Two-Year-Old, in the House!

Happy Birthday to a sweet, little 2-year-old! On December 18th, we celebrated Z's second year of life with a little party that included her parents (of course) and both sets of grandparents! The theme turned out to be "Hello Kitty" since Z just adores that little cat image. What a cutie in pink boots!

With her Daddy, petting her new lambie blanket (and wearing Hello Kitty slippers).
The whole group had a great time (Z is wondering what that "blinking light" is on the camera).

Happy girl!
Goodnight to a precious, sleeping angel.

Counting Our Blessings

This fall, we've been so thankful for A's job with the Marines, a lovely home, and family nearby. Here are some photos of the fun things from this past month.
Thanksgiving at the Meadows' (Daddy-O and the yummy turkey!).

A hanging out with Paul, L's cousin.
Paige (Paul's wife) and L playing with 2nd cousins Bryce and Z (who, despite their expressions, actually did have a fun time!).

A cutie pie with her favorite "sock-monkey"-like mermaid, who Z named "Herman" (yes, Herman is a girl!).
Also in November, we celebrated A's 31st birthday with a free trip to Disneyland (A had earned complimentary, park-hopper tickets after performing with the Marine band at Disneyland earlier this year). Z sat this trip, so it was a really nice date out!
It was also the first day that the Christmas decorations were up at the park, what a treat!

This year, Z got to participate in the annual family tradition of baking Christmas cookies!

We also enjoyed a fun Christmas tea party with Gigi.
And Z just adores this fuzzy horse who lives at Gigi's house.
Yay for an already fun Christmas season, and there's still so much more to come (like a certain little girl's upcoming 2nd birthday!).

Fall!

Fall Festival at our new church in Oceanside.

Marine Corps Birthday Ball! Happy 236 Birthday, Marines!

Our little Hawaiian Hula girl who helped pass out candy to the neighbors on Halloween.


Ready with the candy, and always looking for a good excuse to wear go-go boots.

Grocery shopping in style.
Z's favorite weekly tradition: going to pet stores and visiting the animals. The bunnies are her favorite!


And two lounge-lizards. Our "chilly" Southern California weather is upon us, so time to snuggle up!\

You Know, The Usual...

Our little Greek girl blowing a kiss for the camera at the Greek Festival in Cardiff.

Enjoying great Greek food and wearing her "Yia Yia Loves Me" t-shirt, with Yia Yia of course.

Having a swingin' time in the backyard.

Learning how to play badminton.

Celebrating Grandma Meadows' 90th Birthday!
With Ike the Corgi.

Reading the Marine Times with Daddy.

And reading in bed (a popular hangout on Saturday mornings).


A doing one of those things he does best: earning the Rifle Expert Award for the fifth year in a row!

And L doing her usual thing too.

The East Caribbean

Last summer, A and L enjoyed their trip to the Western Caribbean so much that they decided to take another cruise this summer, this time the Eastern Caribbean (sorry Z, no toddlers invited). We arrived in Florida on our 7th wedding anniversary.

View of Miami, Florida, before the ship left the port.

Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas

Looking snazzy on one of the formal nights aboard the ship.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands was lovely.
Puerto Rico!


Dance party on the ship.
Beautiful Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands!

Hanging out with John Glenn at the slashdown site.


Yep, cruising is pretty great.

Cousin Time Again!

For a whole week, Aunt M and P came out to California, and L had a blast spending time with her sister while Z loved playing with her cousin. Aren't the cousins cute?
Beach time!

Pony tree-swing.

Z giving P her girly expertise on how to care for babies; afterall, he's going to be a big brother soon.

One fun highlight of the week was when the sisters attended The Monkees' 45th Anniversary Concert at the Greek Theater in L.A. (read more at L's music blog). As it occurred on the same day as the unexpected non-event of "Carmageddon," we also had a blast killing time in downtown Burbank.

And of course many thanks to Gigi and Papa for watching the kiddos while we were out.

Hanging out with L and M's older half-sister Jamie and her kids K and B. Yay for more cousins!

We'll miss you guys but can't wait to all get together again!