Welcome Home Aunt Anne!!

In December, we welcomed my sister, Anne, home from Afghanistan. Anne is in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Kandahar, Afganistan in May of 2009. She was supposed to be there for about a year, however her unit was called home in December. We are thrilled to have her back with us! 8 months is a long time for anyone, but she couldn't wait to come over and see how much her favorite (ok...only) niece had grown while she was gone. The best part about this visit was the fact that Olivia acted like Anne never left in the first place. She went right up to her when she came over and of course dragged her to her toy room to play!

Anne and Olivia along with her camel which was a gift from Afghanistan. The hat the camel is wearing is an army hat with "Kandahar Afghanistan" on the front, her name embroidered on the side, and her name in Arabic embroidered on the other side. Liv loves it!!

Liv playing dress up.

Anne and Liv reading one of her favorite books.

Olivia just had to put on the new sweatshirt that Anne bought her!

Time for dinner!

We're thrilled you're home Anne! Welcome back!!!!

Giving Thanks...Visitors from North Carolina!

Just before Thanksgiving, Chris's dad and stepmom came up from North Carolina to visit us for a couple of days. The day they arrived, we made our own big Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and mashed potatoes. The next day, we wanted to show them the sights of West Michigan. Well what sights we could considering it was November, it was cold, and they were calling for rain! We started out in downtown Grand Rapids with breakfast at the Omlette Shoppe. During breakfast, they asked about where they may be able to buy signs for their cottage on the lake. One place came to mind...Holland! So we headed to the lakeshore. We had a great time walking around the shops, but I don't think Phil and Debbie bought anything for their cottage.

Phil, Olivia, and Debbie

Olivia stopping to check out one of the many Christmas trees decorating downtown Holland.

Liv just couldn't resist climbing up into this bed with all of those stuffed animals laying there. Phil and Debbie couldn't resist buying her the black bear that she kept cuddling with!

Chris, Olivia, and Phil.

A tuckered out Olivia.

We did drive Phil and Debbie down to Holland State Park so they could see Lake Michigan. We didn't get out for a walk for 2 reasons. 1. Liv was sleeping. 2. It was too darn cold! We drove along Lake Shore Drive up to Grand Haven and along the coast there. Trying to show them the sights. We had dinner in Allendale at Peppinos, and gave them the nickle tour of GVSU (where Chris went to school). It felt cheesy to us, but they said they had a great time. We sure hope they will head back this way when the weather is warmer and we can do more outdoor activities! No matter what, we had a great couple of days with them here.

First Playdate at Play World

In November, Olivia and I met up with one of our friends and her little girl for a play date at Play World. Play World is a large indoor play area for kids. They have arcade games, an inflateable slide, maze, and bounce house, 2 separate climbing areas with various ball pits and slides, kiddie cars, and every Little Tykes play house that was ever created. The girls had a great time, and Olivia enjoyed most everything....

Oliva (in the pink car) and Rachel (in the red car) had a great time just driving around.

Then they explored many of the climbing structures and play houses. Olivia really seemed to enjoy playing in this one!

The big ball pit was a favorite. There were 2 others the girls played in (designed more for younger kids like them), but this was the best because it was bigger and had more balls!

Even though they didn't play any arcade games, Rachel and Olivia really enjoyed climbing in and out of the cars (you know, the ones that cost money to make them go).

The slide wasn't a favorite. I had finally convinced Olivia to climb around like Rachel was, but then she got scared when she couldn't see me any more. I pointed out how she could go down the slide to get to me, but she wasn't crazy about that either!

The bounce house, however, quickly became a favorite!

We really had a great time at Play World, but I'm hoping the more often I can take her the more likely she will be to go off and explore on her own. Right now, I would say she is not the adventurous type!