Santa

Our sweet, friendly little girl is finally getting a little more common sense. She is getting a little stranger shy and it was particularly apparent with Santa. We had tried to have her meet Santa at our ward party the morning this picture was taken and she would not have it. At Michael's work party we waited in line with her cousins for a good hour and we tried again mostly for the sake of a good crying Santa picture. I started to feel a little guilty when it was our turn and I saw June's lip start to quiver in anticipation. The last picture is our third attempt with Kate being her guide. She did much better.

As a side note, when I was growing up I used to love holding any baby I could get my hands on. I was always disappointed when the baby wanted their mom again. I used to reassure myself thinking that one day I would be a mom and be a baby’s favorite. As it turns out, June loves to go to other people and when I reach for her she shakes her head no and laughs. 

Thanksgiving 2011

It was our first Thanksgiving without our families so Michael and I decided to go big and go to the Four Seasons since no one wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner for two adults and Michael was working most of the weekend. June did great and we enjoyed walking around downtown after our meal. I flew out the next day for San Diego for Megan's baby shower.

Phone Pictures

We've been on the go the last few weeks and I do not have much to show for our last few weeks besides for a few iPhone pictures. It has been snowy in Colorado, but I got a break from it when I went to California to see my family. June and I had a great time. She loves all the fun things she gets to do at my parents' house.   Below are a few pictures of June and what she is into right now. 

 June loves holding hands

She loves hats, necklaces, headbands, or anything to accessorize

She adores Bella

Stroller

Ever since sitting in Lorraine's Phil and Ted's double stroller, June has liked to make the stroller's storage space her personal hide out. She enjoys reading and eating snacks in her little nook.

Megan's Baby Shower

Cafe Rio

Last week we went to the zoo with Leah and the girls followed by Cafe Rio.

Halloween

We had a rough day (more on that later), but we decided to head out with the cousins for some Halloween festivities. Do not be deceived by the scowl on June's face. She loved her costume

Sundance

On our visit we made sure to go to brunch at Sundance. For some reason I never went in college. What was I thinking? It was delicious and the mountains were beautiful. June didn't appreciate it as much as Souplantation, but I think she had too many snacks before we got there. All she wanted to eat were the cookies.

Utah

June with Ginger (Alison's daughter)

Halloween weekend June and I went out to Utah to meet up with my mom and two of my sisters. I haven't had much of a reason to go back to Utah since there is now a Cafe Rio in California and one close to where we live, but my mom thought it would be fun to meet up for the Women in Business conference (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/conferences/wibc/) they were starting at BYU. It was the first year and it was great. I enjoyed it way more than I expected and we all left inspired by all the different life stories. I also got to see Elise and her two girls as well as Megan's sister-in-laws Alison and Andrea. It was fun to see how much BYU has changed. I remember when I went to my freshman year of college I only knew a few people at the school and it was always strange walking around campus and not knowing anyone. I was always so happy when I ran into someone I knew. By the end of my college days it was hard to not spot a familiar face when on campus. It's a good reminder since moving to Colorado and feeling anonymous once again. We had a great time and June loved seeing her aunts and grandma.

New Place

We’ve been in our own place for a few weeks now and we really love it. We are close to Washington Park or Wash Park as the locals like to say. There are tons of other young families. We can walk to restaurants, libraries, parks, and it is really safe. We also really liked watching the leaves change. The weather hasn’t been too bad yet, but I'm sure I will be in shock when the snow hits. June loves going on walks in her stroller now because we see people with their dogs on every corner. She was not much of a fan of walks before. It was nice to live somewhere a little more urban coming from Los Angeles. I hope that we get a chance to get to know Denver well.

Plugging Ears

I turned on the garbage disposal and found June like this. I guess she learned how to plug her ears. She must have picked it up from her cousins.

Reading

June loves to hand me my phone so we can watch videos I've taken of her. This is one of our favorites right now.

Baseball

Michael got tickets through work to the Rockies vs Padres game. Melissa and Murray came with all their kids. Brandon loves baseball and it was fun to see his enthusiasm for the game. When we were walking out to leave we looked over at him and he had tears streaming down his face. I thought he had hurt himself, but turns out his parents had told him that they were leaving the game early.  

Reading

June loves to go sit in Madelyn's chair and read her favorite Dora book. She will sit there by herself and just babble.

Breckenridge

We went to Breckenridge for the weekend to do some exploring. It was so beautiful and about 1 1/2 away from Denver. The drive was gorgeous with the leaves changing and the little town was a lot of fun. June loved all the people and dogs. June slept 13 1/2 hours the night we were there so Michael and I were able to eat pizza, watch a movie and just relax. We all had a really great time. I love ski towns in the fall/summer.

Yogurtland

We went to Yogurtland with Leah, Kurt and all the girls. June loved trying all the samples in the sample cups. She has been a little disappointed with sacrament at church since we went.

Rascal Flatts

We went to Rascal Flatts Saturday night with Murray and Melissa. We had a great time. It was so very Denver of us. I have a feeling I will be hearing a lot more country music now. In college (pre-iPod days) when I was running all the time I used to listen to country because they played it on the radio. I can remember running with tears streaming down my face because of the sweet stories and songs. I might be too easy of a sell though . . . lots of rappers have also brought me to tears singing about their moms.  

Shower Cap

Kelsea just sent me this picture from this summer. June loved my mom's shower cap. It's funny because now whenever we go back she looks for it.

PJs

Kendall and June in their matching pajamas. It's fun to see these girls start to play with each other.

Denver

We made it out to Denver. My mom, June, and I drove out my car together with an overnight stop in Utah. Our drive was beautiful and June did pretty well in the car. Michael is working at Comfort Dental in Highlands Ranch. We have been busy trying to figure out the areas while staying at Leah’s. June has been loving the girls as well as all their toys. We have narrowed our search down to south Denver, but there are still a lot of options to choose from. It’s a little overwhelming. Here's June enjoying pizza night with her cousins.

Beanie Baby Heaven

June has been loving Haley's old collection of beanie babies at my parents' house. We pulled down a bunch of them from the attic and June is just crazy about them. The first morning after we got them down my mom had her playing with them up in her room. My mom went to bring her down for breakfast and June cried like she had been seriously injured. Oh the injustice of playtime being cut short.

Big Girl Seat

It's a . . .

On Saturday we went with Megan and Evan to find out what they were having. June loved waiting in her director's chair while they did the ultrasound. We were super excited to find out that they are having a girl! June will finally have a buddy from my side of the family. Megan and Evan are going to be great parents and we are so excited for them.

Spaghetti

Here's June enjoying her grandma's cooking! I'm so glad Kelsea remembers to take pictures.