tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26838835389212444942024-02-19T02:18:17.039-08:00The Alexander FamilyWhen we met in May of 2001 at a bar in Davis, there is no way either of us would have dreamed where this encounter would lead. After 5 years of dating, we were married in June of 2006. We welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Mia, into our lives in February 2008. She is a happy little girl with her Mommy's strawberry blonde hair and her Daddy's blue eyes. After much procrastination, we are finally starting our family's blog!The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-67191269012233424832010-02-08T13:27:00.000-08:002010-02-08T13:56:35.994-08:00Mia's Birthday PartyHow is it possible that our baby girl is already 2 years old? These past two years have flown by and we are so lucky to have Mia in our lives! In celebration of these 2 years, we had a party!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435993885403049378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUibViYFlKW_N4lN0OwQa-gu4e2DgNb9sDcpJ0cpqyzu01WFTUigdzUOGbIWsbYXz-DFu2adVofkLxIj6QPXL5vUy1Pr3mFXfdsMI-NFSzvFJ2JJ0Nzx92CGWoHltZe7EEsKikmOf9IhI/s320/Feb+2010+012.jpg" /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>We celebrated Mia's birthday party with lots of little kids at Wacky Tacky <a href="http://www.wackytacky.net/">http://www.wackytacky.net/</a> Wacky Tacky is an indoor <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">play area</span> which is located in an industrial area not far from our home. Inside, the kids can climb, run, jump, slide, and play with foam balls! We had around 15 kids and although we knew all the kids would have fun, the parents (especially the dads) seemed to have at least as much fun as the kids.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435993907179218130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUsJqBgyYRz0whG1_ybCj7D-qiiXp9K0dy407MdbgOigQkabVO3u024dGOzzk92g09qRKQ_WrHIwm-CUC6rUT_2v2LIa8S39oDokor_xA-ul_nV6m5lSoR-8uvXSe4h3Qxz41LoE8teQ/s320/Feb+2010+017.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435993900098416546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZP1uDw7BIJ5ZDAvaILN_Y4AZPIu7RJQhe_RQIR7L6Ef8WxG31eXAHBRHALtjLgGmL8tHuF2NClxCqN4fMDP94dQmoPKv7PFHifUJ35QW45U3G9nnfr9puSog3pPUZDKTFQPkjjrQ988/s320/Feb+2010+015.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435992834280207026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnduryNlpx2cYbRqTywxjt-Za3LeOHBwcYCJ1zsI_r1XhoqJRi3pQCEV5Ru0RqG-HZ7r_ADMI1XRE1PDgqJOxt2qex0sw4qKFHOfniq430-dfBnPgc7yZuppWstQVWRGTgd_UQnfnU8JI/s320/Feb+2010+019.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435992826508111554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLNE9gARVJ-tlx9IdHfr7Ov8IaIt-JkP9yW5ND8SMz4ZowGFz7JQ8-I4UZEwvTSLQyohJLSMzsGV8XHcx31QYhAph4tdbEkuzMOYFtbkOrTq707RvFLj5Ym6a57g-MCH_05RLgk7o2Os/s320/Feb+2010+033.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435992817534429874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBsF14sRG5Qg8Cec8IJf5AM1joX17xR0tAlc90-kIJd8z8xyL1bqCwMhmpCrXZfjdThHauTLI4kMF6jZcwE04np_mKl8EU1SsUbRflanWvM3ROb8DP5N8Rv1k0pvhr482OJjXXQCdyNc/s320/Feb+2010+038.jpg" /></div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435992809931740258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FYr86HP1J7ikJoDUNoqubbQK7jxz2E5whMEiWtzDh18MiFaM0T20dEM7tqCwG0upwVu6ovtjrudvjiJUykZPcrGY0DyIooXC8WdYGCaXEU8MPmsBFdCnVsW53tJYQRZbdLMXXsG5t1k/s320/Feb+2010+035.jpg" /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435991195513858066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfPAlWFwcFZ1d6hvf_RzbRfsIb9Wqmf7PKCmewF54RLGUZMV6KsmOyGdKtx7nKXE5ji2tyjq9HRaxaZ9PnJFPqNUrda2ssK2Ew4S4Rql-EbVawn9xb4_jAXQ1upV-Oq5k4zSglNPzsBM/s320/Feb+2010+045.jpg" />After playing for 1 1/2 hours, we moved to the party room where we ate pizza and watched a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">slide show</span> that the staff had put together from the pictures they took during the party. After this, we all sang "Happy Birthday" and Mia blew out the candle on her cupcake!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435991186383969426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnq21phCn7t3KzT8w1CArsupexhubdPU6z4xL1BUcgulBcK7uHpoNB86xoRhmdOlxaKOJA8SJAX9cGAX1LmXgkaWhctsvdcbVl4tgbuJvEzQl7W_-_4DTCL2GPEs9fcnssmrlXz9JwLw/s320/Feb+2010+054.jpg" /> Mia had SO much fun at her party that she passed out in the car as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435991175830542914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBCcO7ag9fMnGqQ1CNVko7XiXH3phMlz2dRg02NpyQl3H7-YPdR67FDGievPlKhjg5Z_axg345HNuIoUTzlpQRAfB9_tXEhHnxpbgAvvmnAGOBTCpHm4l7lTMm-QpZgfW3UVTmdOZXkk/s320/Feb+2010+060.jpg" /> After the party, we headed back to our house where we had a small gathering of family and friends for dinner. Mia spent a large portion of the evening in her new wagon with her friend Dylan!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435991166759100578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGRz-Aed5sgHHGdV56eSjaQkuxkED7tqbFHO-hfGXMyFdb-zLt2LNhHWK8y_iSk4Yi7dK12fSzlvTa_WI5HeNZxzKuL5BveT4UkMUnNFKLl5gmJ6McN3nNJ5LFqjjmX4dtDmb5zOYkmc/s320/Feb+2010+063.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435991160762665170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8axfAZNXmSNgnn9ZeffjsTtt3n45VRBU6aSbaI526BLCmgInqP835MvYrMrO8-ymoD5rSYTep13EjiFZNhwEsgW0ope07OKHqTGbcPeGs1yystCjoAe7XYbqQVXJ-IC9zY9_cRMT7a8/s320/Feb+2010+061.jpg" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-24958718316099112412010-01-16T21:17:00.000-08:002010-01-16T21:27:44.624-08:00New Year's Eve<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiVQu34XTBpv09gLtahHoQ95Zdq1wmzP_b3P3LpMJG7InkTVFoG5HWBz-Zj6GEGwZ4eU24U-VSWZK-ErgnMXlBGqLqQ-fsXDFq_M24xdDnE_0Zfjd-aHJdlZYq7hygBDZ-S0_W3oul9sM/s1600-h/Dec+2009+232.jpg"><span style="color:#000000;">We were so excited to spend New Year's Eve in San Francisco with our friends Meeko and Emily...we were even more excited that we were able to leave Mia at the beach with Doc and Gram so we could have a night out by ourselves :) Below are some pics from our NYE party!!</span></a> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427574696234425522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhkrOC3xlNYQFkCg30XFykTy7gAeNcq5qNqvLZnjcN3DpMY9KMD_KLifNlTM3SJzfGUh6vYN_pv6er0dLR7jz0ANsoz8J9kooZu2p28Ils2sojYC9spVDjDN07BE2HGhapxeWM0OllsE/s320/Dec+2009+218.jpg" /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427574719085546210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkwfxrBkub1gSO2BHwAu4a5jnEmyn06f2fsh2I-Ng2I7T10DQAFCoKBxPVfc50TWVl8ojQenX8_6lf0tviJK4w6Hsgwit7jjN9biGpqa7hx_7ahv1nHMPcT-xK5M5qu-66UZzDnfgWUw/s320/Dec+2009+230.jpg" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCEz5TDuLDD8Dnht8VTjlMSXTGafD2o09F0AOhCy4lRWXGtTh2LU2EqGIEKzZ5vdHJBvoR_LTMejxa5cMLEt6fxij6hTy3f7WkEogADCWVUmao2UhHxuuhpuXH6sfWRKQ7MIlvNJAYMM/s1600-h/Dec+2009+233.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427574710896636610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCEz5TDuLDD8Dnht8VTjlMSXTGafD2o09F0AOhCy4lRWXGtTh2LU2EqGIEKzZ5vdHJBvoR_LTMejxa5cMLEt6fxij6hTy3f7WkEogADCWVUmao2UhHxuuhpuXH6sfWRKQ7MIlvNJAYMM/s320/Dec+2009+233.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiVQu34XTBpv09gLtahHoQ95Zdq1wmzP_b3P3LpMJG7InkTVFoG5HWBz-Zj6GEGwZ4eU24U-VSWZK-ErgnMXlBGqLqQ-fsXDFq_M24xdDnE_0Zfjd-aHJdlZYq7hygBDZ-S0_W3oul9sM/s1600-h/Dec+2009+232.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427574703685157026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiVQu34XTBpv09gLtahHoQ95Zdq1wmzP_b3P3LpMJG7InkTVFoG5HWBz-Zj6GEGwZ4eU24U-VSWZK-ErgnMXlBGqLqQ-fsXDFq_M24xdDnE_0Zfjd-aHJdlZYq7hygBDZ-S0_W3oul9sM/s320/Dec+2009+232.jpg" /></a><br /><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihE-0CFUxtZkf1qgXktdu3OjG1ikYXTtqlhvYUJ9qTQePLCgXclMMK56H4MVCMxP7f7HrnwhN-VLKukgf3mPr_GyEO0IA_62B1VF5LlyRxWNEoxnV14eQ6fKtRzbWOucq2133R3lTTFGw/s1600-h/Dec+2009+216.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427574691534264258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihE-0CFUxtZkf1qgXktdu3OjG1ikYXTtqlhvYUJ9qTQePLCgXclMMK56H4MVCMxP7f7HrnwhN-VLKukgf3mPr_GyEO0IA_62B1VF5LlyRxWNEoxnV14eQ6fKtRzbWOucq2133R3lTTFGw/s320/Dec+2009+216.jpg" /></a> </div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-11476049933773302682010-01-16T21:09:00.000-08:002010-01-16T21:15:24.810-08:00A haircut for MiaMia got her first major haircut in December! After months of going back and forth on what to do with Mia's growing <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">mullet</span>, we decided to chop off Mia's baby curls! We went to a children's salon called Tangles which is not too far from our house. Although Mia cried <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">throughout</span> the beginning of the haircut, she held very still and calmed down when we gave her a lollipop and let her watch an episode of Dora on our i phone!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427572566936963522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qWD7WeP8lSiN40oFc92kTwd1Y9TAMNXpJP1G6RIhLizxb7dLbDqMEZcJgQ_io-AEHkFZNJW3_p23J10HLBtb4ftsG6_XJP7ej7WO-FNiPiZ1AiBQYU2wTtYZaXhOFGN4cW7vh8TNPfU/s320/Dec+2009+029.jpg" /><br /><div align="center"><strong>Lots of tears</strong></div><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427572558626634226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPe11owDLMxem8UoxiI7aimUgwQMK5FYKEApwI4Zys3g3gPJCY2EJpr75-GlrRsBgnFlB8y_qkopp-aysH2Y04Ozh0KrU0ghi7AvBQ9f6JLbcQFnm4bMlVUnzsJ2vKOqokiffXjgOGaMI/s320/Dec+2009+028.jpg" /><strong>Life's a little better now!</strong></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-40326459993250295672010-01-16T19:33:00.000-08:002010-01-16T21:16:36.019-08:00Christmas X 3!!!<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Soooooo</span> late on the blog updates...as usual we have been really busy and in addition, this month we have been sick too!<br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Christmas #1</strong></span></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">Per our tradition, we celebrated our first Christmas of the year with Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Redding</span>. We always LOVE going to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Redding</span>, where we can relax and eat lots of Shelly's yummy creations! As soon as Dan got home from work on Friday Dec. 11<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span>, we jumped in the Tahoe and headed north on I-5. We spent Friday through Sunday in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Redding</span> and were lucky to be joined by Uncle Kevin/Auntie Michelle/Cousin <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaiya</span>, Auntie <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Steph</span>/Uncle Dan, and Auntie Shawna/Jeff! Mia truly LOVES spending time with her Aunties and Uncles and enjoys playing with her Cousin <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaiya</span> (as long as <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaiya</span> doesn't try to kidnap Baby <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hectorina</span>!).</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427564285689010594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9eJLYlEbZqiUm5dAc443dB1QWgfx15r1EYascU81_TGlOl0_BCU5msuGTZ3jtbXURS_Gfr_kfad7dbP4iPp68flQjI4oLmYikSJjJrVF9uSRo83aYxr-0TA_v_avhaqoCfQMm9DaAcgE/s320/Dec+2009+001.jpg" /> <p align="center"><strong>Mia pushing Baby <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hectorina</span> in her new stroller.</strong></p><p align="left">Saturday night we spent eating our prime rib Christmas dinner and opening presents! It didn't take Mia long to remember how to open the presents. She was THRILLED to get a new stroller and baby! Per our tradition as well, we headed to the casino after presents...with the exception of Mia's mommy who was WAY too tired to go. Thankfully, Daddy won a little bit of money.<br /></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427564278215749474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRrKQPTHUYpiDuTmPEjks5erGcFLjtUK3CWkkqc14YIOpgrmzMU8vpWWlW234Du7zb_O4knlf3K2DKR6a-okKhjxQ-iQyDcs53aC6Y_EryL-5N3Y3ZvIma4I_9x7_anl1aKEh19NPD9c/s320/Dec+2009+004.jpg" /><strong>Opening presents with Daddy<br /></strong><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427564274048169346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bjletvLlF1WCqMA2U5pzuU4NMbV05Gqt30PDPKMA6fC9_MHDpJS31KVo1ebrBTDy58uE-zTdig6pSS1gAQHjhXdUWSrh0cDlI1kAdkbgU35vy9RWPIEEkmTW2g5tNxeMeXWPQJkIY9A/s320/Dec+2009+006.jpg" /><strong>Oh, Wow...a new baby!!</strong><br /></p><p>We were SO sad to leave the next day, but as you can tell from the pic...Mia was EXHAUSTED!!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427564266953482994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwVlaBbpZEm0fNhMaBfaN2ny2T6aistJYn6a0uMU6uKOKxsAcj7oBqw5ZVHb53Z7XaAgGkmf6VoyWBKldJQ5Kdsm17fTtMvGETCvIPw5oVLGQ_n8fbLWGczuxDqmgvYJZNgY5oESDDJc/s320/Dec+2009+024.jpg" /><br /><strong>Christmas #2....Christmas Eve</strong></p>Keeping with tradition, we spent Christmas Eve with Gammy and Bill in Discovery Bay. We timed our drive with Mia's nap which was nice because we had a very well rested little girl when we <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">arrived</span>! Joining us for Christmas Eve at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Gammy's</span> were Uncle Kevin/Auntie Michelle/Cousin <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaiya</span> and Auntie <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Steph</span>/Uncle Dan/Cousin Louie Dog. We spent our first Christmas Eve in the new Discovery Bay home. Mia and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaiya</span> discovered that they LOVED running in circles around the new house. After lots of yummy appetizers, we had nice dinner and delicious desserts! Mia LOVED all the play food she got as well as a cute new outfit and a special new pair of pink <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Uggs</span> that her Gammy brought her from Australia. Although she loved all the gifts, the highlight of Mia's evening was the bubble gun that Gammy brought from Australia. Mia, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaiya</span>, and Louie LOVED all the bubbles!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427562683903874930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJ8xoPgMk-UlgVK6YM30Fctu3iad1TCGJEXyy-CMoys36SC0_X5OQJl9Ain82ckTnFTwsDBqatu0mOud28h7yStCTQGOWEMoB89G50uXFv2lM4x5mQXvUWdhSSwClGfCZkx6nM89agOU/s320/Dec+2009+049.jpg" /><br /><div align="center"><strong>Gammy brought back this super cool bubble gun from Australia</strong></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427562678090823986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIRTMDUKqm-vji9MZq31ekbujI-kHHmDgr_2k3lrPEk17xzE3BJ7dOs7XiIuDBW50frQrdBSUP2aLIGKNyOprUK67rEVWnQmUq6wqG7YZCqj9sp7SHLJZ9YC-v-S2GjKjoC9WzUxTHBU/s320/Dec+2009+062.jpg" /><br /><div align="center"><strong>Mia's new tea set</strong></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427562667511065474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedy2tRFNAaRXdjqI2ZzdqwWDbc8LKs5xjq_UufUjnALhFaklkLdg8YKMpx6xYiHldZB4JVjMZf7baXovCdwUYSJSBu4LJnwILn6ySL0svsB_76IQU_8UOXysfUOLHUe0n9ABLkfW0o7U/s320/Dec+2009+098.jpg" /><br /><div align="center"><strong>Daddy, Mommy, Mia & Baby <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hectorina</span></strong></div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427562665389981426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEtOZuhtZC-Qi1Kwvx-AvzJNrxG0ZBjsizKw4FexPa_FYlZ4EZAdtJShilDESS8qdWdEa8mh-QTQXZkFMS7xic6cGg1dyn3mB1T5b8ozHCFp0MOy9frchR5k13v5MwFHH3zg7WMzOH3G0/s320/Dec+2009+099.jpg" /><br /><p align="center"><strong>Auntie <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">Steph</span>, Uncle Dan, Cousin Louie Dog</strong></p><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427562653150289682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfkpGiz4tJzFbn_uQHgtdeJ7cAI1nr91ppfnmGtZYtAXgJ9cUA1_OWOtauhHJYfzCGsG0wl5BDEoWLUgq1FiJycH1wPBRLP4Wur5614K1yqEp_YhEAcytN9ffNa4CoNzQRZy1veNTFjQ/s320/Dec+2009+103.jpg" /> </p><p align="center"><strong>Mia feeding baby in her new hat and matching backpack</strong><br /></p><p align="left"><strong>Christmas #3</strong></p>We were all so excited to have Uncle Roger/Auntie <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mika</span>/Cousins Ellie, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">Nisa</span>, and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">Maile</span> with us for Christmas! They arrive on the Wednesday before Christmas and their first stop on their way into town was at John's Incredible Pizza! Although it was a late night for everyone, we were so excited to be able to take all the girls since it is without a doubt their favorite destination! After playing all the games, choosing prizes and eating dessert Ellie and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">Nisa</span> came back to our house for a sleepover!<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427559999000355762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wNP-h6lLhwkiqfXiY_ZRE_8b6etpTAbZquY6zbCnUVRqcXNKTEEkQVRw8npOFoAQbNpMDB7Nt3lF53TOzWW5WN0bvdq2kfsZMLaEubP-5GEgZ5I31ir2J5RrtuzF-_VbZ7Wqk4gEATQ/s320/Dec+2009+107.jpg" /> <p align="center"><strong>Slumber party in Mia's room!</strong></p><strong></strong><p align="left"><br /><br />On Christmas Eve, our house was packed! In addition to Ellie and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-error">Nisa</span> spending the night, we also had Doc/Gram and Uncle Roger/Auntie <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mika</span>/Cousin <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-error">Maile</span>. After this sleepover, we became more convinced than ever that we NEED a bigger home!</p><p align="left">When we awoke Christmas morning, the kids were THRILLED to see that Santa had come!!! Santa brought Mia a new kitchen! She was so excited to be able to cook in her kitchen with all her new food and the pots and pans that Mommy and Daddy bought her. She also loved her new American Girl Doll Bitty Baby that Uncle Mark and Cousin Monte Dog brought her, the baby gear from Doc and Gram, and the horse stable and horses from her Uncle Roger and family!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427559990390410402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMa6mL27GHy8bLZ4RfJXjn7IrNG_j6q35qr1b3OlAVHVqkI0b1ag3wM9C_TQMQVGhdzDSGuYcTmXu1UyzMtlK07Axqo0mnRubdntUvcZGT9Tc1PIuidiiH5t_IopyDSn06XvbwcKey9_k/s320/Dec+2009+126.jpg" /></p><p align="center"><strong>Mia cooking in her new kitchen</strong></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427559990222633698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyJkhSetWC3ulXuuTDkjv_FDf3on2X56xL6b14NMNT43sFa6DI8gQ4ojTRwRVt1v-6v3smdvMie_LXTsu2Zfe-8WzAtgWAyyrP5nwYmN8OawER4vmm6SACLVb8gnMTT3t2znFNYt0geQ/s320/Dec+2009+142.jpg" /><br /><strong>Playing with Doc</strong><br /></p><p align="left"><br />After opening presents, we headed to the Great Grandparents house! <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-error">GG</span> Fay and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-error">Boppa</span> Wayne hosted Christmas Dinner for the Thomas family. It was a nice end to a long day to spend time with our extended family. It was funny to see, but the highlight of the entire day were the balloons on rubber bands that came from Auntie Annie/Uncle Doug/Cousins Jeff and Holly! They were so simple, but definitely the hit of the day!!!</p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427559975953993586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPdZ3_d7mjRhyphenhyphenZ7lhUjX3fSTjR8w7r3O54xViEHpT3M4xJPJ35v5sJ5IJF7QRoUSwkWJp_4_4Re-Elbv48cYskt3EP4U1rD8MRB17timjY68pdqtWvUgUMEfXjeZQqZGeExAxq0zL2aA/s320/Dec+2009+177.jpg" /></p><p align="center"><strong>Happy Family!</strong></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427559970423346162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_g7AkZz4vULO0gE8vdgcaI8yLnARX1tis9khAZCO6quVOMZQY0W7S_fYx6Xk8lI-q_t8zBQCyMNy09gLqJtgHzhrI8W182bJsxMwBFtu9xu4xq5YfQvEkQGNuY3c4FIh6g6gyzWvMfQM/s320/Dec+2009+193.jpg" /></p>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-40646329281388402022009-11-02T13:48:00.000-08:002009-11-02T14:22:26.597-08:00Trip to the Pumpkin Patch and Halloween!!!!!!!<div align="center">The Alexander Family has continued to be super busy this October! We were so excited to take Mia to the pumpkin patch for the first time. We went to Bishop's Pumpkin Patch in Wheatland, which is about 20 minutes from our house. It is a large pumpkin patch with farm animals, a hayride, fields and fields of pumpkins and lots of yummy treats!! Mia loved looking at all the animals and mommy was really happy to avoid the petting zoo!! After jumping in the hay, we took the hayride to a field of pumpkins and walked around for a little while before we found our perfect pumpkins! After taking the pumpkins to our car, we had the most amazing apple slushies and bought an apple pie to take home!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xGtcU3nMRRhuRpBD3RrLbZTDKK7BiVCVmEj74dBpN0AiijFVC20VpnX3BFQc6oBOLQMIw0KVkyKE7QL0_8zMAtp37GgIUKDyo0jJO9GHQulW3QiV3Au22u0EgOmJyX34IFyuhATKhzk/s1600-h/Oct+2009+066.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399629713985434482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xGtcU3nMRRhuRpBD3RrLbZTDKK7BiVCVmEj74dBpN0AiijFVC20VpnX3BFQc6oBOLQMIw0KVkyKE7QL0_8zMAtp37GgIUKDyo0jJO9GHQulW3QiV3Au22u0EgOmJyX34IFyuhATKhzk/s320/Oct+2009+066.jpg" /></a> Mia with the chickens<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86sxCbbYn2K6I1OU7gH-7oqu6EqpDCI4sxWE_88e0x3_QldWaWbtHhSDL7ziQPQFzrO4DoAR6ldnLWvCbO7e9g_ID_6JwcyjTN_mdjO6xqj-_w3zHMnAsSFeFjYb74x0yzFplckbP-oA/s1600-h/Oct+2009+068.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399629707714462258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86sxCbbYn2K6I1OU7gH-7oqu6EqpDCI4sxWE_88e0x3_QldWaWbtHhSDL7ziQPQFzrO4DoAR6ldnLWvCbO7e9g_ID_6JwcyjTN_mdjO6xqj-_w3zHMnAsSFeFjYb74x0yzFplckbP-oA/s320/Oct+2009+068.jpg" /></a> Jumping in the hay<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGnHZvCBUtBKpYHaFnyPrsXbSH9BwDqgEXQEYt7qYhuFItpBLvJSPqhneXZf-VdTDTJ_m4ME6IwAu1HxwnM5AnsAlSrUcGBZZb-J_S6NpmQRKGpPPl0POnn73qEdklwF2kmJwABnToCQ/s1600-h/Oct+2009+070.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399629699082744242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGnHZvCBUtBKpYHaFnyPrsXbSH9BwDqgEXQEYt7qYhuFItpBLvJSPqhneXZf-VdTDTJ_m4ME6IwAu1HxwnM5AnsAlSrUcGBZZb-J_S6NpmQRKGpPPl0POnn73qEdklwF2kmJwABnToCQ/s320/Oct+2009+070.jpg" /></a> Running to the pumpkins<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5obMB1kTQoYqNp_NpuWTKMXuun4MRlP2ytnUJpEFNbr_vIgWr9Sk0FYw_RdxnJ07lNQ-WMeJR9I8HbgwMUVDOWFsPiYBnv3vK7QfuKprzz_ApaJal1b3YTBThLaTwykycMUEjcPaFl54/s1600-h/Oct+2009+080.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399629693148209858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5obMB1kTQoYqNp_NpuWTKMXuun4MRlP2ytnUJpEFNbr_vIgWr9Sk0FYw_RdxnJ07lNQ-WMeJR9I8HbgwMUVDOWFsPiYBnv3vK7QfuKprzz_ApaJal1b3YTBThLaTwykycMUEjcPaFl54/s320/Oct+2009+080.jpg" /></a>Mommy and Mia on the hayride<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFeex0b_2I75oGhK3KVY7LonAo7ZEyBk0ifup1YCWCX364y4fy7S497sZehgMVnIe07cyosWM4njvxuN2mZYB8ud2GrTHYdacCB4LBfOgcAxLV3nMIIhiB_H2E9sHJyoMkNz5RYcI6qo/s1600-h/Oct+2009+086.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399629682263588530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFeex0b_2I75oGhK3KVY7LonAo7ZEyBk0ifup1YCWCX364y4fy7S497sZehgMVnIe07cyosWM4njvxuN2mZYB8ud2GrTHYdacCB4LBfOgcAxLV3nMIIhiB_H2E9sHJyoMkNz5RYcI6qo/s320/Oct+2009+086.jpg" /></a>Mia loved the little green pumpkins!<br /></div><div>For Halloween, we drove to Redding to visit Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly. Nobody loves Halloween like Grandma Shelly nor does anyone make such amazing costumes! This year's theme was Wizard of Oz and all of us dressed as different characters. Of course, Mia was a beautiful Dorothy!! Daddy was the tin man and Mommy was the tornado! Mia had so much fun and did such a great job trick or treating! She was so brave as she walked to each door and knocked her tiny little knock. Although she did not say "trick or treat", we were very proud that she instead said "please" and "thank you"!</div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM52lSkgxnWyOmWyod9jtgkwmj-MHvcShu_hagV16RN5i_6DAGtGN0JISAMzIdTtk27LWFeqeTsr8GyIaXAXbr8cWGb19y-D8FyCnToVkidiiIh3wnt24FvS6cRGv23NerPQW3ilzxLJc/s1600-h/Oct+2009+091.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399628898434642210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM52lSkgxnWyOmWyod9jtgkwmj-MHvcShu_hagV16RN5i_6DAGtGN0JISAMzIdTtk27LWFeqeTsr8GyIaXAXbr8cWGb19y-D8FyCnToVkidiiIh3wnt24FvS6cRGv23NerPQW3ilzxLJc/s320/Oct+2009+091.jpg" /></a> Helping Grandma pick tomatoes<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyOm5fv8id9EPCwHeFf6UlUQCF8xVgztn2G7aePpRyQGxRDHEjTqvZfbU9n6WIyr6jzbCKMZpCNwL5m8nOg7Ty4dk4NBRotA1GTqHk4fRxAH1iZgl6aiJcLIER3FLd_HJgauu2Na6C6I/s1600-h/Oct+2009+096.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399628888355875618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyOm5fv8id9EPCwHeFf6UlUQCF8xVgztn2G7aePpRyQGxRDHEjTqvZfbU9n6WIyr6jzbCKMZpCNwL5m8nOg7Ty4dk4NBRotA1GTqHk4fRxAH1iZgl6aiJcLIER3FLd_HJgauu2Na6C6I/s320/Oct+2009+096.jpg" /></a>Reading with Auntie Steph<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L66PY6twSxNZZyR56OYx_Vcid59ts1QAHCYvMYfhGj8u3pkgdkl9zDiRj5OgbHjOysSsh7m5G2RWYzfzLZEdJVMg7aaoumiTDUll5NwfySxg89kefomzRqbIErqoI0XE5LjC0J6Gv40/s1600-h/Oct+2009+103.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399628880908726402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L66PY6twSxNZZyR56OYx_Vcid59ts1QAHCYvMYfhGj8u3pkgdkl9zDiRj5OgbHjOysSsh7m5G2RWYzfzLZEdJVMg7aaoumiTDUll5NwfySxg89kefomzRqbIErqoI0XE5LjC0J6Gv40/s320/Oct+2009+103.jpg" /></a> Playing in the playhouse with Cousin Kaiya<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGblhnXWhHrreKJ-x_mEAsQZ70UwUz1Jnq9OaZ2nrYXiO4RSkVC-34LbHGtH61z9H4aYUYMTJLAxXzm11th2w0vQJgq6lk8Ing15dGbWaZMxgk8RHywUZCEkopEoSCvHMMWQO88g1bh4/s1600-h/Oct+2009+114.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399628874762383250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGblhnXWhHrreKJ-x_mEAsQZ70UwUz1Jnq9OaZ2nrYXiO4RSkVC-34LbHGtH61z9H4aYUYMTJLAxXzm11th2w0vQJgq6lk8Ing15dGbWaZMxgk8RHywUZCEkopEoSCvHMMWQO88g1bh4/s320/Oct+2009+114.jpg" /></a> It's Dorothy!!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZW3DMkjUOmh2xM4FW5B5CSFZQSfUDrrcHBtxLScB-IOt75agcbS1kd96Y-grGJEX6QEXruHuOaKJ4wn5gv0q3KbyHS8w8OYL4nvnEjYQ5x3E3IBGwemawY5qL7WZEbZYkUHiE5rM_21s/s1600-h/Oct+2009+123.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399628865324581682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZW3DMkjUOmh2xM4FW5B5CSFZQSfUDrrcHBtxLScB-IOt75agcbS1kd96Y-grGJEX6QEXruHuOaKJ4wn5gv0q3KbyHS8w8OYL4nvnEjYQ5x3E3IBGwemawY5qL7WZEbZYkUHiE5rM_21s/s320/Oct+2009+123.jpg" /></a> Mommy the Tornado, Daddy the Tin Man and Mia as Dorothy<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTrJiRv9r2-qy6G9HLMXBSU-lLLgx_qiix1qRp-9DhwHBddnYeS6PTbk6FK2WLxOd-m6r0FbW_mBpqds6wGOvhb3j6N7INAffSbRfQrZM_O7c8rt6kLUu-xAyq-kSO_TYuJxXNXCo7Z8E/s1600-h/Oct+2009+130.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627971749913538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTrJiRv9r2-qy6G9HLMXBSU-lLLgx_qiix1qRp-9DhwHBddnYeS6PTbk6FK2WLxOd-m6r0FbW_mBpqds6wGOvhb3j6N7INAffSbRfQrZM_O7c8rt6kLUu-xAyq-kSO_TYuJxXNXCo7Z8E/s320/Oct+2009+130.jpg" /></a> Grandma the Good Witch with Dorothy<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgitiyfxg5Z8EVunT5Bgbrr4siDyC-vJm-yRKjyEdhh2ujbjli7pLGMrCay_5sYHk4x_G5GdtQboKB6pgIXnezkO6Z5iXRr3jjxsg-t1Y7p8E4Uw4rzdcaNlS2V6CJAzZ3A3m0PCrhAk/s1600-h/Oct+2009+131.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627963451116498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgitiyfxg5Z8EVunT5Bgbrr4siDyC-vJm-yRKjyEdhh2ujbjli7pLGMrCay_5sYHk4x_G5GdtQboKB6pgIXnezkO6Z5iXRr3jjxsg-t1Y7p8E4Uw4rzdcaNlS2V6CJAzZ3A3m0PCrhAk/s320/Oct+2009+131.jpg" /></a> Dorothy going into her house!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GpDFI6mDio5JgQxp_xlTMfSOwRn1KDGNc4Ucl4bXQ6NsO1rjg9giBVqj8_yycwf8_SxXOd6aRQ1R4TlVBsQ-CpH_bOQ-sRoatyLdaMo9xOyvfirSHiGs87Gnd_efPcrWzV142kS0Pew/s1600-h/Oct+2009+135.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627956273181890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GpDFI6mDio5JgQxp_xlTMfSOwRn1KDGNc4Ucl4bXQ6NsO1rjg9giBVqj8_yycwf8_SxXOd6aRQ1R4TlVBsQ-CpH_bOQ-sRoatyLdaMo9xOyvfirSHiGs87Gnd_efPcrWzV142kS0Pew/s320/Oct+2009+135.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWmzlufkU0hMPEugFwiFeDbWZdiYR_sapJrP1CJf4fAZpUXXLgkXqvvVEUq5nwcz9LgJFqH_9wmAhpqy6jlzr7Ynz_XcF45zRbcxlfH0GHPkjhRuwHtX-WLDyrFkiviBwTHzgHROGU74U/s1600-h/Oct+2009+137.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627948174403842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWmzlufkU0hMPEugFwiFeDbWZdiYR_sapJrP1CJf4fAZpUXXLgkXqvvVEUq5nwcz9LgJFqH_9wmAhpqy6jlzr7Ynz_XcF45zRbcxlfH0GHPkjhRuwHtX-WLDyrFkiviBwTHzgHROGU74U/s320/Oct+2009+137.jpg" /></a> Dorothy with her Auntie Steph (AKA the Wicked Witch as the beginning of the movie)<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMUMr75mxYIdq3eszeJnKBFzobyGlrK-q7GR4Qtbl1zXOpe_QjrfzvRSjiWdKG_euFfkNxldoxCE7WFYJksu5XbPwVTNPNnx5YqSzf51R0RGXQLdGhIFRofqOF2NSvsaOmY71VaJReEk/s1600-h/Oct+2009+142.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627941383731250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMUMr75mxYIdq3eszeJnKBFzobyGlrK-q7GR4Qtbl1zXOpe_QjrfzvRSjiWdKG_euFfkNxldoxCE7WFYJksu5XbPwVTNPNnx5YqSzf51R0RGXQLdGhIFRofqOF2NSvsaOmY71VaJReEk/s320/Oct+2009+142.jpg" /></a>Papa Peter the Scarecrow with Dorothy and Cousin Kaiya the Wicked Witch<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWofFJ8vz4-YpJAbxheeeShPHa0-5kSOugwqNiSl9OSDrD5HPB7nwKQsv73q32axtBQT2EFncOjYqLPHK4d8NmFMHj8zvbdXCNqg7KnrFRc6mwzfjK8eV-oGucWSceemeAXgkB8u2w3U/s1600-h/Oct+2009+150.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627189045847746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWofFJ8vz4-YpJAbxheeeShPHa0-5kSOugwqNiSl9OSDrD5HPB7nwKQsv73q32axtBQT2EFncOjYqLPHK4d8NmFMHj8zvbdXCNqg7KnrFRc6mwzfjK8eV-oGucWSceemeAXgkB8u2w3U/s320/Oct+2009+150.jpg" /></a> The TORNAO!!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpUJ7HH79NyTGBRY95dlSFzcDM28MpGx6b2yGyj0y_V6HpMb5Oizpw4I2sZ7mbj5hV_Qf_DCkrLy3eRumN3gVsb0V81mb7FsQmqeI7jCXuUhI-_GTClRu5Ew8LAwVXgPgSBQ0O1O__rc/s1600-h/Oct+2009+158.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627178921350690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpUJ7HH79NyTGBRY95dlSFzcDM28MpGx6b2yGyj0y_V6HpMb5Oizpw4I2sZ7mbj5hV_Qf_DCkrLy3eRumN3gVsb0V81mb7FsQmqeI7jCXuUhI-_GTClRu5Ew8LAwVXgPgSBQ0O1O__rc/s320/Oct+2009+158.jpg" /></a> Please and Thank You (AKA Trick or Treat!)<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxBtPAzHa57K4sgVt6rrZdnLNXxOjODdTvaUiliZBdLg_NE57sR-uFIDdcs9S1PI1gw-44Lo69PhhLTc-f6xZDx-yzw_p70CQKij8S0ioRB6W2VUMWpdtjQ-sggrxfaJfwBoZFFAEuKw/s1600-h/Oct+2009+159.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627173410532850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxBtPAzHa57K4sgVt6rrZdnLNXxOjODdTvaUiliZBdLg_NE57sR-uFIDdcs9S1PI1gw-44Lo69PhhLTc-f6xZDx-yzw_p70CQKij8S0ioRB6W2VUMWpdtjQ-sggrxfaJfwBoZFFAEuKw/s320/Oct+2009+159.jpg" /></a> Mia with Auntie Shawna---her Dorothy counterpart!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcaoZXAKyRUjB3AgmB167OLbayhDZeOVMy4cBtbEDXcUDQ1mz_2LsieD7YwKeqOncpurNoOGb7q7Kv3W_OxjaEyG8zyPTsVI0LP4ivI49OjYMY0-uBpsXJLp556seHxd9qjmx7x6kU8n0/s1600-h/Oct+2009+161.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627163795297202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcaoZXAKyRUjB3AgmB167OLbayhDZeOVMy4cBtbEDXcUDQ1mz_2LsieD7YwKeqOncpurNoOGb7q7Kv3W_OxjaEyG8zyPTsVI0LP4ivI49OjYMY0-uBpsXJLp556seHxd9qjmx7x6kU8n0/s320/Oct+2009+161.jpg" /></a> Reading with Papa<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixN_q0QBWiq_eGpcwxIUp-e2C6LY_6lTFGDfWQefIZizklFiBwcNnGNcK9Cs0878ofnpQ0m1DABz9S_Uf9LA1aSiXcziTu5LSgOgqo1gtYFziAAMcN8ZiFTn1Y779RMHisClHUi4Y2sUg/s1600-h/Oct+2009+162.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399627155150344770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixN_q0QBWiq_eGpcwxIUp-e2C6LY_6lTFGDfWQefIZizklFiBwcNnGNcK9Cs0878ofnpQ0m1DABz9S_Uf9LA1aSiXcziTu5LSgOgqo1gtYFziAAMcN8ZiFTn1Y779RMHisClHUi4Y2sUg/s320/Oct+2009+162.jpg" /></a> The morning after Halloween bikeride!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-81199544374313674512009-08-14T13:12:00.001-07:002009-10-05T14:32:24.204-07:00End of SummerWe have been so busy the past few months! Too much too blog about and not enough time to sit down to write. In an attempt to catch up...here we go! We'll start with our trip to Santa Cruz in August!!<br /><br /><br /><br />After returning from our camping adventures in July, we headed to Santa Cruz for some more vacation time! While in Santa Cruz, we were able to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the day. Mia LOVED all the fish and even learned how to say "fish" while we were there.<br /><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389227026238283762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIP8SpSJAlk4DAsiD9yLfnowsYYIweBLyIk82qbkkAOT_ZxXT_CD5nNLvizQGdvMFNP-H7vrTXw0jTKsmh_Yp8jZBvdAqXfX2kOSr9osW6FArpQ2XQSawpnJfLRVaN5OWvYU6m4gTqRKM/s320/August+2009+032.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389229676592122802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dzZEo5N_8Dv65pEsGCmV919dhyphenhyphenVJAsRHJUb8F2vqpSEaA6mc6ey9HPZDl_pJasKZSKkHNRyiNQRHyjvz_WUcsUcnOweUNPTD2xOfxvfPusILtOrspbQ8dr4rHGZvhNXmoS2E1KZpQlA/s320/August+2009+021.jpg" />Mia LOVED the touch pools!</div><p>We also spent lots of time with Doc and Gram at the beach and the park!</p><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 330px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 244px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389222903328478594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WobGf2aal2EDbdzplOlpHC_PWgnG1IJnbf2ghDCgUh3XxH8QezzvX56cxbnSw7ngTEyLOacIj8HIQwY4QbS6HNNhZ-KcZoZYQ4kzS7nqbimkxVH33qAUUdpBZ8czaeYq3xM5CwEfjPE/s320/August+2009+055.jpg" /></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389222894041253682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGndSfUL-g1BDqBI83StpZb7k1VgRZ4z9G2MAUldpSQkwtLM0Rm9yptX9ETrEVxr725sw4gn2LBoNoqCyQv0bn3eprLUaPffAgmiuYC2zFJ7aba-7wgqT5pIF6t8Fz-6ENmbKoawqODs/s320/August+2009+046.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389222886014680930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wmzHhyphenhyphengqdRQXFtDp2cVv9h4wu8tgJXO-lWe3aIgp7HGLVMsZhyphenhyphena0a7PSezbB8IQjI3IxAS6WXlJV4sXHm0J906isb-T0lU1FsRDM71TtJLsdZ270qu7U47pNQDnyzHD0lcLFFruqakA/s320/August+2009+041.jpg" /><br /><div>It wouldn't be a trip to Santa Cruz without riding the Merry Go Round at the Boardwalk! <div align="left"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 323px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 247px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389225479611985442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1zA6DnKCZfPJ-OmCuh_HOeh4YVWkCB8XT_Az6alU7dwTCu_hP_jRZR_rjonvEsDu5Y-p8x3xn3ccuTdbjhbMLz26NYxh-xBp9sJccP5QIopG4IYLKV-KVjsMsgXSyxHYtAQDJpEDpicI/s320/August+2009+063.jpg" /></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-55256954976972414652009-08-14T12:50:00.000-07:002009-08-22T14:15:09.294-07:00Camping at Burney FallsWe had a wonderful time on our annual camping trip to Burney Falls...so much fun that we actually went twice. Since I couldn't get any time off from work, we drove up to Burney Falls on Friday and stayed through Monday with Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly. I then worked Tuesday and Wednesday and went back up camping on Thursday and stayed until Monday. In addition to Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Michelle and Cousin Kaiya also joined us! It was really nice because we were able to leave all our things at the campsite and even left our tent pitched! It made it really easy to come back up! Mia LOVED everything about camping....the tent, the campfires, the beach, the hikes in the backpack, and especially helping Grandma Shelly with the dishes!<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369914195500166802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNxIc2r-C-wrjGvpsec91rn4sZf2FA5Rzgeg6iUX-Y1MQ1lQVPUIaSONPCy9pKoiBXknCSWkBFYlox57R36hYkZHH-6R3UYvCCai9dJH_v1OwcF8cmHGwXpAHwiWos_UK_StA96G_P0w/s320/July+2009+056.jpg" /> Reading with Papa Peter<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369914186353209650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9lHVa9uTwVPk4QSUSRMy2fCiKedFkW3924MLnc9GVBUFMsghDGLHR7ZbgVd9Yx2nWo1FgQ_jLImTvp3OXzgjXmJ9XPQp_8tFjkYpNFiu6h-J8HEag823aDEkyyiKjmNCCvLxy6MN8B0/s320/July+2009+053.jpg" /><br /><br /><div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369913934442162098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPP27FuYRx7n1pkzl9T02iy2WepOlh-ET-ASDLUTmDa9wPpKvC42yNuvMLHAtGcW8GOIaspdKRFuxrSAm2P7wYGD2pkWdVCBx22iNzVYHk0j9MxJBfdJ5NTpf9KPhvV7iKfsJRF3dFrFE/s320/July+2009+047.jpg" /> Asleep in the backpack after a hike<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzV-p1PClXsNpx-B-LhdA-dg_raVs_B0LqO4yj1wYKBJmNHmmpbytYWCTkWILmxJT-2M4-KHWqTQ9LEDH8LfJwn-scG-WAJBnA-VWhNT8VU67vLqqyltyMwFef8WJuWZGvNKMj3vCXH0/s1600-h/July+2009+044.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369913922729507154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzV-p1PClXsNpx-B-LhdA-dg_raVs_B0LqO4yj1wYKBJmNHmmpbytYWCTkWILmxJT-2M4-KHWqTQ9LEDH8LfJwn-scG-WAJBnA-VWhNT8VU67vLqqyltyMwFef8WJuWZGvNKMj3vCXH0/s320/July+2009+044.jpg" /></a>Mia and Cousin Kaiya<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSedZVvQl4NSAZUnP6XSaDDuOcdjSOIz8Lm6TiuOEfDzN3PYo4YZvOADZE64QLLoModwe5yHX5dK7pQEWO5jRToGPkUIP1XZTIjWtnbcDLmWjlq0n5HkynTJAFOrPSaLXqeZSxKflo7e0/s1600-h/July+2009+042.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369913912855500690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSedZVvQl4NSAZUnP6XSaDDuOcdjSOIz8Lm6TiuOEfDzN3PYo4YZvOADZE64QLLoModwe5yHX5dK7pQEWO5jRToGPkUIP1XZTIjWtnbcDLmWjlq0n5HkynTJAFOrPSaLXqeZSxKflo7e0/s320/July+2009+042.jpg" /></a> Reading the paper<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0hU56Kh-Lirkl8fa-uiYv2nLFaupp_wPAE2-DqXJuGL-5eHLdntBiFIWC3dw9UFzP7dHmomiP4eqEViJ60v94yGQM5f9S0aTLYfQcxN63A4Jj2XCW1dqNu2ziKokQvoKoEiMltIlcHQ/s1600-h/July+2009+040.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369913903805984642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0hU56Kh-Lirkl8fa-uiYv2nLFaupp_wPAE2-DqXJuGL-5eHLdntBiFIWC3dw9UFzP7dHmomiP4eqEViJ60v94yGQM5f9S0aTLYfQcxN63A4Jj2XCW1dqNu2ziKokQvoKoEiMltIlcHQ/s320/July+2009+040.jpg" /></a> Feeding Papa Peter on the beach<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNeugUqTC4V6ldYqMa2Gx6USnyn9BaIqV69QwYm_2QbwTnd3wK9cg4AiH-oEUtFhXUzCYek_Hon3LvfCayhwsAmsB9dZorMSIkZFrqI_MPcdfRwjebVp5S7Rfak1aVXSo43XUPyMGfg8/s1600-h/July+2009+036.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369913894320722386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNeugUqTC4V6ldYqMa2Gx6USnyn9BaIqV69QwYm_2QbwTnd3wK9cg4AiH-oEUtFhXUzCYek_Hon3LvfCayhwsAmsB9dZorMSIkZFrqI_MPcdfRwjebVp5S7Rfak1aVXSo43XUPyMGfg8/s320/July+2009+036.jpg" /></a><br />Opening bottles with Grandma Shelly<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMmWhyphenhyphenbRQfWYoNN1marcaBaECqoVf2Bieel0si0c_QmMgdF3YW52IIQeeI1rUMa0FiCnAVTU9r6tWWVAloWkDXNkkhF2jL9cpO80PaUsyVDdavpG8q4C8SWP0x5IovcgmGBWoDFifGBs/s1600-h/July+2009+033.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369911227377155794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMmWhyphenhyphenbRQfWYoNN1marcaBaECqoVf2Bieel0si0c_QmMgdF3YW52IIQeeI1rUMa0FiCnAVTU9r6tWWVAloWkDXNkkhF2jL9cpO80PaUsyVDdavpG8q4C8SWP0x5IovcgmGBWoDFifGBs/s320/July+2009+033.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1ZMU3hNk3hsIHak88ODhPwj-V3EbPtoK72WU4R-5IDjfNoTU3sUKzA3tIDl7pB04ueDgKuMvMNoCeseQawtX8Mh2IWxExG3Na7nuVbrdIdb7UsibRZnkab-uZdos6p78ifr9RsjgxoY/s1600-h/July+2009+029.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369911215568862290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1ZMU3hNk3hsIHak88ODhPwj-V3EbPtoK72WU4R-5IDjfNoTU3sUKzA3tIDl7pB04ueDgKuMvMNoCeseQawtX8Mh2IWxExG3Na7nuVbrdIdb7UsibRZnkab-uZdos6p78ifr9RsjgxoY/s320/July+2009+029.jpg" /></a> A hike to the falls in the backpack with Daddy!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxvZE0QvqSIIWZufeGnJc7SdfC5VpDP546WL4r9bA7Nfc9IxoEifmBmS8tHb6yjbQUjPiH3d9K8WCGOUd8qGbc5HF_OJPtIWGMlbfTVpsOL4QVBm5vX6LKLBO652cMCRw4kPvc5cqlMY/s1600-h/July+2009+026.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369911204010362146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxvZE0QvqSIIWZufeGnJc7SdfC5VpDP546WL4r9bA7Nfc9IxoEifmBmS8tHb6yjbQUjPiH3d9K8WCGOUd8qGbc5HF_OJPtIWGMlbfTVpsOL4QVBm5vX6LKLBO652cMCRw4kPvc5cqlMY/s320/July+2009+026.jpg" /></a>MMMMM...Grandma Shelly's famous Banana French Toast<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8rvK6f6EzytVw9iZ-3iTNl2PdwP4qcnh2zSt4hwerMqrt8yORFbPZpSNwWfq2AFO_NRxbhrdYqgz8qh2_Gg9V4Ybc7GChfGRvKL8zY3zzq0G1-xrSKeCwMlkk3e7emtDpyE_yIrmokw/s1600-h/July+2009+025.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369911192531758546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8rvK6f6EzytVw9iZ-3iTNl2PdwP4qcnh2zSt4hwerMqrt8yORFbPZpSNwWfq2AFO_NRxbhrdYqgz8qh2_Gg9V4Ybc7GChfGRvKL8zY3zzq0G1-xrSKeCwMlkk3e7emtDpyE_yIrmokw/s320/July+2009+025.jpg" /></a> Happy camping girl!!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJH0EZrS0ACtHbBm6ruWXsiaGwy-If5xJa4bLm9_vYhLcPxamwJ4j3ANsm8KdDe3-jqxGioa22tqnjKFuZMdOwugeNeJT8mpkEaFV8oY2OpQwOOqUB7b_gOSumlZpZg_iAb4qjwJQBcM/s1600-h/July+2009+023.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369911184241477778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJH0EZrS0ACtHbBm6ruWXsiaGwy-If5xJa4bLm9_vYhLcPxamwJ4j3ANsm8KdDe3-jqxGioa22tqnjKFuZMdOwugeNeJT8mpkEaFV8oY2OpQwOOqUB7b_gOSumlZpZg_iAb4qjwJQBcM/s320/July+2009+023.jpg" /></a> Helping Grandma Shelly with the dishes!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-52236881683808332422009-07-09T02:47:00.000-07:002009-07-09T01:28:07.070-07:00Santa Cruzin'We just got back from our first Santa Cruz trip of the summer and we are already looking forward to returning later this month! We were so excited to be able to join Doc, Gram, Roger, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Mika</span> and the girls for some great beach days! Mia had so much fun playing with her cousins on the beach and the boardwalk! I was relieved that Mia seems to like the beach now. Last year, she didn't like the sand and screamed when we put her feet in the ocean. We explained to her that this is simply not allowed in the Thomas family! She loved digging in the sand and splashing in the ocean. She even got to taste some sand and ocean water :) Mia experienced her first ride at the boardwalk (which I got to experience as well!)<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356210981980772434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04vyfyhW20IGhsfJmRsG_Nvdq91iS2KGxAKuzlI6ItR7GRzJtLo9WWlh8lI-1_K1JB-bPUdxnkTOFq2jk1n42oXC4fALbUQuFmk5EjEwma5RrlU0Dq1GHYBEqAGC5Yn_zIbnckGusg3k/s320/June+2009+019.jpg" border="0" />The girls loaded in the car on the way to the beach.<br /><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356211003198911954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3b2HlAGYlA8F-9vPNrdPS3M6zphw544GXqBkM67_DxYbw9GDqFhFUdaxJhGj-Y1gMkfga-PGioSkEh3p4JkuUSIDe_X8mQ9lJSAaKAs4qf5ZqQiHdxT4FlhWW1DW4C8tyLtafTteMHg/s320/June+2009+037.jpg" border="0" />Mia laughing in the water with Daddy<br /><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6iWlrS1YN84jsKidBvZ8T92ttyC3_B7e35LXR478uORMugI7RxNPRZJBtQmu2EjlDXZBtIevjpbjMFvYsyVMl0ti7DANiuS5J2KoFst0mjnGmn5ZdPWSLCmftP_OAnA4a6hFoxk50NY/s1600-h/June+2009+029.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356211000528293266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6iWlrS1YN84jsKidBvZ8T92ttyC3_B7e35LXR478uORMugI7RxNPRZJBtQmu2EjlDXZBtIevjpbjMFvYsyVMl0ti7DANiuS5J2KoFst0mjnGmn5ZdPWSLCmftP_OAnA4a6hFoxk50NY/s320/June+2009+029.jpg" border="0" /></a>Digging, digging, digging...<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356210992250887938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjxCHUP8jVjOrundsJPVR_XhKy2-B2DmOBJbJiTwwXdOvfeZzYRBHhLNvdbFrNB7ZusIFg6TSV1bJaJXLZbb96M_HdGe5zl2IuCma6YSmAgcinJfCkmUSOScXLiq3O56Nna9VtxGAxgE/s320/June+2009+021.jpg" border="0" />Ready to swim<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356211008820416258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY3jdm90LNqO4SAjnBx4hArklzpb99J-6YRGxORmTci7Ss2MHrojoB2lgW80h-LIttG8B_gwwm6uM2NFmalGPDo2JOXqUQilFJpFD9Fie6iOuCfdWHEIhuQI7nbjFPcW_IXxdRRgfjp8/s320/June+2009+050.jpg" border="0" />Mia and Mommy with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Nisa</span> and our beach family, Lisa and Lily <div><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356211793570736482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRA7nufCVsEGxD1WsqUkVJT1YzD_5DV393TAPFiq4l6q1gM__ecNp_Oa5V_VvFdmlWgvykksd9Zhf6J4Auio817gXp56hA7HszKN83tmEPf90qx9gPakxLmgcRobUzaI_4-fU43rTFqKA/s320/June+2009+052.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>Mia and Mommy on Mia's first ride at the Boardwalk<br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356211801227295938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDnb_3Ow1jJoFXRDgU1yTPNMen3DcGR6-ORlwDADLfIbB5dLWf1Fp8o9acdMeh0QcYQ_MJpiCukFUZngXEGJ382sev-2bI1MXh5iku_ESYdqKbfqbCtbz_iyIES737ntBr6XH84uh4wI/s320/June+2009+062.jpg" border="0" /></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Maile</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Nisa</span> loving their boat ride!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356211805428707042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMZUVuni-GPmRHgBdLPd8f_elvc_n1_78iRdEg98wWOnb1NxHBuN8ajcnhChtzc0tUqrAA3nf9OiArBKWdO79XJHm_8QZvUpzHQwvBWoivRzqeBGBPZe4RxWe6ZMwBWr0UtgMUTUDj0E/s320/June+2009+072.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>Last ride of the night</p>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-64316465903568331462009-07-08T14:58:00.000-07:002009-07-09T01:10:04.657-07:00Fairy Tale Town<div align="center"> Mia took her first trip to Fairy Tale Town last month and had a blast. It brought back so many memories for me. I went there a few times with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">grandparents</span> when I would visit Sacramento in the summer. It was almost exactly as I remember, although it did seem quite a bit smaller! We enjoyed running around the park and going down each slide over and over again. We hope to go again sometime, but we really can't wait until we can make a trip to Fresno to visit Doc's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Storyland</span>!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356213634947816386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYrYHpTrmhX5s4e8XuxOoRNycQUPEXYUPxpKNIgs1BLHPwb0Um4Oqfx1qMWVKryeue2wyr_bmHuneD3lsxTOio0yf6QKAjjz8OkBf2uQptjQBTnlYRAEC5d6MZrO2MWu7gH769seu4EE/s320/June+2009+013.jpg" border="0" />Mia loved driving The Little Engine That Could!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlAcE51a8h-r_jp6eY3sm71Ol2YMNfIrqM9ZYQjEwIKMwf-xobnzLsFEw6L8R0LYRZgn1tXHATohOo0MAuIiNZBwludH_ErbCqCJJlLZTKh5iQ3WvZ8L2I8HcJwKHZGDQg5JpjHjo0LGU/s1600-h/June+2009+011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356213318529046802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlAcE51a8h-r_jp6eY3sm71Ol2YMNfIrqM9ZYQjEwIKMwf-xobnzLsFEw6L8R0LYRZgn1tXHATohOo0MAuIiNZBwludH_ErbCqCJJlLZTKh5iQ3WvZ8L2I8HcJwKHZGDQg5JpjHjo0LGU/s320/June+2009+011.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfHSlNThbTXvjB2KCKm4zDwK7Gfz4qiRUsC03LRhfEQ_GaCJhylkdBmL9TH1gInYzxEnTxkMQrfeWmngvrXwCypsUWNpfc1u6WwAnHxfWzaZCSR5_-9Bei5BqQPji-zWW5qPQ6P0oTA8/s1600-h/June+2009+010.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356213315900352546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfHSlNThbTXvjB2KCKm4zDwK7Gfz4qiRUsC03LRhfEQ_GaCJhylkdBmL9TH1gInYzxEnTxkMQrfeWmngvrXwCypsUWNpfc1u6WwAnHxfWzaZCSR5_-9Bei5BqQPji-zWW5qPQ6P0oTA8/s320/June+2009+010.jpg" border="0" /></a> Mia as the Scarecrow<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCPTHIU1hSGXljUetyRlX_aIi4ABSF8jw5aIppffsPA1LakaIkH9m8muu5FjR8v2lug5eLuk8IqR7PcnyysrtYoJ_F2omhQ7pHfMRpJk4Lyq8AhPd4K4Fzf5sEVWoWdGzTiUrpMZO1mc/s1600-h/June+2009+009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356213305484916274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCPTHIU1hSGXljUetyRlX_aIi4ABSF8jw5aIppffsPA1LakaIkH9m8muu5FjR8v2lug5eLuk8IqR7PcnyysrtYoJ_F2omhQ7pHfMRpJk4Lyq8AhPd4K4Fzf5sEVWoWdGzTiUrpMZO1mc/s320/June+2009+009.jpg" border="0" /></a>Mommy as Dorothy<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJUOeLogkcCyn_hhVj26wuXIrjqKHQ1xIRSY3dSYM6_UDTjRyPN2v9TQSu-4l3KMpuxbM9nQH_2xh0Nxuiwy46hfTlvZYmofgCqf0Ik0ZIvOnBQSEIu1HTkWJRooxNVUB80gdTZN1Deo/s1600-h/June+2009+005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356213300203871234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJUOeLogkcCyn_hhVj26wuXIrjqKHQ1xIRSY3dSYM6_UDTjRyPN2v9TQSu-4l3KMpuxbM9nQH_2xh0Nxuiwy46hfTlvZYmofgCqf0Ik0ZIvOnBQSEIu1HTkWJRooxNVUB80gdTZN1Deo/s320/June+2009+005.jpg" border="0" /></a> Mia inside the Jack and the Beanstalk foot<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWi97cPRQhh2XrJUYftu08jXNbQ21gaMU8n6IaBQAyGxZPgidrWPt1EZCFE_LmvVQAPigE6weVM5LcJPlMemv9gSgG2XA8cljfA0D3_zJU-1JOIM3qQkiIGiYweY7BjtW9A0-1LcjecxU/s1600-h/June+2009+003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356213291618647666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWi97cPRQhh2XrJUYftu08jXNbQ21gaMU8n6IaBQAyGxZPgidrWPt1EZCFE_LmvVQAPigE6weVM5LcJPlMemv9gSgG2XA8cljfA0D3_zJU-1JOIM3qQkiIGiYweY7BjtW9A0-1LcjecxU/s320/June+2009+003.jpg" border="0" /></a> King Arthur's throne might be big enough for my Papa Peter!<br /></div><div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-20085356107589314582009-05-21T12:04:00.000-07:002009-05-21T12:14:21.121-07:00Mia's First HaircutIn an attempt to prevent Mia from having a mullet, she got her first haircut! The girl who cut my hair had offered to cut Mia's hair, so we took her up on her offer. Mia was very excited, but unfortunately she wanted to watch the scissors which made things a little more difficult. She looks so cute with her cute little cut!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338357501447838946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8Qjs4qIXnA66miihFcrRZyIv01dTS7ZXUT26p72AK8B_zfrouyDJmbIATRZpJCXGyw10vmG4Bj3kz2lK7_EBSAptwOwP4TRSx6P-o1rvSbgG6MdP8QRuspzOuOM4R9FPZNK-y6SvKDc/s320/April+2009+066.jpg" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Q6t1jAs5PpEMlUfuaIei_-RCf_McPpY4hKCQ4ESOlY5AjbXPqMyN3e6V7BPg49eDCPUXdhNPUYPopmRsxPkGbRoLjiNXwoUMqNjNqsgO-0h8Br4iZ7bUyN_O13uLN6iKtjH_g23WFVE/s1600-h/April+2009+068.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338357506778123026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Q6t1jAs5PpEMlUfuaIei_-RCf_McPpY4hKCQ4ESOlY5AjbXPqMyN3e6V7BPg49eDCPUXdhNPUYPopmRsxPkGbRoLjiNXwoUMqNjNqsgO-0h8Br4iZ7bUyN_O13uLN6iKtjH_g23WFVE/s320/April+2009+068.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-78064010553286307102009-05-18T21:34:00.000-07:002009-05-21T11:56:21.268-07:00Ellie Grover Photo Session<div><div>Thanks to a very generous birthday gift from Meeko and Emily, we had our family photos taken recently. Ellie Grover is a good friend of Emily's who does amazing photography. I had been admiring her work through her blog and was thrilled to hear that she recently moved to Roseville! We are so thrilled with the results and now the only problem will be deciding which ones to print!!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDRkEi-NDTfEM2VIf5-BAs8-Z1BmypeZ2pxD-K2dSlEehbGbSLxG_TYRsbci_xcqKez4noG5062jkHhu7l3g2Huo1K9UUsg7bXttfv9Uhfj1IybvotjXwCw9yFY0f4tm7cJB9XUsHSvE/s1600-h/May+2009+030.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337394891854954562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDRkEi-NDTfEM2VIf5-BAs8-Z1BmypeZ2pxD-K2dSlEehbGbSLxG_TYRsbci_xcqKez4noG5062jkHhu7l3g2Huo1K9UUsg7bXttfv9Uhfj1IybvotjXwCw9yFY0f4tm7cJB9XUsHSvE/s320/May+2009+030.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2ZnIsbLWZgyLmsQ8PAgfywq3swuGMYAMyJIZBTqAwbsQCPHgQPOvDfI-6V_ECwi-cBfPkZfM4LW15spkxIh1k7mTAGX-Si0jRDcU1PftJO9FiJzFea7modPwzaIjO7CyD2PAjeiwt-A/s1600-h/May+2009+027.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337394884702508786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2ZnIsbLWZgyLmsQ8PAgfywq3swuGMYAMyJIZBTqAwbsQCPHgQPOvDfI-6V_ECwi-cBfPkZfM4LW15spkxIh1k7mTAGX-Si0jRDcU1PftJO9FiJzFea7modPwzaIjO7CyD2PAjeiwt-A/s320/May+2009+027.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337394876324037266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9s710dKDyQRC1kOZ5twMhhBUy1BVNum4TGjibEayAY7qY7aPfwhsLDgSr8kUymg3_tFewSHRaE-Q4pLi-k-YJQn-Kf4GlHq7jn81ZGDF7uzdAyoiKwxyWryu1yBXnaiyFg7OlTwnuB1k/s320/May+2009+025.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOp25nQVTmS_wklzw86HArKEzI-_S6cvjYuLi0CfMDz22Q8_2j3X3AaXxHgVLSadCA2wqbfVewJI3YUhOFKOYI2EeA77YhOCdbNnRgd83uH8eBARW1eMqF18t7rbcwqDJQ9FxX6H1fE8M/s1600-h/May+2009+021.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337394877375188226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOp25nQVTmS_wklzw86HArKEzI-_S6cvjYuLi0CfMDz22Q8_2j3X3AaXxHgVLSadCA2wqbfVewJI3YUhOFKOYI2EeA77YhOCdbNnRgd83uH8eBARW1eMqF18t7rbcwqDJQ9FxX6H1fE8M/s320/May+2009+021.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JZ4TlZJrUv8Cfh0ZlBLLdgxjHohwSVQ-5knU9LRtvxjeRT-Bpslz7rdyN6XRpv5jYvllQYQypNQ1GlnSPBH8SpxEqyf-m4cD-K6KeqWMZfB3fID3qYyscNND_9p-pt6ZO-w_hP6kjDg/s1600-h/May+2009+018.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337391165150218146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JZ4TlZJrUv8Cfh0ZlBLLdgxjHohwSVQ-5knU9LRtvxjeRT-Bpslz7rdyN6XRpv5jYvllQYQypNQ1GlnSPBH8SpxEqyf-m4cD-K6KeqWMZfB3fID3qYyscNND_9p-pt6ZO-w_hP6kjDg/s320/May+2009+018.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qboryu618UjHGPSLLW5LkQg88ZddRiL_HrWWDSAY3_A7fHrFDF-49GcPA3M9ZQwDyDuLrc5Rsi7Iuu5tbxaMCTe1uTGfmQi49hb56hjW47Lr0G30KrKlGUKkkdZq33oc8ynfHLcNDGE/s1600-h/May+2009+017.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337391162235532722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qboryu618UjHGPSLLW5LkQg88ZddRiL_HrWWDSAY3_A7fHrFDF-49GcPA3M9ZQwDyDuLrc5Rsi7Iuu5tbxaMCTe1uTGfmQi49hb56hjW47Lr0G30KrKlGUKkkdZq33oc8ynfHLcNDGE/s320/May+2009+017.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwQSUqcwe9h3gQVXZf_nBjOniKbVpOFW_86ZkIvBef5ocneOXEpmJ1Ihw6tHQs0qo3jos82Qq5ZNLPd-g74UNzRc-n4TAB_DoPee7Zk4bP8vE6SQ0uabQnCn7MNSncAGhi2BnCmCXE-c/s1600-h/May+2009+013.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337391158799038754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwQSUqcwe9h3gQVXZf_nBjOniKbVpOFW_86ZkIvBef5ocneOXEpmJ1Ihw6tHQs0qo3jos82Qq5ZNLPd-g74UNzRc-n4TAB_DoPee7Zk4bP8vE6SQ0uabQnCn7MNSncAGhi2BnCmCXE-c/s320/May+2009+013.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZ7hzhcvQdUdgDxGHZkMXor9XVgB9odMUJcYt4KuD_zztwS-BN3Wu_MWF8rsBwWrgdBfYegoSycHf4opG8HhMB4-csUwDIVZwV5_OSmGPvhvaXJEKRYoy-qPKcjFL4VqdyVtYGQB0c58/s1600-h/May+2009+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337391152928895250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZ7hzhcvQdUdgDxGHZkMXor9XVgB9odMUJcYt4KuD_zztwS-BN3Wu_MWF8rsBwWrgdBfYegoSycHf4opG8HhMB4-csUwDIVZwV5_OSmGPvhvaXJEKRYoy-qPKcjFL4VqdyVtYGQB0c58/s320/May+2009+007.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfm0r9qCkImN8u8TaqFWEt5a2tmhbLJ94EovpiNJ5n7KKFWOYYq3obhSGfXLwilEu2_y60XsqmkUJkpjctNCkyBhxlZyS3cN7srbX3CKRuObI4kuMmIaIgf_qrgNrhelF-FKTOqJzwLwc/s1600-h/May+2009+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337391147371446498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfm0r9qCkImN8u8TaqFWEt5a2tmhbLJ94EovpiNJ5n7KKFWOYYq3obhSGfXLwilEu2_y60XsqmkUJkpjctNCkyBhxlZyS3cN7srbX3CKRuObI4kuMmIaIgf_qrgNrhelF-FKTOqJzwLwc/s320/May+2009+004.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338352936787684786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dqSAfTQhP5GSk0W59_eYWkxwQXV67KQWjY1PAyUlTxa0zsvRuinJvSSE_CpXyGmYRZMjAa4PWOxFZudtTsBBVtGyaqJKb_JC-Bae1qEi3_A1P7z4Ebb3xpBGaM_xIjhkB_KYz6XOl70/s320/May+2009+067.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-67342704869367913552009-04-14T09:37:00.001-07:002009-04-15T01:50:04.370-07:00Giants Opening Day<div align="center">We have started quite a tradition for our little Miss Mia. Once again we took Mia to the Giants Opening Day game...this was her 2nd! We were so lucky that Papa Peter was able to find tickets for all of us. Although the weather called for heavy rain all day, we took a chance and drove to San Francisco. Although it rained before the game, the skies cleared just in time for the pregame ceremonies. Mia was decked out in her Tim Lincecum Giants Tee and brought her Giants Bunny that Holly made her along in the car. Mia LOVED every part of the experience and enjoyed giving high 5's to the people sitting around us. Although Lincecum only lasted 3 innings, the Giants pulled out a win...we pray there will be many more wins to come!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324587778053301058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJkPAjzvhEKTITokEDjjWpcQdDSbonEYuEud5oejncnCE7CB14nfvjHKUpafSgamM4LAvVuOoYrksrwoncr10Q704270LqyU26RPHv0dGRmtOkf81fLKNIN-IhVdcEizAHCvEAZcy5A4/s320/April+2009+005.jpg" border="0" />Mia and Giants Bunny on the way to the game. </div><div align="center">Holly made this bunny for Mia when she was born.</div><div align="center"><br /></div><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324587781091411890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52P4Krdfe7EkWoW8y0zKVKg9d1OwIgR8A3usiUfdr42QPpxhR0OgpfHsGyuKASUeYdKAOOJ_YskwIFfESZWdFg8Wo85pp_4b5NMAup3fV76HQPxSU-5_aLS9ZpgIsxDxfDycDn2PWMag/s320/April+2009+006.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324587787185814642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfk3D-UvCwNU2gHbHe4hqXqdSBir6b3yWAS4nQYkI7y7Boht140P26Ta-runEDj_e_-TxbXulAOoQGpHlS-EevMJzxeQys8jFa-If0sdU-ZdzEYI8t4LJ2ZVZlwid2K4Sy7SOro4Uh9Uc/s320/April+2009+007.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324587797570048546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGUUeuoPE6ZMP3MlvOrujxgh0XoGr-vFSr5U_M5abUm-sNfIL76ipxhBUHDRLGc3gqISPSZA4fsQUav8R_KHLc1ybXAp-zKKn0cfm0jBI5_Gep1qs8hl4-7HmTPa2bhtCn3v5HWhIXz8/s320/April+2009+009.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324587792005592850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk5GEPfzzpajH8CIqvuKvFor5wmWVsDDJva77gJkBqwEvXg9Tsx2KPyn8SUCJmIbjlCr-prpWQhekRS0jhj1qBi24oL1E0bj3Ulf_BiD_IVdSXiBgWTH1nM4ZgbgbSAqezg6XVSV3TJ7c/s320/April+2009+008.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324589880401086578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmQAZom4Y8iYnkx9QYN5gIXucPy2iRkO_oQfFW3NlWAwZ224zUXOgpkVmv4x7CM2QEeu9oktJQWVtuhV8h_pFDeybdE5FGueW4IIlU8LiGOTsFo_3yjYGlPK7HxRY4qboS7SmgUFoTHs/s320/April+2009+016.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324589867806202978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOECJ7Rxw5cgLZIgKuvDbopEPTKuC9MX0NPL0RL3tcDvJPgCeJHUTGz8QDbDWodo-JJ35-mwyvW9TgxjOO35b0i-TO4KQZAH70QYDqNOaH58EH_AITX9KgEUvcbzh61ZLUApAxuaNVDy4/s320/April+2009+011.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center">Mia in her fancy stroller with it's custom raingear.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324589875231938178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5cKM78ocVmyGS5klbL-8fpQGZxubU1EHI2lwYYxqzm_UrCL_KoDHJG-FdBkVk9QoSHhx-8RXd-o4Mw2UsITjGVrWfxd8QQt0D3OtWVWcX0mGgR9Bpv4ivRNvne9O4nBLXvdfRupUdfdo/s320/April+2009+012.jpg" border="0" /> <div align="center">Although she looked ridiculous, she stayed warm and dry as we walked around before the game.<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324589878353725234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqbEOVsXvEHwfpWfM1mp71MLfT0RQQ1CzhKUvKXmr2-gkWj_YopEBrUak_pQd5mmi6LA_nHDvWNcPDTW8O47HXyr_E_8HSM5qFNFH9bAPALcALsc_Wl8yPFtV-z66GQ6_bT56X_kiGFo/s320/April+2009+014.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center">Mia and Papa Peter at the Java House before the game.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324589888245371282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjW3PQFj5opNF7qOBsIAYfkLAx0wV1sJzRTDphPR7Enc_EmngdrpC9_frSWMmwYTFl931UmKW-jH0OSHFmSWTGkv4oXXseaP7y6bW-PJMKCIG2TkKPPyJ3z6dUBQs8Kh9C0rJtCgfgTQ/s320/April+2009+019.jpg" border="0" /></p><div align="center">Our independent woman walked the ramp to the game by herself!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324591682432569666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3LVNW_Q0VJTWot-FKXkmN9jBr8lIM2BkKJ_PCZ37H73TkZj9sa2BT5diBqDY9v72c9c7-kfji6YiI_0zLSI-jIgOzeCMhQXtxnwvZTZKDasamgiDATu-fyBii3uP7BbEPqfiQXukEYrw/s320/April+2009+022.jpg" border="0" />Mia even got to see one of her favorite friends...Emily!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324591686524456178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPk1HtcsusLFfgaXJtl_kzm7bg3MZp5gVQnVa8ySA-w1M4JizPD5mbSjgABV4ApZ5OqBoWscVVD-efpKmmyTP7hMeSvNOy3d3yB-sP7w-RoLFxS3uzKsrx4QbuRNRN5WVOenZPwRfz7E/s320/April+2009+026.jpg" border="0" />Mia catching the game from our seats </div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-9532701127184755932009-04-08T11:16:00.000-07:002009-04-08T15:01:00.735-07:00Dinner Time!<p>Since turning 1, Mia's eating has improved tremendously! She recently found an interest in dipping her foods in sauce...she the video below!</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxKWGZcogQ0ayq5BQMk27c5dV2UvHoVaTB5i01QUz3esKYS1IcDSE9BX2kBuJeskOPlmuDnNoihtGi_7ctB9Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-11836717343035444862009-03-31T14:57:00.000-07:002009-03-31T16:23:46.564-07:00March Madness<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Long time, no blog! Once again, we have had another busy month and I have lagged on updating our blog.</div><div> </div><div>We started the month by making a trip to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Redding</span> to visit Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly. As usual, we were spoiled with Shelly' s cooking from the time we arrived until we left. Even picky Mia ate and ate! The highlight of the weekend was the day we spent at the softball fields watching Papa Peter play. They had four-one hour games and Mia lasted through 3 1/2 of them. She had a fabulous time playing in the bleaches and eating the orange wedges that were really meant for our pitchers on Blue Moon! Mia was lucky enough to go onto the field to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">throw</span> the ball around with her Papa. We were all sad to go home!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfyNx0j8Bk7q3dhJ4NyJ0cKsgN7xGribX90TvqqHl185uiJqiaIT5IzUuDQStRKmRtjY9D94vj6TnP-QwRrLtx8ba4za923xHYv7MJVyK9JTdRGBowNK59FI6olSqNZWnRl40xVXpp7I/s1600-h/mia+and+papa+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319477857331354866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfyNx0j8Bk7q3dhJ4NyJ0cKsgN7xGribX90TvqqHl185uiJqiaIT5IzUuDQStRKmRtjY9D94vj6TnP-QwRrLtx8ba4za923xHYv7MJVyK9JTdRGBowNK59FI6olSqNZWnRl40xVXpp7I/s320/mia+and+papa+2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoUHoGbmIBo3Dg7-V6_-NojvBDqu5OwAo-ouyzGs2weab_Nz0fHvrxNXQ60WgoZAgUtb9uanJde8Y_w_P2d8v-0BqUIIwVnDWNWTN-SaDvLBWWXmF9vdKUb7MHXvXeVdzN3M5-wBkvCM/s1600-h/Mia_018.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319477848355375442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoUHoGbmIBo3Dg7-V6_-NojvBDqu5OwAo-ouyzGs2weab_Nz0fHvrxNXQ60WgoZAgUtb9uanJde8Y_w_P2d8v-0BqUIIwVnDWNWTN-SaDvLBWWXmF9vdKUb7MHXvXeVdzN3M5-wBkvCM/s320/Mia_018.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhcuHTwni3naZHh-nq4e4gI0TYnbDoDtMYGXdTUX1nvGgvfYwQ9T5QitykIrYvew1rHNQjHhV8sq4ETAqE5L6ThlY7Ar17HjqI4NvlelFHjqpw7lwiNksuc2yCYxh6_auU_fNyYqMF3k/s1600-h/Mia_011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319477843472082930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhcuHTwni3naZHh-nq4e4gI0TYnbDoDtMYGXdTUX1nvGgvfYwQ9T5QitykIrYvew1rHNQjHhV8sq4ETAqE5L6ThlY7Ar17HjqI4NvlelFHjqpw7lwiNksuc2yCYxh6_auU_fNyYqMF3k/s320/Mia_011.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4opsPnDw_Ge4TmmtArRgVdJXrwXApLlqkP1qyrLpgIf7h2S4RXYAjhx7RUeF05DjNd85ZT7dWL_HR6vALFCCjXNiSMUwi8GMded-kY1JvJLT6K2Nk5kZ6juzMpPDpdn70WVRSgVjryf8/s1600-h/mia+and+papa+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319477840428504850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4opsPnDw_Ge4TmmtArRgVdJXrwXApLlqkP1qyrLpgIf7h2S4RXYAjhx7RUeF05DjNd85ZT7dWL_HR6vALFCCjXNiSMUwi8GMded-kY1JvJLT6K2Nk5kZ6juzMpPDpdn70WVRSgVjryf8/s320/mia+and+papa+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div>The next week, Grandma Sandy came to the rescue! Since CA kids is still closed, we have been relying on Mia's wonderful babysitter to watch Mia when Dan is working and I am sleeping, but <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">unfortunately</span> she is not available on Thursdays. Our problem came when I had a dentist appointment, Dan was working and we didn't have anyone to watch Mia. Thank goodness, Grandma Sandy's project in India ended early so she was able to come home for a break. She so graciously agreed to drive up to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Roseville</span> to watch Mia for the afternoon. Mia was so lucky to have her Grandma take her to the park and play with her while Mom escaped to the dentist.</div><br /><br /><div>We had busy weekend <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">throughout</span> the month, one of which stated with Uncle Kevin's b-day party on Friday night at Chicago Fire Pizza in Midtown Sac. The pizza was really yummy and we had a great time celebrating with Uncle Kevin.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319488864172234210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoI45_mD1wQ4WwJsxjh3zSslG918ToNb0lMuG_Nmkx1gt5fzd7I-sknwkao0UzcRlM9q_ao3dgjvJBK8V3xGJ3QF0861fPkPlIkBRJWESqv1SOb5po4tDYNH1gunDyugZ0swcYOhvEKJA/s320/March+2009+019.jpg" border="0" /> The weekend Saturday with Dan bottling the beer her brewed with his friends in February at Brew It Up in Sacramento. For his friend, Chris Hunter's, birthday, they brewed beer in mid February and the time had come for them to bottle it. Dan is very excited and proud of his creations! Following the bottling session, we join Uncle Kevin, Auntie Michelle, Cousin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Kaiya</span>, Grandma Sandy, Auntie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Steph</span> and Auntie Michelle's parents Suzanne and Brent for another dinner celebration for Kevin's b-day. As if this wasn't enough for one day, we then met up with my work friends for a night of bowling. We had a great turnout and it was great to hangout and relax with my coworkers, especially considering the stressful type of work we do! Mia had a great time running around with all the other kids and playing with the bowling balls!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319492121063498914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEtMRZrv6QoG12ZNAurnc7j5jUBk3dMq0TpTXkrRT5D0FA2H0BsZSG7DriHoZLomzmOQgEVmIh9YcabtXceqx8vNbmfNrS6jU9goyVsRKqFcJimAnSKJpzQyYjCLJP4B-ZqJWxaep36I/s320/March+2009+020.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319492123886420050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7eSolbLh0wirzhpNbGTZotxLV_JBB3Cr_VFJ5PEhQLx0kjzFNVbpxjWpGsnl0zhBIgymTXVgWQYNDnvZGkT7P08uJTCJJuok-jseuMFxlO35iAircP5-q7L-UgDCT4d7syPlPbrZo-w/s320/Bowling+2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319492119727124050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI56c7PFSe1pHir3KJdXzEViNKJPGPrpmI1ITEe0BBuZQYqttfiUtP_Nmqa6FmVRMv0aBF_6jP1sRN45IBl7MQrOxIgNxLayaF2zA1oyOcsb94ug4dj6eRrY262t_FpEPlhJaffN9cw7E/s320/Bowling+1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319492131663875714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-KnHLFyfIwqr9NHbX7PJIOrykI2J3FpO3oMjaz9-ARLYy6GCemnNLlHrvOCa3q88UV8o5Xjk3pJV3OVT6VVlagAtaPCnZoXnEFxudDi1K4ooHAqKQX1iDb4uSbStSrgjP0MxpgwbOEI/s320/Bowling+4.jpg" border="0" /> As if that weren't enough for one weekend, we went to the Baxter's Annual St. Patrick's Day Party. The Baxter's are Grandma Shelly's brother and sister-in-law. We NEVER turn down an invitation to the Baxter's because they all come from Shelly's same gene pool, meaning they are all amazing cooks! Mia had fun playing with all her step cousins and her cousin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Kaiya</span>. We all enjoyed eating the corned beef and cabbage and I had my favorite green jello salad that Grandma Connie made. I look forward to Grandma Connie's jello at every holiday!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319494799951509202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8AaQ_8jxs-8Kf03BjMMNz-WL4DaCrgeqNhzojeyoyuve9rQIzrkx8AqN6Fhwr7YZyZDGOUVGa1QoA0_4Iy6LV5Nkfh8HKWrQu58J1YrFzp-TzpHSQ5eg2sKMkJ5GC_ChzEIHIwMsUh_Y/s320/IMG_2464.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319494799777756626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX82aLyolLEP2TL2qKZZ54Zf01un02QKQmGnOrvaFpz1c9weJTImOeULTskRAaX4x_cIM4eGVU0k8n_1n0ZArGN-DRmTdysvGcyZzUsTCcZnUYIlCajHY3HhTJumVPyRdKxeTqB7SL_zE/s320/IMG_2495.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319494793162215666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Z4XWDkoTEKDFh3sLVGYPhfL4_k6X10BSPxDUe5a6gAK0pXn6d7NmjUlZM8Mp0rNPJZVFw3U9sdPcQa96FLYGnkOE7AujV_3Bt5e6JN4HO8d-gmeWGZxrNF6fLV2atHO4VJCTLDQo9gk/s320/IMG_2497.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319494794792774898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW3_Bh-QkLw7w4pEAJLQflqoDwbgtTxj917XWJ1pANoSTL26ioY-WB2rDUH5uRxh_RV4CmzNVeELgQqE_pyjQBQ-ui_Bu8MOkWNBy-i6nsklmmHK_pXcisoc4reyYIn8mrnJ2y4NfWmMw/s320/March+2009+025.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319494786908336578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5U9enPs_ACyCBk5833MNLlVnhguUjbtB1WvYiw-wU0zPTiFUC6zoTRUzZ8nrxf_9XaYMAN1uCRyPf6BykgCACCbXRudludH72QbrRPS_9n1wcPD7YNuZozcNRDj5rt9JxdT58ZHL6-U/s320/March+2009+026.jpg" border="0" />March has been filled with basketball for our family. We spent 2 evenings at basketball watching parties with neighbors. We love the NCAA basketball tournament and have had lots of fun following it and cheering for our brackets.<br /><br /><div>They say March is supposed to go "in like a lion and out like a lamb", but for our family it has been a lion all month and is exiting in that manner!</div><br /><div>Today, I had my oral surgery that I have been putting off for 4 years. The bridge I had placed when I was 16 has a average lifetime of 10 years and I'm pushing 14 years with it. It says a lot for my old dentist, Dr. Simmons who placed it years ago. Anyways, the time has come to convert to a dental implant as the bridge is starting to show signs of wear. After elaborate scans and consultations to prepare for the procedure, I went today. Gram came up last night to help with Mia while I recover so Dan was able to take me to my appointment. In order to place my implant, the doctor first put me to sleep then surgically placed a titanium rod into the bone above where the tooth will be placed. I was super groggy and loopy for a few hours and took a big nap when I got home. I have some facial swelling and will <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">probably</span> have some pain when the local anesthetics wear off. Main problem right now is that I am missing a tooth! I go to the dentist tomorrow to have my temporary tooth placed...can't wait for that!!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-76704554757619990862009-03-01T16:24:00.000-08:002009-03-31T17:01:01.682-07:00Visiting the Boschetti'sRyan Boschetti is one of days oldest friends. Dan and Ryan grew up together from the time they were infants through their teen years. I have always loved hearing "Boschetti" stories and have felt empathy for their parents that put up with their shenanigans throughout the years. I'm sure their parents are relived that Dan and Ryan have both grown into fabulous men and amazing fathers! Ryan and his wife Somer had their first baby, Kali, in November of 2008, three months before we had our baby Mia. They recently had their baby boy, Jaiden, the beginning of February. Since Ryan has been playing football on the East Coast, we were able to have our first playdate for the kids in February. Mia and Kali had an instant attraction and played so well together. Kali was very generous sharing her toys with Mia.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpZzQQDsLyPwJtZIQm6AOH4nTvrM1Z05gdZ91I-hr7jBQ6WmTh9ZHCELfzWrX7cgrEHJQzgSlY6tfuR5ibUWUqZTgQjMgLHa8CSUwIWZBvesrtVlwE8cGtQ1d63cmQO_uxt59FGznJFE/s1600-h/March+2009+011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319500685719240706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpZzQQDsLyPwJtZIQm6AOH4nTvrM1Z05gdZ91I-hr7jBQ6WmTh9ZHCELfzWrX7cgrEHJQzgSlY6tfuR5ibUWUqZTgQjMgLHa8CSUwIWZBvesrtVlwE8cGtQ1d63cmQO_uxt59FGznJFE/s320/March+2009+011.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwMbpWUvYEm_kSzLjP1pwE7iitHRXBJbu0vo9ToJP1RuxP-0PtZLGcW5gAf55PLyn1v1MVE9tzIztDk5BdYPzgKOI63uwIUMRQfs6FlJLvZugUA9jUiZKG6xRZwjqEzhVS1JNfEF_Bec/s1600-h/March+2009+009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319500681218244082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwMbpWUvYEm_kSzLjP1pwE7iitHRXBJbu0vo9ToJP1RuxP-0PtZLGcW5gAf55PLyn1v1MVE9tzIztDk5BdYPzgKOI63uwIUMRQfs6FlJLvZugUA9jUiZKG6xRZwjqEzhVS1JNfEF_Bec/s320/March+2009+009.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrKFYTuEzYjM3ZiC3IPONasWVOtMJ9kJ2_RNXCy4i9ddc39rqZFnZRrIlYlbi9OnpI8oeO2joZ7M0hr2F09iD0vSIehicocnXYLFAZeejTumwiuTZtpLT00BsmROADtZJstlWBCgydDY/s1600-h/March+2009+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319500681287193266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrKFYTuEzYjM3ZiC3IPONasWVOtMJ9kJ2_RNXCy4i9ddc39rqZFnZRrIlYlbi9OnpI8oeO2joZ7M0hr2F09iD0vSIehicocnXYLFAZeejTumwiuTZtpLT00BsmROADtZJstlWBCgydDY/s320/March+2009+002.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-75329835548938620722009-02-22T14:05:00.000-08:002009-02-22T14:42:48.479-08:00Our Big ScareBefore you read this, I will let you know that Mia is better now and is back to her normal happy self! I wanted to tell you that before you read because what we went through with her was very scary......<br /><br />Last week, Mia was doing great! She was playing with all her new birthday presents and using lots of her new "words". Mia had her 12 months well baby check up on Feb 10th and all was great. She got her scheduled immunizations and was doing fine. On Thursday morning, she was a little bit fussy when going down for her morning nap, but was fine in the afternoon. She went out to lunch with her Daddy, Uncle Kevin and Kaiya, and Uncle Huntskies (Chris Hunter) and her boyfriend, Dylan. According to Dan, she was happy and playing with Dylan throughout lunch. When they got home, Dan put her down for her afternoon nap. She woke up 20 minutes into her nap screaming. I picked her up and rocked her in her glider and she fell right back to sleep. I rocked her for 45 minutes and I noticed she was breathing really fast. The nurse in me kicked in and I started monitoring her respiratory status- she was breathing 48-52 breaths per minute (normal would be somewhere in the 20s to low 30s). I listened with my stethoscope and everything sounded fine, but when I touched her chest, she was buring up. This was Mia's first fever and it was a good one...103 degrees. I gave her Tylenol and called and told work that Mia was sick so I would not be coming in that night. Her fever slowly came down, but was still 100.5 2 hours after the Tylenol. At that point, I gave her Motrin to help bring down the fever. Two hours later, she was finally down to 100 degrees and was acting normal and playing with her toys. She went to sleep at 8:30, but woke up crying at 9:30 and her temp was back up to 101, so we gave her more Tylenol and put her in our bed so we could keep a close eye on her. At 10:30, her temp was up to 102, but it was too early to give more Motrin or Tylenol so we stripped off her jammies and had her sleep in a diaper without any blankets. She was fussy over the next few hours and I got up to give her more Motrin at 12:45 since that was the earliest she could have it. I got everything ready for her and Dan sat her up in bed so we could give it to her. At this point, our nightmare began...<br /><br />As Dan held Mia up, her head flopped back, her eyes rolled up, and she began to seize. For about 30 seconds, Dan and my world came to a standstill as we watched our unresponsive baby shake uncontrollably! I immediately called 911 and Dan just held Mia close. After the 30 second seizure, Mia was limp for about 5 minutes. I was able to get tylenol in her once she awoke. The ambulance came and we arrived at the Sutter Roseville ER at around 1:30 am. Her temp was 103.4 when we arrived and her heart rate was 180-190! The staff in the ER were awesome (I think I might have mentioned in the past that I am convinced Sutter provides the absolute best healthcare in the region...I know I am biased...but it is TRUE!) After urine tests, blood tests, and a chest x-ray, they really couldn't find a real source for her fever. The only strange thing was that she had a large red welt on her right thigh which had not been there earlier in the night. Mia got a dose of IV rocephin (an antibiotic) and Zofran (an antiemetic to prevent her from puking up her motrin). When we left the ER at 5 am, Mia's temp was down to 100.3 and her heart rate down to 110-120s.<br /><br />We went to see Mia's pediatrician, Dr. Sorgea, at 11:30 in the morning so she could follow up on Mia's condition. Mia's fever was still down at that point and she was starting to perk up a little bit. Dr Sorgea's diagnosis shocked me, but totally makes sense. Apparently, with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine, reactions can occur 10 days after the immunization is given. The combination of the fever and the large welt on her thigh where the vaccine had been administered led her to this diagnosis...she is so smart! I had just assumed that it didn't have anything to do with the vaccines because I was unaware of this delayed reaction. Another interesting thing that we learned when talking to Grandma Sandy was that Dan had a similar experience when he was around Mia's age. He also had a high fever and had a febrile seizure after his immunizations! Like father, like daughter...apparently they have even more in common that we thought!!<br /><br />When we got back home, Mia's fever returned and we battled the fever from 12:30pm until 2:30 am. The Tylenol and Motrin helped to keep the temperature from going too high, but we also had to put her in the bathtub to cool her down at one point when the medications weren't working and we had to use wet wash clothes at another point.<br /><br />So where are we now...<br />Mia has not had a fever for 36 hours, so we think we are through the woods. Now we all, mostly Dan and I, and totally exhausted and need to catch up on our sleep. It has been a VERY LONG few days! We are just so, so thankful that our baby Mia is OK and back to her happy, cheerful, playful self!The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-36324138792626241362009-02-22T13:36:00.000-08:002009-02-22T14:04:49.759-08:00Happy Belated Birthday!Mia is 1 and her Mom is 30! We've had so much excitment we've been too busy to blog, so here is our way belated birthday blog! <div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div>Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate our big birthdays! The highlight of our celebrations was our joint birthday dinner at Cabos, which is a Mexican restaurant down the street from our house. We filled their banquet room to the max with our 55 guests which included our family and friends. We were lucky enough to be joined by Mia's great-grandparents, (GG Fay and Boppa Wayne) her grandparents, (Doc, Gram, Grandma Sandy, Papa Peter, & Grandma Shelly), her aunties (Mika, Michelle, Steph, and Shawna), her uncles (Roger, Mark, Kevin, and Dan), and her cousins (Ellie, Nisa, Maile, and Kaiya). We also had extended family, friends, and neighbors join in the festivities! The food was great and we all had a wonderful time. A special thank you to Gram who made special birthday cupcakes for our party to our exact specifications! They were beautiful!!</div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305744656298087122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdgkDVw2km1jgECpwKAek7Kwb0bsHWKLVZmTPDjC6Q8A0ajAySs3x3fJnSakTScEP6KRzJU7wWco28wsgaC8lYhfqhVFlKHWs6Sdy6z_LJ1y68ZRnnJ1eDvfBwSKY0ipPlSd2hMyMB9M/s320/Feb+2009+006.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305744661522515490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03tr5MAGJful2tvOwWB738o_wVLfS_UZLhcKqk_QrFXt-jcaoDRPAT29it5kWHpk-dKyFMPWf4GlD8sKpU0wfdYuk9EpyCNzoUfv2AUIxTB8R5OtuDwY5m7TIJTjwF6mMS1li1M52CEQ/s320/Feb+2009+011.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305744665793138034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FgockqU-DSn8f-gASZ-QRNGIYJtKLrfZPiWk32ADWpZQ7DVTa7qVsDIUeSDjl4lokMzQwhRA7x3keXTO1XYqgHqkm7nxFc5NhIVaxTCpquYGJsP_rwnebHyul58Xu7CIdL87Fb-OaxM/s320/Feb+2009+019.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>After the birthday dinner, we arranged for a babysitter to come over to our house to watch Mia and Kaiya so the adults could continue to celebrate Michelle's 30th birthday! Thank you to Roger for being our limo service and to Mika for providing our preparty beverage...GoldSchlager! The Boxing Donkey is the bar in old Roseville where we chose to continue our party. It was so much fun to hang out with so many of our friends...I can't remember the last time Dan and I went to a bar!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305744671431425218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HzdwG5SsOZBcj9Dn1b1NW0Jt2jo7JEY-Qg9nSIqurjw4rVGxehUZshWQwKsUxkXL4wQiuwp_gOlIr1W-Wtewre1JnK7vVj1mWpXPjE4GrM-ot6awyUPM2NvHb3y9urkLZ3AS6dh4cZo/s320/Feb+2009+023.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><div>On Sunday, which was Mia's actual birthday, we went to the bowling alley with Gram, Roger, Mika, Ellie, Nisa, and Maile. We had a wonderful time bowling and Michelle bowled the best game of her life (4 strikes in a row, 6 strikes total!!!!) After bowling, we dropped Roger, Mika, and the girls off at the airport and we went to sleep!!!</div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305744669997809010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFQckGP5WoM8bquyYJZIH7nIGQJN610jfiwG-pmZ3v_5Mg08H0Suh8IrnXJ0W_UMTtywppuv_Vx0j2MfKf12DzI-AJa5Pkj8GLhVMby5qSKqH2o01pQwqjnDRPoAfdb5K8DWmYQ6wSe0/s320/Feb+2009+029.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305745360027157506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDNPZvPC4DalT5gpeuJzUJBep11smSus2ER3uwB7ZphyphenhyphenEFWXkXiILeZKuupDYLC5eO6jn5w3-Nygpu5gwCFos1dL8xe3AQg25F8DMl7973x1wA8stv4bExW5meuT2PGMlj7kQMg3pHiA/s320/Feb+2009+039.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305745350698454738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicorDBFQWyRcyU9MXAfN9vxylBnzf7q4qErCRln5qx5FAgi_5HfubZl6jpveSPj0eDZ6nHojkttTtZaxDvYEU9WTz_x5mp22QjpqA4EVFSfmWV3IIu7NLQbLHlc09vxp7P0VdQts4sMzg/s320/Feb+2009+036.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305745345423304978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7Te5MEEVtfJe1Dc4sEzFKF_dunoMlLDxTU9oyCshWnCQzTaGoeHH7a3Y8n9oIA95DxmdoGaQEbG2D92DbZdEjFe0Z0iF2p1iMk9Q1jtxKZRXaOE294oyg0dpIowzG9z9j2xEVXUFzD4/s320/Feb+2009+032.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-46955968088946326482009-01-18T14:22:00.000-08:002009-01-18T14:35:45.497-08:00Thank you Gram!This post is a belated thank you to Gram! As Mia's daycare is still closed while they move locations, Dan and I were without anyone to watch Mia for 2 days last week. Thank goodness, Gram came to our rescue! Gram drove up on Wednesday and even arrived in time to make us some yummy enchiladas for dinner. Since I worked Wednesday night and Dan worked and had a meeting after school on Thursday, Gram woke up with Mia in the morning and put her to bed that night. They even made a trip to see GG Fay and Boppa Wayne that day. When I woke up, I played with Mia for a while and Gram made us another awesome dinner. It was hard for me to go back to work Thursday night because I just wanted to stay home and hangout with Gram! I did go to work Thursday night and Dan went to work Friday morning, so once again, Gram watched Mia while I slept. On Friday night, Dan, Mia and I took Gram out to dinner to say "THANK YOU". Mia enjoyed showing off her walking skills and reading with Gram. Mia and Gram read so many books and Mia discovered her new favorite book...Animal Sounds! I think we read that book about 20 times a day! Mia now even tries to "Moo" when she sees the cow! We are all so lucky to have our Gram!!The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-12120399302879754072009-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:002009-01-12T21:27:09.399-08:00Mia's on the move!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Qii1YgIC5NBpfb4-ldOsEJWqLuGzTUrwDJ6E5Wg1Z_MmaZVcv1tiPEBIIzkZoMq0NRarcu6s41jMumi4cgXlD-GoOTxzWjiW2jMGsMIqy9tjS77vYr0jUdmYBMULtoZ_PMoMnzgr8ro/s1600-h/Jan+2009+010.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290644476683455538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Qii1YgIC5NBpfb4-ldOsEJWqLuGzTUrwDJ6E5Wg1Z_MmaZVcv1tiPEBIIzkZoMq0NRarcu6s41jMumi4cgXlD-GoOTxzWjiW2jMGsMIqy9tjS77vYr0jUdmYBMULtoZ_PMoMnzgr8ro/s320/Jan+2009+010.jpg" border="0" /></a> As I mentioned in the previous post, Mia took her first few steps on Christmas Day. Since then, she has been becoming a little more stable each and everyday and now she is officially walking on her own. For the last week, Mia has been walking across the room and now around the house. As you can imagine, she is so proud of herself! It is pretty funny to watch her walk around because she is still so tiny! She doesn't look big enough to be able to walk, but as we have discovered throughout the last year...amazing things come in small packages!!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxPhqS7Z_L-dCGKbYr0ZM3t1bGGmv5POlO5152VGhfXG-bgepYLIv1VZBWuvBBw61YZ_OYDKUwYpG41mOMlDQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dybEw_QfbWxySS5y24F-t0B9eGxVEUqDBPawT6Zh_fgjuUzX3agaUS_6QlRVpLfxBdcAPgOspFiEkib9lTHPA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-84649856312209026032009-01-06T14:09:00.000-08:002009-01-06T14:53:12.970-08:00Mia's 1st Christmas!The Christmas celebrations continued on Christmas Eve as we traveled to Discovery Bay to have dinner with Grandma Sandy and Bill. Mia was able to meet Uncle Ray (Bill's brother) and Donita (Ray's wife) for the first time. We were also joined by Uncle Kevin/Michelle/Kaiya and Auntie Steph/Dan/Louie. Mia enjoyed teaching Kaiya how play with the toys on her new Baby Einstein Saucer, but her favorite activity of the evening was going up and down the stair to the kitchen. Mia climbed the stair with ease and discovered many ways to go down the stair...feet first, head first, army roll, etc. For her present, Mia got Elmo Live, which is an Elmo doll that talks and makes gestures. After presents, Mia changed into her Christmas jammies and we drove home. <div><div><div><div><div><div> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288316764791463618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioc6GtgAR_o4yM8RIRirWyisikrmX-0arEEzwOlWg9B0EmVaqUgntBr8hlVkitLiDqBcHYIBV_8EEm691gC0mTbGm60rWwk4gGtQ-xZ7uxot7-j7yqfvJv3-sLmnp2kfVQVWmrGEOMV0I/s320/Dec+2008+235.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288316783727744402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32MWz_ZnUzESpTEYXkXt-LV17SumbaGzuoItjp4JG0WIwCppksFEM8SD9Du_U1iBrkQ9goEYbpYNctHItCL-obz5AeJNOrJMVgC0NR-JcXHMZD3bygIYFCBnVPIw58dUR9ska5iyWd0w/s320/Dec+2008+230.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288316797453957714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1nrm08ElV7y4msrAQV7cQLUz8oZk4bifh6J2SNP0NvEN5zycRv11xVkQsSxBLVv174NzL10uFhy4ozDZx58oeLaq0pPZAT-Vexg_NxyBbuQP0Jcd2BdjHwNVFFV-mvWSFmXsNQuqKvM/s320/Dec+2008+213.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288316807508223090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJqVtQlKmVD-RTowFjKxtrXCGEKGOAoP9AYFOvipILqpdxqmpkO696tJHldgkZDybHMfvlnbvA-gr3H2TGbfy0G5sw3dyq73trTKI5Aj-kGBA1dnonB-M1rHZ4ZGM1ZKYJl9sbW6mcGg/s320/Dec+2008+245.jpg" border="0" /><br />We were so excited to have Mia wake up on her first Christmas morning in her own crib. Doc and Gram arrived at our house before Mia woke up so they were able to see Mia when she came downstairs to Santa's surprises. Mia finally started understanding the idea of opening her presents as she unwrapped her stocking. In her stocking, Mia got a book, some ribbons for her hair, and many other little presents. Santa's big present for Mia was her ride on bumble bee. It is a really cute little bee that is on casters so she can push it or ride on it around the house. It has already provided hours of fun...she loves it!! Mommy and Daddy got Mia a Pottery Barn chair that she loves as well! She has enjoyed climbing into the chair to play and then climbing back out of it on her own. Something very exciting happened on Christmas morning...Mia took her first steps!! Dan and I sat on the floor a few feet apart from each other and Mia was able to take a few steps going back and forth between the two of us. It was very exciting and we even captured the moment on video!!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288316813813584738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoLPMl1d5Wds-RZvJoOYj5wDBaSfC2BWOyAMNQxf4kws028Nv249vWDk4mKmhdVV0J1-pA3kGRUrL9jg6OXb4u0tGh-nUx9yjK_60Pw-_GCtNHSwr_lwAYn08tWeoINE_eChhBK8-1x4/s320/Dec+2008+251.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288317071771882882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzm5ndH4fY4AgODi5PAmhcQQVnkr2G3wLwFXMkG1DdsJseu_sJKat4re2mOcuLgnA8lVwog5OR0ZrS3sKuxPVTzRTxSO7Cbj0b20DXdfgITbkM_KYt54eznXwlijvwdr_qju_Wo0pLHHQ/s320/Dec+2008+255.jpg" border="0" /><br />For lunch, we headed to GG Fay and Boppa Wayne's house to celebrate the holiday. Mia was the only baby there that afternoon and she enjoyed all the attention of her relatives! After lunch and presents, we headed home for naps and relaxation. Our Christmas celebrations lasted a week and we traveled over 10 hours, but it was great to share Mia's first Christmas with everyone!!</div></div></div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-41462941978119571862008-12-22T13:55:00.000-08:002008-12-22T14:33:09.265-08:00Christmas in ReddingWe had the first of our 3 Christmas celebrations this weekend at Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly's house in Redding! We left Roseville as soon as Dan got home from work on Friday and made our first stop at the Target in Woodland when we realized that we forgot Mia's travel high chair. With all the good eating she's been doing lately, we didn't want to mess with things so we figured we'd just buy another :) Mia was so good on the trip and basically slept the whole way. Mia defintely has one bad habit...everytime we put socks on her, she pulls them off and proceeds to crawl around with the sock hanging out of her mouth. She also does this at daycare and we know she must have a hiding spot at CA kids where a pile of her socks reside because she never comes home with the socks we send her in...maybe they'll find them when they move next month. So why so I mention this habit now? When we put Mia in the Tahoe, she had 2 socks on, the photo below was taken 15 minutes later...<br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54KmHrASgJJSx4e_JdPYaTXGSUz_I9CMXf14zJjgimISNRAgZmlkXHnZOttoX8-1W9ff_HKdBe4kJH1SEdKrfggsc6a_wJDyWRxr1um5r2S_gQCFuCrn3hMojmNcTeqOJIF-ucnM0iMk/s1600-h/Dec+2008+083.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282738653089204770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54KmHrASgJJSx4e_JdPYaTXGSUz_I9CMXf14zJjgimISNRAgZmlkXHnZOttoX8-1W9ff_HKdBe4kJH1SEdKrfggsc6a_wJDyWRxr1um5r2S_gQCFuCrn3hMojmNcTeqOJIF-ucnM0iMk/s320/Dec+2008+083.jpg" border="0" /></a> We all had a great time in Redding, especially Mia! As soon as we arrived, Mia was crawling and pushing her walker around the house smiling! She loves to show off her skills! On Saturday we were joined by Aunties Steph and Shawna and Uncle Dan in the morning, followed by Shawna's friend Ryan, and finally Uncle Kevin, Auntie Michelle, and Cousin Kaiya! Mia LOVES to hang out with her family! Saturday night after an amazing dinner, we opened presents in our "As Seen on TV" themed gift exchange. We decided on the theme last Christmas and it was a blast! The gifts included the ShamWow, Turbie Twist, Hits of the 80s CD set, PetZoom pet hair remover, AquaGlobes, Debbie Meyer's Green Bags, Barack Obama's "Historic Victory" commerative plate, Pancake Puffs, and best of all Urine Gone. I have never laughed so much during a gift exchange!! After the gift exchange, the babies went to bed and we went to the casino. We were lucky enough to have Papa Peter watch the girls and to have Grandma Shelly drop us off at WinRiver Casino! It has become a tradition to dress up in Shelly's Christmas sweaters and head to the casino. Despite all the funny looks we got, we once again had a great time!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282744106860865138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsCD7oiPX_q-npW7RIxoj6QjA1BTYhMLa-kzH7z4Rkz5cJngbhfxV9IiNSIODKCqijXDmROyHqPz1EZvwswJKnrDzHQ8WbItsugRXHWDblYgZC3vlm7rVDQx2b0_6-4tuIWyFunnd-3g/s320/Dec+2008+085.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282744108452673154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8xDox7M4ZIbkrbH-e2tepqCKnPss9yvd9PYTWWwqUQYBwayI8CEDWcqHCI35hpAMCF0ZE-90Ap5AwuVFga8gYrJdKQ1tidRC_FY38AkoO5oQ_HBe3vKaVJcm81oMQNPpkrrrFRSM5xg/s320/Dec+2008+103.jpg" border="0" /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282744132813387666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvRgbMmqoNkftsUN9F72dmzZRqWIy_3aYK27VOWDCTWCkQwy9LwmPgqYOdV9yFEbr6pnH3O4y22xQs2wtbR-BgeP_33rjXXfKaq3mIxYBc_yKXvP2y6-LY9CI1QStjCfzS-5wTTjUD6Zk/s320/Dec+2008+163.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282744125819684930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRB3VFDt9yWnvM5WXlFSF1x0BMWIu0yULuXgvfAj-dAMYxLtNKF4GVpiACKeqv7ck_08_W9_HKoOIeoany5cuuXzTA4LYnyj8Fmh5bpjwQ6hD7FmzmBbmZssjrR09iXohSg3AaE5NUCE/s320/Dec+2008+161.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282744118581137490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv0Bx5-ZbyiR5o9sOLKDXqnJExevP9iZG0RU_ugA9w7pxImcRkwhwLD-_3TzpPdoHCMy4V7Giig4EnhGosnlcc37gcwkyv3UB8xD1Zs15HQ5jUplBL3mOsVim1CEkgGM3NuMA8vURSz0/s320/Dec+2008+137.jpg" border="0" /> Mia enjoyed all of her Christmas presents, especially the LittlePeople's School Bus!!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282745226355489698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fJyMWcILUoglOpV5z6xGEGzUNPJX2qs7h6IVsEqxDkuht9DwrABMlY9EVLRx14AhWkqXaaGS9YoQ3c6bGyZPrrCztfKqsiDTy8_P1QUUMLjwSDFHhBtKQWtkXZtA8710P2vewotYs-o/s320/Dec+2008+172.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282745240789252610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUd0vG4_NjFpbHuY8PuJWr8JaJ7dEZ2o88DvAadBB5vSm5QQOLPMiQF8TJJdBjuTVq6b_C7A6Wo15joW5zZrrpK3rqA8hMTT0p_o2_RuxssSmtu1tsGJC0GR3Ke31E0uEld4GbPNfDZ0/s320/Dec+2008+203.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282745232675853682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8jRUtwwu90PEdffkDlAxhVGAE1k0L4OI1RyQ249HOogtEr-FPuADEF1pta8_nCFWPc7R5gGyQt5sZi2jSUqv9XmmnpBR0vAEEZy6_lW3gqtS8U1eYWOHx2JdSLrIcZaqCkDdlrAoECI/s320/Dec+2008+194.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-6096043296159038202008-12-22T04:16:00.000-08:002008-12-22T10:06:54.279-08:00Gavin takes Mia for a ride!Mia has been a walking machine lately! Although she is not able to walk on her own yet, she has become quite skilled at pushing her walker around the house and neighborhood. Mia and our neighbor, Gavin (16 months) have become big buddies and are now able to play together outside! Mia and Gavin push their own toys around, but really enjoy trading their toys. Gavin has a ride on fire truck that Mia loves! She has learned to climb up onto the seat and Gavin has taught her how to push the buttons to make lots of noises. The cutest part of all is when Gavin pushes Mia around on the firetruck...they both love it! We joke with Gavin's parents (Josh and Tracy) that we are going to save the photos and bring them out when Gavin takes Mia to their prom...with housing prices the way they are, we are assuming we'll still be neighbors 17 years from now!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1gYNas-bIcggNyTeci0GxM5p557cB7nvmXgl-Xt9e_tbcjTdVsYtbNHondbTkwCqOKXNeX24tsy5XQsmKRomnmbg4rLccquEbQ7O9tkkke2DPt-Z5XZMkKje-pfhkqcuLFv1ysVfrZA/s1600-h/Dec+2008+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282676966094691730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1gYNas-bIcggNyTeci0GxM5p557cB7nvmXgl-Xt9e_tbcjTdVsYtbNHondbTkwCqOKXNeX24tsy5XQsmKRomnmbg4rLccquEbQ7O9tkkke2DPt-Z5XZMkKje-pfhkqcuLFv1ysVfrZA/s320/Dec+2008+002.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcogkPkjXtZyqFljm9l-6KChwOUldGi5EyPlUY4kI4ihLwl_TkFxced0jeqXquRyTyvcxB6z-Cikfqf7xqUN9unUbFo5rWZGFvH-UKOAg1vdtlxzeiIIYF4EWa_oNFgJjCUmrwA0vnyqk/s1600-h/Dec+2008+001.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282676960967018674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcogkPkjXtZyqFljm9l-6KChwOUldGi5EyPlUY4kI4ihLwl_TkFxced0jeqXquRyTyvcxB6z-Cikfqf7xqUN9unUbFo5rWZGFvH-UKOAg1vdtlxzeiIIYF4EWa_oNFgJjCUmrwA0vnyqk/s320/Dec+2008+001.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>In regards to our last post, we are so excited because one of the girls that takes care of Mia at CA kids has offered to watch her while they are closed!!</div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-1217968187821935472008-12-19T04:27:00.001-08:002008-12-19T04:45:16.275-08:00"Oh No!"Those are the only words that I could vocalize last week when I found out that we are going to be without childcare for the month of January..."OH NO!!!"<br /><br />Mia attends California Kids in Rocklin which is a wonderful daycare down the street from our house. Due to Dan and my untraditional work schedules, it is very difficult to use a standard daycare because our needs change every week. CA kids is a drop-in daycare that charges by the hour and is designed for parents who don't need full time daycare. It is also nice because they are open until midnight on the weekends!! The facility first opened right before Mia was born and Mia first went when she was only 10 weeks old! We love it there and Mia seems to enjoy her time there. The staff tell us all the time how much they love "Baby Mia" and how much they have enjoyed watching her grow up...so now the problem...<br /><br />California Kids is moving to a new location and will still be very close to our house, but they will be closing the existing location on Christmas Eve and not opening the new location until sometime in February...YIKES!!!<br /><br />So what does this mean for our family??? Thank goodness that I convinced Gram to retire, because she will be coming to stay with us for the first week in January (THANK YOU GRAM!!)<br />Aside from that, I am just planning on being exhausted for the remainder of the month. I am lucky that I have such flexible jobs (yes that is plural!), so I think I will be OK. I will just have to watch her a few mornings after working all night, but not on days where I would have to go back to work that night.<br /><br />So if Dan and I are slow to blog, sleepy, or grumpy next month, please give us some slack, we will be doing the best we can!!!The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-49052436180098317052008-12-17T10:49:00.001-08:002008-12-17T11:16:24.002-08:00Thanksgiving Continued...<div><div><div><div>So sorry for the long delay in posts...we have been so busy!<br /><br /><div>When I got home from work Thanksgiving morning, I went to sleep for a few hours and awoke to more visitors. Mark and Monte made the trip from San Francisco Thanksgiving morning and hung out with Dan and Mia. We then headed to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">GG's</span> house for Thanksgiving dinner (My Grandma Fay and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Boppa</span> Wayne). We were joined by my dad's entire side of the family. Mia had so much fun playing with her cousins, including her second cousin Brooke! Mia ate a great Thanksgiving dinner and was able to enjoy all the same foods that we did!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280839391912592658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGAYcOKhwRvijAXUjRJV-Djpv2lUj0G52c-_5h-1ooxOSZz2IeB5QSYb5IQCbhUbEGwu7zqs-YsTYI587-Ve3rYe6_ckPNM_sVqFw3MRhbB1r-TqYzltMUW89_zVl7TozjlzidE27a5Q/s320/Nov+2008+086.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280839400933531186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWYt_mBiraVDVnA6hNj2zvSA9JUFvoH4SOh74ibNvFZcVwVhCH66Cxs8BxsGhEy3B31absktNjT5re254XIWZMQY6aMMZkVXmjVX-DFjNmcwUtcpMiCksjRcJPnKgKAutldQrxloogP8/s320/Nov+2008+103.jpg" border="0" />On Friday morning, we went bowling with Roger, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mika</span> and the girls. Strikes is a new bowling alley down the street from our house that has some great new features. For the little ones, the bumpers rise and then go down automatically when it is their turn. This feature made the game enjoyable for all!</div><br /><div>After bowling we headed to El <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dorado</span> Hills for our annual Friday night Thanksgiving Dinner with Shelly's family. We look forward to this meal every year not only for the good company, but for the amazing food they serve. We were not disappointed this year!!! Mia had fun playing with the other kids at the party, although they were much older than her! Mia also enjoyed the second of her turkey dinners sitting beside her Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly! Mia even wore her My First Thanksgiving bib that Shelly provided.</div><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280839417849607570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW3e8rR-r-jH88nJAo2CYgiT0Q78EYv6x7-CTxcIS3LlavHWFKpJurtwd2tnmp1Sy0YkTis0eBNaRqfWqxd1TktVFjbm1n_4Mc6U-_U0-IevbbNyQdmseXXkmywnfoTnBZHDbsvO5JsjE/s320/Nov+2008+110.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280839408972055970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWJHC-qirgYQq5l8qGabBktot4yIp13X68iow1VsKPLKHVnBfzCpTmMFlrPnv2XQ0uf1PWxLazwj27CiB0Smte28_tUt-qBi8mErE1XUUeA5qUlLhGrGxNn0OrPVbeHt6cMhtbvs10d0/s320/Nov+2008+105.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>As if we hadn't had enough action, we headed to Apple Hill on Saturday for another of our annual events...wine tasting! Along with Papa Peter, Grandma Shelly, Kevin, Michelle, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Kaiya</span>, we drove to Apple Hill and enjoyed an afternoon of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">wine tasting</span> and a picnic at Jack Russell Brewery!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280839427624267666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8dvu13NTwMW96otXHqEwxu_Q4B-TPJU8jUfRYk0UUcoan4DNan5U1I-oNrqtI-sIiL5U9nfX8J5kIh6mom1HYdSPKhyphenhyphenoOmlHnNm7MlDJdLxo4KjzxVZdBu-yMMcaoH8F50RxB_xUmfY/s320/Nov+2008+112.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><div>Although we were so exhausted from our many days full of activities, Kevin, Michelle, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Kaiya</span> followed us to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Roseville</span> when we were done <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">wine tasting</span>. We all felt the need to have a little break from the kids, so we came up with a great idea. We put the girls in their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">PJs</span>, wrapped them in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">blankets</span>, put them in their strollers and walked them to Mia's daycare, California Kids, which is right down the street from us. They do drop-in daycare by the hour and are open until midnight on the weekends!! After settling them in, we continued down the street to the bowling alley, where we ate some food, drank a little beer, and bowled a few games! When we picked the girls up at 11:30, they were both wide awake and happy! Apparently each of them had slept for 30 minutes and then were wide awake! Oh well, we all had fun!!! It was a great way to end all the craziness that Thanksgiving brought!</div></div></div></div></div>The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683883538921244494.post-90713741015372998652008-11-27T02:50:00.000-08:002008-11-27T20:48:28.043-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!Wow, what a week it has been already! We have been so busy the past week and we are only getting started with the holiday festivities. I guess this is what happens to holidays once you have children!!<br /><br />Our Thanksgiving celebration started last Saturday. After working all night long and only getting a few hours of sleep Saturday morning, we hosted the first holiday get together. Grandma Sandy and Bill drove up with Auntie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Steph</span>, Uncle Dan, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Doggie</span> Cousin Louie and Kevin, Michelle, and Cousin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Kaiya</span> headed over for a BBQ. Mia was so excited to see her baby cousin that she couldn't stop shaking. She enjoyed showing off her toys and showing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kaiya</span> how they work...especially the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">flippin</span>' frog on her jumpy house!!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273564700845909890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghnamUSqTowZAjhClJ4CCqetZNpxu-18zV9LdtBbOru9ofsXTID6A9lEdOZW92ICPBinioODR1tvOgr5LZI09qcuGW-Iz3513InluyF2nOD3E7SRGDda6gormiqnPym3nXxV2-mS8ULgA/s320/Nov+2008+040.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273564708225573746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUV1SlFhWqfRrITTYjDeh957OB1QYFEnTxbduwVJCuuTt3T7-IDr6Ux9B7m-3_J04_0qNNgP0KP6inRlFwwz0ECpB1-5TwNNRwlz8YU1V3IgGn0zyxVmRD1WbcoU8pjfey6CaUo7z_8zk/s320/Nov+2008+045.jpg" border="0" /><br />The flood of family continued on Monday night. After working all day, we met up with Gram and cousins Ellie and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nisa</span> for a very special treat! A few years ago when the girls came to stay with us, we took them to Chuck E Cheese and we all had a great time. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Remembering</span> the fun we had that time, we promised the girls a few months ago that we would take them to a place even better than Chuck E Cheese...John's Incredible Pizza. Dan and I were really just looking for an excuse to check it out for ourselves :) Wow, this place was amazing! There is a buffet consisting of a salad bar, pasta bar, pizza bar, and even a dessert bar!! Mia was very excited to partake in the buffet and ate her fair share of peaches with cottage cheese, pasta, and even ice cream!! The games and rides (yes rides!!) were a blast. Ellie and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Nisa</span> really wanted to ride the kiddie roller coaster, but since <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Nisa</span> was too short an adult had to ride with her. Since Dan was way too tall, that task fell to me :( We all survived the roller coaster and went on to win lots of tickets playing games. The girls seemed to enjoy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">SkeeBall</span> the most, but both were entertaining to watch as they shot basketballs with great accuracy. After pizza, we all went back to our house and Mia was lucky enough to have guests in her bathtub! Ellie, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Nisa</span>, and Gram stayed with us on Monday night and we were joined by Doc for Tuesday night. Unfortunately Doc and Dan's golf game was rained out on Wednesday...and more unfortunately it is 3am and I am at work right now!!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273565531436290946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnp6w-f5tv5D08gJC8av0H9G6pjvBjrZ-ybOQ1tHACKbh1JC9aSHBrnPWfquKTKB_qX65h_VL97DXxl3OEm-VPEl2hXNT6toFwaN-T3c1iVS2ftdD7xxuJhPvKjOJvmTrSseEUgkYEFcE/s320/Nov+2008+059.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273565531090057298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2DHTgGpOCuGi4SCVgkkZJJ844hVSXgqSH7l1IpzdbTCz94i7jPLvYaHaiDpU6xCsSkC70x4YvkD7oTE-qHOyNItWJrLreoRjtB2-rZ1dKmLcmBKR_9v1_JOJ3hvldwA7vjosGVAcol8/s320/Nov+2008+075.jpg" border="0" /><br />Being that it is 3 hours into the Thanksgiving holiday, I have been reflecting on how truly thankful I am to be spending my first Thanksgiving with my beautiful baby girl and her amazing dad! I am so blessed to have them in my life! Mia is such a smart, cute, and happy little girl, but more than that I thank God everyday for her health. Working where I do, not a day goes by that I don't see children and their parents suffering with devastating diseases. I hope everyone takes time this holiday to give thanks for the things we so many times take for granted!!The Alexander Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889962186614963151noreply@blogger.com3