Trip to Paradise

A big smile from a big boy!

The alligator pool

Juanita, Kate, Grampy, and Nate

Mom, Dad, and Nate

The Palapa's on the beach

Beautiful flowers!

Mom, Kate, and Nate

The pool

Nate at the beach...soaking up the sun!


The ocean view...


The whole gang (minus Grampy!)

Mom, Dad, and Nate

Grampy, Juanita, and Kate


I will guard this ice cream with my life! ;-)

Some shots from the jungle river ride *yes, we did see some crocs close up!!*



We have just returned from Paradise! Paradise Village that is, in Nuevo Vallarta Mexico! We loved it... it honestly could not have been a better time to go. When we left Philadelphia is was 10 degrees, when we hit the Atlanta airport it was 15 degrees, and when we later landed in Mexico-- it was 80+ degrees! We spent an entire week beachside swimming in the pool, building sand castles with the kids, and boogie boarding in the Pacific Ocean. We ate amazing food and Juanita and I spent a lazy afternoon at the spa. For the first time, Nate was a little afraid of the pool at first. He was quick to warm up to it and by the end of the trip he wanted in at every chance. He did great on every leg of the plane trip EXCEPT the last....let's just say the little devil in him made a brief appearance, much to our dismay!

Ahh, wish we were back in the sands of Mexico...but tomorrow it's back to reality AND work. Enjoy the pics!

Nate and Elmo

Holiday Show

Because the holiday season was so busy, I am finally able to post pics from Nathaniel's holiday show at school. He is quite the actor (starring as Rudolph). I did video it on my camera but it didn't come out that great. I got a new flip for Chrismtas and I am so excited to have good quality video again literally in the palm of my hand.

The Holiday Show at school is an annual event where each class performs to a different theme. For Nate's class, the theme this year was Rudolph-- as you can probably tell from the pics. I think all the kids looked so cute with red noses! It was funny to see how the little ones reacted to it. Some of the kids cried when they walked on stage, others danced, and some just stared out at the 100 people in the audience in complete awe-- that latter one is our Nate! It was so cute- he walked right out onto the stage, threw off his antlers, and stared out at everyone shaking his tush every few minutes to the sounds of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Can't wait to see what next year holds.

Happy 2009!

Before Christmas Eve dinner...

Nate and Kate

Mom and Nate

The tree...

Treats for Santa...

Christmas Eve Bedtime Story (classic)

Grampy reading to Nate and Kate just before Santa comes!

Christmas morning opening my first present-- Elmo

Christmas day at Grandma and Grandpa's house with cousin Gabrielle

Have you seen my new Bike?! It's from Uncle Mike and Aunt Heidi

I can't wait to ride it this summer

Grandma, Aunt Elaine, Rebecca, Justin, and Kim


Happy New Year! This has been one of the best years I can remember. Our New Year's Eve last night was so different than last year. To ring in 08', we spent the day strolling the streets of Antigua, eating Pollo Campero, and listenting to fireworks and music until 6am! Of course, we didn' intend to hear the music ALL night long. This year we went to Walmart, made a yummy dinner, watched Sprout TV and went to bed early! Just what the doctor ordered...

We had many milestones this year...too many to list them all. We came home (which is probably our biggest!!), we celebrated our first birthday, we started school, we took our first steps, we cut our first teeth, we spoke our first words, and we had our first Christmas together! We are hopeful that this year will hold just as many 'firsts' and even more memories.

I can't say enough how much Nate loved Christmas. He really liked to hand out the gifts and open presents that didn't even belong to him. He got a little fussy on Christmas Eve...he was just getting over an ear infection and we discovered his molars were coming through! He has been such a good sport in welcoming their arrival...but his little hands are constantly in his mouth, and it may be another week before any ground is broken.

We enjoyed all 4 of our Christmas'. We spent Christmas day with Grandma and Grandpa H and Aunts and Uncles and cousins. We had a great time (except Rich got a 24 hr virus of some sort!). The day after Christmas we spent with Grampy and Juanita and Kate and Aunt Momo and Uncle Alan, and Aunt Joanne and Gram. The kids favorites were Dora's house and the baby and carriage. Yes, that's right, Nate LOVED Kate's Baby and carriage the best. He pushed it around like he was on a very serious mission. He also loved all his blocks and his new Elmo doll. On Monday, we exchanged gifts with Nannie and Bud, and Nate loved all his matchbox cars (yes, this little boy was SPOILED!!). Finally, this morning, we did our Christmas at home. It was very small considering all that was done already, but it was so nice and refreshing to be at home relaxing in front of the fire.

Nate will return to school on Wednesday and life should go back to normal soon. It has been so hectic and I think he now expects presents when he wakes up every morning...he'll have to wait until his Birthday in May. :-)

Pics are above from our week of Christmas traveling. I have more to post once I get them all downloaded in the days to come.

Best wishes to all for peaceful and healthy New Year!