned out to be a really fun and easy trip.
Enjoy the pictures......