Christmas Vacation

This post is LONG overdue, but better late than never...I had originally thought that I would only post a few photos from our Christmas Vacation, however I took way too many photos (as always) and had too many that I wanted to share...so enjoy! We had a great time on our trip which started off in Arizona with the Podd Family and ended in Durango for New Year's with the Fargo Family. A long, but wonderful trip with family and friends!

The first day in town, we visited Nana at work and went to lunch with her...notice the matching outfits on the kids..guess who got those for them :) Who knows that Pam and Greg Podd love matching outfits ?!? :)

Madison and Nana love!!

Carter and Madison get along really well and love each other so much! They love to hug and kiss each other and are best cousins forever!! It is so nice that the kids are so close in age (6 months and 1 day apart).

Cousin love!

After a long day of shopping and lunch, the kids were done! They could not wait to get home for their naps

Trying to share the chair...

Carter is trying to perfect his spoon skills with Cheerios :)

Feeding Uncle Robby

Bugging Carter as he is nicely trying to color...I think she may be trying to lick his head!!

"I'm going to get you Carter!!"

Christmas Eve day dress from Nana and Papa

We had a nice brunch with my Great Aunt Catherine and Great Uncle George

Handsome boy Carter in his Christmas Eve outfit

Our silly girl in her Christams Eve dress...she was a real ham that night!

Classic! Reading a book with the bear! Look at that face!!!

A pony?!? This is cool! Carter got one too!

Standing on top of her kitchen from Nana and Papa

Christmas morning family photo

Cousin Tatum and Madison...they sure love each other!

The day after Christmas, we flew to California to attend the Fargo Family Christmas Party. We had a great time seeing everyone, and Madison got to play with her 2nd cousin Noah again

The men...Tim, Mike, Matt, and Bob

(Mike and Bob are Tim's brothers)

Grandma Bettye and Mitzy...didn't Grandma look so fancy and beautiful in her silver, sparkle shirt?

Loving on Cousin Noah...how sweet!

In the airport that night...a happy girl as always

"YES!! I did it!!!"

At that time, Madison was still practicing her walking skills. Now she is a full on walker!

"Look at me...no hands!!"

Srunchie face!!

Reading the instuctions to one of her new Christmas toys :)

Loving her new tunnel and hut

Smiley girl :)

Hey! You forgot your baby!

Madison loves pushing her new stroller from NanaB. She pretty much loves to put anything in it

In Durango...Madison loves playing with Grandpa's hat!

Ellie in her element...she LOVES the snow!

Such a stylish girl! Waiting for a table at Steamworks...

Cool guys... Danny, Cousin Andy, Grizzly, Tim

Being silly with Uncle Danny

Tim and Cindy get their grove on to 70s music!

Happy New Year!!

Welcome 2011! Can't wait for a great year!

A Confident Walker!

She's a walker!! Madison has been practicing her walking skills for a few weeks now, but at the start of the New Year she started walking as her main mode of transportation :) Since she feels so confident in her new skill, she has decided to start carrying things all around the house. Last night while I was making dinner, she pulled out two pans and carried them into her bedroom!! She is such a silly girl! It is so fun to see her walk...we will certainly be getting a lot more exercise now! Maybe Madison's new skill will help us with our New Year's resolutions :)

Family Photos

At the end of November, we had professional family photographs taken by Laurie Farr at Rendition Studios...she is fabulous! We love our pictures are are thankful to have such candid photos of our family. I didn't post them until now because I didn't want to ruin the surprise as I used them for our Christmas card and for a few Christmas gifts. Here are many of the ones that we loved!

Her Birthday Day!

On December 19th 2009, Madison turned 1 years old! The day before we had a big birthday party and it was a great time! On her acutal birthday we had a nice family day and went to breakfast and sledding! Madison had a great day! **Make sure to check out the previous post about the birthday party**

She perfected saying that she was "1" :) Wearing her cupcake pajamas that Nana found!

The girls (Aunt Tara, Cousin Tatum, The Birthday Girl, Me, and my Mom)...we missed you Nana B!

We went to the Huckleberry in Louisville for breakfast and Madison loved "coloring"

Such a happy Birthday Girl!

So silly! Playing with her 1st Birthday sippy cup :)

Madison enjoyed a blueberry pancake in the shape of a bear for her birthday breakfast!

Ice Skating in downtown Louisville...this was Madison's second time and she loves it!

Mommy watched, but Daddy pulled Madison in the sled

Saying she's "1" again :)

Nana and Papa watched Madion skate too!

Wee!!

Getting tired...timre for a Birthday nap!

Madison's Big Birthday Bash!

The day before her actual birthday, which is December 19th, we had Madison's big 1st Birthday Party! We celebrated at our house and were fortunate to have so many great family members and friends there! Madison had a great time at her party and loved playing with all of her friends. Although it was a hard day for me (emotionally since my baby is growing up) the celebration was a huge hit!

The morning of the big party, the girls went to Starbucks for our caffeine jolt! In the picture (from the left) is my Aunt Tara, my cousin Tatum, the birthday girl, myself, and my mom. The night before (on Friday), my mom and dad arrived and soon after they walked in, there was a knock at the door...I was told to open it, and...there stood Tara and Tatum!!! A HUGE surprise!! I was beyond excited and I even cried! I was so thankful that they made the trip up and that they were here for the big day!

The birthday girl opened one of her presents before the party...an activity cube from mommy and daddy..in her tutu, hair bow, and all!

Madison really loved playing with her friends (there were 14 kids total)!

More good friends

The food table...we made soups for the adults (for the chilly winter weather), and grilled cheese & fruit for the kids (Madison's favorites!).

The cakes...Madison got her own little cake...it's a good thing too considering what she did to it!

Starting out slow...

Then...she dove for it!!! Way to go girl!!

(I think this picture is suppose to be before the previous one...oops!)

Lovin' that icing!

Creeping its way up the face...

YIKES!!! This was the end result! I think we may have let her get too far, but she was having a blast! Unfortunately it ended up on her eyelashes and up her nose, but we got it cleaned up pretty quickly. She just had so much fun!

Another crazy icing face!

Tatum LOVED helping out with Madison! She was so wonderful to have and was a great helper! Madison loved being with her cousin Tatum too!

Me and my Aunt Tara

Posing with our Birthday Girl!

Grandma and Grandpa made it up from Arizona we were so thankful that they could come!

Nana and Papa also came! Thank you for being a part of her her special day! Madison was such a lucky girl to have both sets of grandparents come up for her birthday and it would not have been the same without them all!

Wow! All the presents...what a lucky girl! Madison got many great gifts that she is having so much fun with!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Madison's special day. We are thankful to have all of you in our lives! What a great year it has been with Madison and we cannot wait for many more exciting times to come!

It's Been A Long Time...

We're back! It's been too long since I have posted something new, but I have plenty to catch you all up on! Since Madison's birthday we have been a VERY busy family! We left on Monday the 20th for Arizona to visit the Podd/Bender family for 7 days, then we flew to California for the extended Fargo family (Tim's side) Christmas party, and ended in Durango with the Fargos for New Years. We had a great holiday visiting all of our family, but we are glad to be back home in our routine. We were gone for 2 weeks and with baby that can be tricky! We are thankful however that we had so much time to visit and that through all of our travels we are home safely. Since I have so much to catch up on, I am going to put up several different posts, so get ready!!