Wedding Dress Shopping

On Super Bowl Sunday, I went wedding dress shopping with my sister Kristi who is getting married in Jamaica this summer.  My sister Heather and two of Kristi's friends, Andrea and Heather, came along.  She was looking for the perfect beach dress and she found it.  Of course I can't share photos of the actual dress with you... but here are a couple shots from our fun day.  Congratulations, sis!!

(L to R): Heather, Andrea, Kristi, me, and sister Heather

Kristi & her friend Andrea

Dinner with the Oximana's

Saturday evening we had dinner with Jason, Rachel, Sofia, and Alex at their home in North Seattle. They served us a wonderful meal and the kiddos had the chance to play.  Izzy played with Sofia's kitchen stuff for hours and the two of them played with the cash register and play money as well (... we're in for trouble!).  We had a blast - it was so good to catch up over good food with great friends!

 

Look at our (play) money!

Cooking in the kitchen!

Dads & Daughters

Trying to get a photo of the three kids ... all cute but not a single one with all of them actually smiling! 
Good effort, Rachel!  :-)

 

MLK Weekend

The Beltran family had a pretty low-key weekend.  Saturday Gerald went for a motorcycle ride and Izzy and I headed out to the park to take advantage of a break in the rain.  We went to Logan Park in Mountlake Terrace - it's one of our favorite parks because all of the playground equipment is age appropriate for Izzy.  It's amazing what a difference a couple of months makes in her ability to climb and navigate the playground on her own - only a few of the toys require any assistance by me anymore!

 



Sunday we assembled Izzy's new easel that she got from Santa for Christmas (he couldn't fit it down the chimney assembled :-) ).  Our little Picasso went to work creating a masterpiece...  (Speaking of Picasso - my sister Kristi & I went to see the Picasso exhibit on Friday evening - I LOVED his sculptures - who would have thought!!)

New Year - Fresh Blog Postings!

It's a new year and it's time to start blogging again!  I got caught up in the holiday craziness and just didn't take the time to update the blog as well as I should have!  We had a wonderful holiday season spent with family and friends.  We didn't take a lot of vacation time from work this year, so most of the fun was packed in on weekends throughout the season.  Izzy loved every minute of it - fresh snow at Thanksgiving time; Christmas lights and decorations around town; visiting Downtown Seattle with her Grandma & Grandpa and again with her Mom & Dad to ride the holiday carousel; visits with "Grandpa Santa"; presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; and finally snow for the New Year!  We have a ton of great photos and I'll get them uploaded to Flicker and posted soon, but in the meantime here's our favorite family photo from Christmas this year (that's my Dad as Santa!):

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Thanksgiving snow

We had snow before Thanksgiving this year! Since school was cancelled for 2-1/2 days and roads weren't safe for driving, we had an extended Thanksgiving week break! It was VERY cold - in the teens and twenties for most of the week, but on Thanksgiving morning it snowed 2 inches of perfect wet snow just in time to make snowmen! By this afternoon we're expecting rain and we should be back to normal by the weekend! What a nice way to welcome the holiday season!

Day 2: too cold to play!

Day 4 (Thanksgiving): perfect for making snowmen!

Snow Angel:

Halloween Party at A Place To Grow

Daycare had a Halloween party on the Friday before Halloween - the kids all dressed up and then we played a few games. The kids wrapped the parents up like mummies and then they went outside for a "trick-or-treat" game. The festivities ended with Halloween snacks and then early dismissal! Here are a few photos of the fun afternoon:

Meliah & Izzy

Izzy & Cameron

Izzy acting like a mummy!

Attempting a group photo

Trick-or-treat game outside (Izzy has removed her costume at this point!)

Pumpkins!

For as long as I can remember, my Mom & Dad have purchased sugar pumpkins and cooked them up for pumpkin pie. It became something I enjoyed and I'm teaching Izzy to like it too!! She helped me with pumpkins a few times this season - we cleaned them, emptied the seeds, roasted the seeds, boiled the pumpkin, and then pureed it using a food mill. Izzy was very good at getting the seeds out for me and she LOVES to help turn the food mill. The first time we made chocolate chip pumpkin bread and the second time we made pumpkin pie! I think we have a pumpkin fan in the making!

Pumpkin Patch

We headed out to Fall City Farms to pick pumpkins in mid-October with friends Mitch & Khaisy and Chris & Pauline. Of course the kids came along too - Sienna and Sebastian! Izzy and Sienna had a ball jumping between the hay bales, balancing on a log, and then going through a hay maze. All the while baby Sebastian cuddled and looked cute. Come next year he'll be running through the field with the girls! It was a beautiful day - cold in the morning but they warm in the afternoon sun! A few photos (notice that Gerald was the photographer & didn't make it into any of the photos :-()...