...thanksgiving & babies!

we had the best time in susanville for thanksgiving. good food & fun was had by all! everyone was able to make it (including gigi marlene all the way from texas & shannon & kevin from idaho)! paige had fun playing in the leaves and in boxes- who needs toys? paige is smitten with uncle kevin (watch out daddy- you have some competition). nana paula & paige had fun sweeping the leaves in the back yard (nana swept - paige trampled through her pile - nana swept & it went on like that). we also had our christmas celebration and got to open presents! one of the highlights for me was getting to cut down our own christmas tree. if you know me well you know that i LOVE christmas and apart from my love of santa it is hard to compete with my love of christmas trees. i used to drive my family crazy at the lot trying to pick out the perfect tree. the tree we picked out is beautiful and HUGE...it was fun to see aaron chop it down! i have used every last strand of lights i can find in my stash of decorations to cover it. so fun. thank you papa randy for taking us up in the hills of susanville for my beloved tree!

in other news baby #2 is doing well- i am almost half way through the pregnancy!

if you want to see some pictures of paige from a few weeks ago check out the zakaryan blog. kim took them during our trip to southern california for katie's shower (we anticipate baby smith coming arrival this month- hopefully sooner than later for katie's sake)!

and finally- here are a few goofy pictures that the sherfields took/manipulated on their computer while babysitting paige. i guess it was really funny seeing her reaction to each new image as she of course said "baby" a million times (that is her favorite word and favorite thing for the moment...we hear "babies" a billion times a day).

baby

block head baby

alien cat baby

dumb jock baby

...elections & babies!

there is one thing elections and pregnancies have in common...

you cannot wait for them to be over!

we were excited to take paige to vote (although we were just dropping off our absentee ballots) and even more excited when she got her own "i voted" sticker! it is never to early to teach kids to vote! even though the elections did not turn out in our favor on all accounts- we were glad to see so many people vote this year, glad to see such a historical event take place & honestly...glad to see the whole thing end. has this campaign lasted forever or is it just me? also, i got to see our little baby moving around the yesterday. it is still such a miracle to me when you see that little tiny life moving around inside of you. i know it is there- but since i have not felt it yet i almost forget. everything seems to be going well with baby...here are a few of the pictures! enjoy!

...happy halloween, shaver & monkey love!

be sure to check out my other blog for a big post i just did about "being green."
you can click on this link to get there: www.everydayvalentine.blogspot.com
thanks- *laura*

in other news!

Happy Halloween!

paige was a little lamb- so cute. i decided to take a little video of her walking too...i've had a few requests. enjoy!

a few weeks ago we got to go up to Shaver Lake with our life group (small group/bible study- whatever you want to call it) and spend a fun weekend lounging, playing games & just hanging out. we stayed in a beautiful home that belongs to a family at our church- they were gracious enough to let us stay there for free! so fun.

check out the pictures by clicking on this link: shaver pics

monkey love...paige continues to love her monkeys. all monkeys...she loves them all. in fact she picks them up now and makes monkey noises. aaron has trained her well. enjoy the video below.

...portland & the oregon coast!

a few weeks ago we went up to portland for our annual family reunion (my mom's side of the family gets together once a year...we switch off between OR, Southern California & the Bay Area)

we had great time and got to experience paige on a plane for the first time...lets just say it was interesting...but could have been much worse. after spending one night in portland we all headed to the Oregon Coast (manzanita beach) for a few nights. we stayed in three beach houses & had a fabulous time. as one cousin puts it- our family likes to power visit- there is a lot to catch up on when you only see each other about once a year. paige was in heaven with all the attention and people to hang with...and all in all she was a great traveler as usual. thanks to the oregon crowd for hosting an awesome weekend! we all had a blast...my only complaint was that it did not last longer!

this was paige's first time playing in sand- how sad that we had to go all the way to oregan to play in the sand. we have been to the beach with her a few times- but she was too little to appreciate it. she even tried to eat it...yum!

check out my gallery for more pictures!

this first video may not be funny to anyone else- but i knew aunt fifi would like it-paige is always obsessed with her phone (or any phone for that matter)! and the other one is just cute!

You've come a long way baby...

...a look back on Paige's big year (along with her first few pictures)!

Paige's 1st Birthday Party was awesome!
The day started with her baby dedication at church...And ended with a lot of
food, cake, wonderful friends & family (and more presents than any baby girl could ever need)!
Thanks to all of our friends and family who came & helped
and especially to those of you who traveled so far to be here. We love you!

I will do my best to post a web gallery of more birthday photos soon.

As you may have figured out by now- or heard- we are expecting baby #2 this coming May.
I am about 10 weeks along and just starting to feel better- but not out of the woods yet.
Sorry for the delay in posts.

I did also want to mention that the "Protect our Children Act" passed (see my last post).
Thanks to everyone who got involved.

We are off on another adventure to Portland for our annual family reunion with my Mom's extended family. It will be Paige's first plane ride...we are hoping for the best with that! ;)

Until Next Time- xoxo- *laura*