November: The Month of Learning New Skills

This month you are definitely focused on doing whatever we are doing. You like unloading the dishwasher, helping with laundry and you have tons of computer work to do each day! The computer piece has helped Dad and I realize we may be on the computer a bit too much... Same with the phone. A 19 month old mastering the iPhone could mean you are a genius or that you've just seen it use a bit too much.

Halloween 2009

This year we decided to color pumpkins and you did a great job decorating your pumpkin. At first you were being very careful and then your true artistic ways came out and you were being silly with the crayons but the pumpkin looked great.

When it came time to Trick or Treat you had quite the entourage. Paw Paw started you out with some treats in your bucket and we went to the house across the street from us. You weren't really sure what this fuss was all about but when they handed you a piece of candy, you politely pulled out one of the candies in your bucket and handed it to the neighbors. They were so tickled!

We continued on with to another neighbor who was expecting us and by this time I think you were noticing that you had three cameras flashing at your every move so you acted a little cheeky at this house. We knocked on the door and the neighbor gave you a bag of popcorn. You again gave her a piece of your candy and then promptly went inside her house, gave us a mischievous look and closed the door. As much as we all enjoyed our trick or treating adventure, I think we provided a great deal of amusement for the neighbors as well.

Eventually you rejoined us and we went to a block party nearby where we saw lots of other kids dressed up, which you seemed excited about.

Fun times with the Weiss Family

Opa, Lita and Oom Rik visited for Halloween and you were thrilled. The weather was perfect and they took you on tons of walks and a bike ride and let you sit in the car and pretend to drive. You were in Heaven!

You had a new view of the world riding on Oom Rik and Opa's shoulders as we explored Scottsdale.

Lita took you on many walks! You were so excited to spend so much time outdoors. This was one of the first beautiful weekends we'd had since we moved here and we definitely made the most of it.

Picking our Pumpkin

This year we went to the Desert Botanical Garden to pick out one of our pumpkins. We love going to a big pumpkin farm each Halloween and finding the perfect pumpkin for our famiily. We thought October 24th in Phoenix would be a nice, 80 degree day for our family adventure, but oh was it sweltering. It must have reached 100 degrees but we had fun! We took a hayride in a tractor out to the pumpkin patch.

You loved the petting zoo but your favorite part was getting to sit on the tractor. You could have stayed there all day but Mom and Dad were melting so we headed home.

The chosen pumpkin...

We love Phoenix in October!

Throughout the month of October we made the most of our below 100 degree days and played outside as much as possible!

Some favorite activities:
Riding bikes as a family. We rode our bikes to a local park and one night we had rode our bikes to a local school and had a Dinner Picnic! You love riding bikes and often run in the garage and point at your helmet as if to say, "come on guys, let's go!"

The helmet wasn't your favorite part at first but once you realized what putting the helmet on meant, you made friends with the helmet.



Dad was off early a couple days this month and we hit the trails. We are trying to get the full Phoenician experience and so far we have really enjoyed hiking.

Birthdays, Birthdays everywhere!! (10-10)

Tia Julie came back to Phoenix with us to spend a weekend with the Torry's.


Here are some pictures from your 1/2 birthday. Maw Maw was going to be gone for her birthday so we celebrated at Paw Paw's that day.

We made a 1/2 birthday cake for you but you had a cold that day, so you were more into the candles than the cake.

That evening we went to your 1st Birthday party. Our new friend Colin turned 1 and they had a party at Encanto Park. We all had a lot of fun!! The party was right along the train track so we had plenty of opportunities to wave at the train. Plus we even went for a ride!

Playing dress up at The Magic House (10-8)

You look like a natural!

You were very particular about the produce you chose, you are going to need to give Mom a few lessons!

You thought it was fun sitting in the big Judge's chair.

As President you were not happy and were going to tell the person on the phone all about it.

You wanted to make quite a few important announcements as Press Secretary, but Tia Julie wouldn't let you get a word in edge wise:)

Willem the Koala

You were absolutely fascinated by the animals, especially the monkeys and the hippos and the tigers.
The penguins were our last stop at the zoo and we all know how much you love penguins! Tia Julie suggested I hold you over the railing so you could see the penguins better. Aka, try to feed you to the penguins. Who knew that penguins like to bite? Luckily the zoo volunteer quickly saved you from the penguins and told us to keep our distance from the penguins.
And one of the best parts of the zoo... Playing on the rocks in front of the entrance.

Our Animal Lovers (10-7)

Tia Julie is your perfect Zoo companion! You two loved petting the animals.

Willem the Photographer

This is the first picture you've taken by yourself and it's absolutely beautiful!

10-5 Wren Hollow Playground

This is the night we believe my camera went missing:( Hence Tia Julie isn't in many of these pictures as all of the pictures from our trip are from Tia Julie's camera.


While in St. Louis, you grew very adventurous playing at the park!















You loved that the balance beam was the perfect height for you to sit on. You enjoyed walking on the beam as well but you were laughing so hard you could barely keep a foot on the beam.











You were going down the big slides like it was nothing and you loved swinging which was new.