Pair-o-Doxies: November 2013

Nolan, you precious thing. You are very loved, and your first birthday showed that fact in neon lights.

Your mom and dad picked out very few present for you -- but yet look at the mountain that you ended up with from friends and family who went out of their way to bless us. Wow!

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As soon as Dad got home, we dug right into the presents.

You got a great book from Mr. David and Miss Marion!

And an awesome dog touch and feel book from Mitra, Mairtin and Milo!

This baby laptop takes me back to a certain May 2nd snow day. Ring a bell, Steph??

Fun flashlight from Aunt Rachel and crew

Pausing for some hydration. Gotta reserve your resources.

A musical train from Aunt Lizzie

- A comfy rocking dino with a seat -- selected with generous funds sent by Mokie and Granny

And a Construction Site book from those wonderful Sviggums

And this was a super hit -- a rocking horse from Grandma Debby!

I guess I didn't photograph the stacking cups and cars with ramp that Nana and Papa sent you. I am saving those gems (and a few of these!) for a day when we need a new distraction in our midst.

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So, new toys and paper are flying, but what do you want to play with?

- the tags

- Khaki's ball

- an empty box

- and a tent that you've had for months.

Classic.

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Opening the last gift, this time from Julia and her guys...

...and what does the tag say?

?????

We were so confused. Who are these people?! Oh, Amazon - good try...

-- Thankfully the box contained the right gift! Wonder if Olin got a "Happy birthday, Nolan! Love, Julia" card?! Too funny.

It's a riding truck that we KNOW we love because Eliza had one in Texas! Way to go, Julia!

Mikel helped break it in right away by zooming and careening Nolan all over the living room and kitchen in it. That thing can really fly on the tile! Such a dad game. :)

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Then it was cake time!

One of Mikel's colleagues makes beautiful cakes for a bargain. I just told her I thought a cowboy theme could be cute - and this is what she produced:

We were amazed!! Some people are just so talented. And not only was it lovely to look at: Mikel ordered vanilla cake with lemon cream filling. Oh my, it was divine.

As you can see, the cake is huge! Luckily we had the Stewart family coming over the next night for dinner so they could help work on leftovers.

She even included for Nolan his very own smash cake:

It took him a while to really get into it....

...getting closer...

"Guys???"

"Not so bad....."

"Who wants seconds?!"

"What do you mean 'All Done'?!?"

It was a happy day for a happy boy and we are very happy parents.

Thank you so much to all of you who remembered him and us on Nolan's first birthday. You made it so special - even from a distance!

(Photo overload following!)

I love going to my parents' house -- especially when it means bonuses like Thanksgiving turkey, the little cousins all together, and time with my sister all the way from Sicily. Mikel, Nolan and I got to travel down Nov 13-17, and what a fun time we had. Beautiful running weather, family togetherness and hot coffee ready and waiting every morning. Plus, everything is free! (Love you, Dad!)

It's the next best thing to everyone living in Phoenix. Which I am scheming.......

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Boarded and ready for takeoff. Here we come Austin!

Mokie's flight from Lubbock landed at the same time as us. Nolan was happy to have someone other than Mikel and me to play with on the ride to Mom and Dad's house.

Two pretty girls, Eliza (2) and Anna (4).

Night #1 saw us through a rip roaring game of Wahoo - a family favorite, played on a board crafted by my great-grandfather.

This about sums Anna up, I think! Nolan loves his Uncle DJ

Jonathan (9) and Anna (4)

Such a cute family! Nikye, DJ and Eliza (2)

Jonathan bought himself a new-to-him camera. Let's just say, I'm glad he doesn't have a blog on which to post his shots... Avid though he is, he doesn't give much warning to his subjects!

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One morning, Nikye introduced us to an AMAZING, massive park playscape.

Rochester ladies, your kids would looove this place!!

Something possessed me to get in this sunken down spinny around thing. In the interest of keeping down breakfast, I closed my eyes the whole time. Nikye and Rachel are super spinners!

What a sweet twin-haired auntie Nolan has. :)

Part of the park has this adorable miniature town -

Eliza is so much fun to watch there. She knows all the hot spots!

Nikye is such a fun mom!

LOVED getting Rachel and Nolan together -- be still my heart!

Can't think of a better way to spend a morning.

Nikey, Eliza (almost 2), Jonathan (9), Anna (4), Rachel & Nolan (almost 1)

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Time for a little outing with Jonathan and Anna!

Did you know that Phoenix does not have one. single. Cherry Berry establishment?? This is unfortunate indeed. Luckily Jonathan and Anna are as much in love with CB as we are, so we could use them as our excuse for going guilt-free. :)

This boy can build a masterpiece of a froyo.

Love these awesome kids.

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Since none of us would be together on actual Thanksgiving Day (1 week later), we celebrated early with a wonderful dinner.

My mom worked her fingers to the bone cooking, my grandma Mokie worked her fingers to the bone washing dishes, I believe my Granny had a hand in some pie-making, and the rest of us worked our fingers to the bone.... eating?

It was great :)

THANK you, Mom!!!

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- the ceremonial wishbone 2013-

Anna vs. Jonathan

The bets were placed; the wishes were wished...

And - GO!

We said Go!

You guys?

Yeah, that's a let down.

Truce!

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A few more "Thanksgiving Day" shots...

Anna has the right idea; she loves this sweet spot on my parents picturesque back porch.

My sweet guys

"Thanksgiving" night: UNO

Mokie is ruthless! Beware whoever sits on either side of her because she WILL skip you, 4 card draw you, and reverse in yo face.

Nolan gets the best sleep at my parents' house --- in Lauren's giant closet.

Nana introduced Nolan to LilSmokies. And created a monster!

This pigtails... That scrunchy nose... So sweet!!!

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As I've blogged about before, Kara and David live just up the road from my parents. Mikel and I were SO HAPPY to connect with them again on this trip down!

Izzy is becoming such a big girl!

Off to explore...

...before digging into glorious Chic-Fil-A.

Just helping Kona practice her baby tolerance skills...

"Hey, you look like my pups.... sort of."

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It was a lovely (though windy) day for a walk, so off we all went.

Pretty fall colors

Sleepy kid #1

and #2

Kona loved the wind!

Lovely ladies!

We are so thankful for your friendship, Kara and David, and thankful for the chances to see you!

(Did I mention the wind??)

Sweet dad and daughter :)

See you next time, Ayaram fam!

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Back at the house.... we had some big birthdays to celebrate!

Eliza was getting ready to turn the big #2 (11/22) and Nolan was turning 1 (11/30).

Yay for cousin fun!!

First, I have to include this shot from our earlier cupcake pitstop.

Anna helped to select the perfect birthday cupcakes for the crew!

Jonathan helping Nolan kick off the par-tay (thanks, Nikye, for the fun bday props!)

Cupcake time!

(This calls for some XL photos) :)

Cousins!

Cupcakes are great but balloons are where it's at.

I love it that Anna wore her cupcake shirt!

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Next up: Presents

...which are very confusing...

... but not to Eliza!

Look at that darling, happy face! Eliza ADORES Thomas the Train, so her mom and dad hit the sweet spot with this Thomas track!!

Eliza and her parents gave Nolan his book of First 100 Words. We have a lot of studying to do!

And Nolan gave Eliza a sock monkey...

...and a handy 31 bag.

Nana & Papa with the almost-bday boy

DJ is such a great dad!

Happy birthday, sweet girl. We love you so much!

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A little more studying with Aunt Nikye after bath time...

...some snuggles with the Greatgrandmas...

...and then Jonathan volunteered to give Nolan his bedtime bottle. What a great cousin, but watching Jonathan do this reminded me so much of those times I begged to give Jonathan HIS bottle! Doesn't feel very long ago... Rachel, when did your little boy get so big??