Jo and Dave's Blog

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Annie goes to Las Vegas!

After a wonderful Christmas with the extended Weaver clan we left on a snowy day, Annie's first snowy day!!!, for Las Vegas.

First snow!

For those who don't know, Jon, my brother, and Gita, his wonderful wife are living in Las Vegas as Gita completes medical school. It was very exciting to arrive at the airport, because it was the first time Annie got to meet her Uncle "Stache"

Meeting Uncle Stash

I want to play!!!

Uncle Stache, you're crazy!

But you're also very sweet

and meeting Aunt Gita

So much cuteness

And it might have just been a few weeks, but Bubby needed to get her kisses in too!

Kisses in the afternoon

Kisses in the afternoon 2

Bubby, Mommy, say I'll have your hair, so give me some now!

Even Aunt dog Moksha wants in on the kisses

The meeting of the hands

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Getting Together

The holidays at our families houses are always a time for reconnecting with friends. This year it was particularly fun because we got a chance to introduce our friends to Annie and vice versa. Not surprisingly, it was also a chance for our friends to introduce us to their beautiful and amazing new children. We had a little get-together at Jo's parents with Leslie, Joe and family and Jennifer, Warren and crew. With three babies of all about the same age it was quite a lot of fun!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Holidays: 2) Christmas in Indiana

Following our whirlwind trip visit to Delaware and D.C., we packed up the car and headed our for the 12 hour drive to Bloomington to enjoy Christmas with the extended Weaver family. The drive itself wasn't too bad, minus an hour long screaming episode from Annie (who could blame her? we really wanted to be out of the car by that point also).

Greeting us over the next week were such wonderful family times that driving in the pouring rain with a screaming infant seemed like a distant nightmare. In particular, with Annie, it was a Christmas of "first", including:

Snuggling with Annie in front of the tree

From Christmas in IN

Putting the star on

From Christmas in IN

Quinn meeting Annie for the first time

From Christmas in IN

which quickly evolved into Annie's first ballroom dance

First Christmas dinner:

From Christmas in IN

Cute outfits galore!

From Christmas in IN

Everyone should have their name embroidered on their bum

From Christmas in IN

Why her wrist tastes so good I'll never know.

And fun times with presents; some of the more photographable moments below:

From Christmas in IN

Frolicking in a handmade sweater from Great Aunt Jean

From Christmas in IN

Exploring, with a little befuddlement, her first musical instrument, a baby banjo, courtesy of the Shafer family

From Christmas in IN

And her father stealing it, a harbinger of things to come...

From Christmas in IN

Dave Weaver gets ear candles...and is also quite befuddled

From Christmas in IN

Grandma Gail showing Annie her "baby's first Christmas" ornament

From Christmas in IN

Petunia assesses whether Annie is friend or foe

From Christmas in IN

Fun bath time

From Christmas in IN

Flying muffin time!

And Annie's first trip to the lake to visit Paul and Suzy's house

From Christmas in IN

	It was a memorable Christmas for sure!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Holidays: 1) Longwood

In the Meek family, the holiday season is not complete without a trip to Longwood Gardens. Longwood is an incredible botanical garden that is near to our families house, and we have been members for more than twenty years. Any season at Longwood is special, but the December holidays in particular are magical.

Of course the place is gorgeous and is covered in lights, but what I always find most interesting is the incredibly artistic landscaping arrangements that the gardeners design.

A giant wreath made up of various ferns and other colorful plants

The room with trees decorated by local schoolchildren

My perennial favorite: carnivorous plants! (They are red and green so I guess they count as festive)

Longwood never ceases to amaze or surprise; there's always something new and innovative around the corner. If you're ever in the Philadelphia/D.C/Baltimore area make the trip over, you'll be glad you did!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Re-Entry and Reconnecting: 4) DC

Our interest in reconnecting and introducing Annie to family in friends was greatly facilitated by "Bubby" Rita, who organized two gatherings in the D.C. area the weekend after we came home.

The first get together was at Aunt Jean and Unce George's house. We have a lot of extended family in the D.C. area, and it was really special for us that essentially all 20 of them in a hundred mile radius made the voyage down to meet us and welcome Annie into the family.

It was particularly special for me to see some of my younger cousins holding Annie, cousins who I easily remember holding when they were that age.

The next stop on the family tour was to visit a mainstay in our family: the Christmas tree stand which my Uncle Burt and family run. I've worked there many a Christmas season, and it was really nice to introduce Annie to that familiar space (unfortunately I don't have the pictures with me, but will post them later). After that, it was on to a really nice brunch that Bubby Meek had organized at a local hotel for other extended family and friends.

To say Annie was the star of the party would be a serious understatement!