July 4th II

By later I apparently meant now.  Continuation of my earlier post, here are some more pictures from our long weekend.  so.much.fun.

Lunch on July 4th.  Again, daddy's hat provides hours of entertainment.

Playing in the backyard, showing off her tutu.

 Post-Grand Canyon brewery run.  Enjoying the offerings at Mother Road Brewery.

These 3 pictures are from the most AMAZING part of the weekend.  Anyone who has been to Flag knows we get about 80 trains / day through downtown. We were waiting to cross the street and happened upon one and Miriam lost her little self with excitement. She squealed, laughed, screamed with excitement; it was absolutely fantastic.  Her little mind = blown.

 Dinner at the Spanish Tapas restaurant for First Friday.  M tried olives and loved them!

 So much fudge, so little time.

Perfect example of Miriam making friends.  She was throwing her little self towards him; he wasn't so sure what to think of Miriam's advances:)

With daddy... :)

Bye, bye friends! Thank you for visiting!

July 4th

We had our first house guests in our new house. Malay & Chitra are friends of ours from Clemson.  Miriam adored them, and when they were leaving she kept wanting to go to Malay...so sweet.  I'm pretty sure she won't enjoy riding in the backseat of the car alone after 4 days of attention!

We ate a lot of good food, cooked out for the 4th, visited Grand Canyon & Sedona, dinner & First Friday downtown.  It was a great time.  These pictures are all from Malay's camera.  I haven't downloaded from my phone, but I have a few other cute pics I'll share later.

Dinner!

Good company for the 4th

At the Canyon.

Pretty girl:)

With her new buddy.

Daddy is so funny!

Giggles!

Sunset in Sedona.

Not gonna lie, I live in a pretty awesome place.

Sunset.

Jason & Malay in Sedona.

Cool girl.  She ADORES daddy's glasses and hat!

Miriam is closer and closer to walking!  Cruising, cruising, cruising everywhere on anything.  She's said "dada" "mama" and I've gotten a few "Hi"s from her.  She continues to be little Ms. Friendly; waving, giggling, and approaching adults, kiddos, babies, and pets alike.  We count ourselves lucky everyday to have such an easy going, delightful daughter.  Every night this weekend we had Miriam out until 8:30 and you would have had no idea that she was out past her bedtime. Loving life!

Jason's First Father's Day

Helping daddy open his gifts Sunday morning.

 Breakfast at the Country Club before a hike.

Pictures after breakfast.  I wonder where Miriam gets her seriousness from?!?

Playing with daddy's hat.

All pooped out after a wonderfully tiring day celebrating the best daddy is the whole world!!

A few more of our favorite things lately.  Dining al fresco...

Hitting up World Market.  She was in a deep analysis of my keys when I snapped this beauty.

 M is closer and closer to walking.  She pulls up on everything and cruises around.  I love watching her face when she stands up or reaches something new...she is SO proud of herself! 

Standing, standing, and more standing...

Best Buddies

Miriam and Maddie are just as in love as ever.  Miriam squeels with delight anytime she sees a kitty or doggie when we are out.  She lets them lick her toes and giggles with delight when a doggie's wild tail whips her in the head.  Zero fear of animals.  Wonderful, and also slightly terrifying as her mother.

Regardless, Miriam holds a special place in her heart for her kitty.  She will chase Maddie around the house now, and is the second thing she will crawl to every morning when Jason brings her into our room (second only to mama...she has the milk).  Yesterday we spent a few extra moments cuddling and scratching our kitty love because my brother had to put his 3 year old kitty down after discovering a chronic condition that was causing Chazzz a lot of pain. He is heartbroken and we are heartbroken with him.  Chazzz was a sweet kitty with a wonderful temperament.  Yesterday reminded me to love my Maddie everyday.  She is almost 16 and has more frequent moments of kitty dementia and general craziness, but that kitty was there before marriage, before Miriam, before Arizona.  Maddie's snuggles have seen me through many tears & just as many celebrations.  Unfortunately it took such a shock to remind me to take the time to love my sweet pet.

A few more updates on our family's comings and goings...

It's summer...well Jason reminded me it isn't technically summer, to which I replied, "school is out, it's hot...it's summer!"  Summer means Flagstaff Hullabaloo -- woohoo!  Lots of fun was had by all.

Summer also means weekend hikes. Jason with his carry on...

Enjoying the view...

I now I've told you how social Miriam is, and it is so true.  She would rather be out and about than stuck at home most of the time.  She will go to anyone who opens their arms to her (again, wonderful, and slightly terrifying for mama) and charms everyone at stores, restaurants, parks...

All dressed up for a morning out downtown...

One of her new favorite activities...tearing apart mom's purse.  It's contents are purposefully baby friendly; pulling everything out and exploring can entertain her for a solid 10-15 minutes...not bad.  I love watching how intently she pulls things out and meticulously explores the items. This was on the floor of The Mix where we stopped for coffee.

Of course, sometimes those moments at home are just as lovely.  I love this sweet face she's making after she got me up with the sunrise last week. 

"Look into my eyes...you are getting very sleepy...".  Ummm of course I'm sleepy, it's 5:00am!!

"Someone's gotta get some work done around here..."

This weekend Miriam is going to her first birthday party!  My friend's daughter is turning 5, and Miriam - AKA Baby Hammer to my friend's daughter, will be attending the soiree. It's also the Wine & Food Festival Saturday evening, and we just got Miriam a baby pool that we will use this weekend to beat the record heat.  Have a great summer weekend!