Christmas Travel

It has been a very busy two weeks for us in the Hart household. The week before Christmas, we traveled to my grandmother's house in Northern California, just east of San Francisco to spend time with her and some of my extended family. Abby enjoyed all the animals in the house (several dogs and a cat) as well as the attention from her doting great-grandmother and grandparents (my parents were also there for the week). We also made our annual trek into San Francisco for a day, bringing Abigail for the first time. She was a trooper and we enjoyed some unseasonably warm weather. Here are a few photos of our day-trip...

Overlooking Alcatraz at Pier 39

Looking at the Sea Lions

In the city, sporting her new hat

After San Francisco, we came home for a few days and spent Christmas with David's parents and Christmas dinner with both sets of parents.

Christmas evening at my parents' house

Then, on Tuesday we left for Arizona for my cousin Tim's wedding. It was a small, beautiful ceremony by a waterfall and lake. My dad did a great job officiating the wedding (his first) and my brother was a groomsman.

My uncle Ed is super cute with Abby (he can't wait for grandkids of his own) and enjoyed showing Abby off to all his family

We had a fantastic time with our family over the past few weeks. We must say, however that we're glad to be home with this little toddler of ours (more on that later)...

Abigail's 1st Birthday

It's been a crazy last week or so with 3 birthdays in the Hart family (Abby's on the 9th, mine on the 11th, and my mother-in-law's on the 13th)... poor David... all his girls' birthdays in 5 days time! Here are a few things we did over the big birthday weekend...

On Abigail's actual birthday, we took her to get ice-cream for the first time at Coldstone's. As many of you know, I'm an ice-cream lover, so this was a special treat for Abby. Here she is, checking out the options in wonder...
We settled on Strawberry for the first taste (although I got dark chocolate :) She liked it but didn't go crazy over it like my parents said that I did on my first taste... maybe Abby won't be as hooked as I am!
Later that evening, my parents came over and spoiled Abby with presents. I suppose that's only natural with a first grandbaby... she certainly wasn't complaining! Abigail actually really got into unwrapping her gifts. She really oohed and ahhed over everything, even the cards, which made the experience pretty precious and quite entertaining.

This soccer ball was probably her favorite of the night... she could barely wait while we got it out of the package! Notice how she's still fixated on it 2o minutes later during this picture:
Lastly, Uncle Matthew and Aunt Tara came over at bedtime to wish her a happy birthday and play with her a little bit before she went down for the night.
The next day, we hosted a small party for her at my parents' house with family and a few friends. Tara photographed the event and I'll post a few more pictures when I get them from her, but for now, here are a few from our camera.




We can't believe this girl is one! We love her to pieces and are so thankful that the Lord brought her into our lives last year. She's weighing in at just under 21 pounds and is 28 1/2 inches long. She's walking more and more (not too fast yet, which is fine with us) and "talking" all the time. She says Mama, Dada, hot, and uh-oh. I'm pretty sure she has a word for dog too "dah". She is starting to pretend (that everything is a phone) and beginning to climb (into the laundry basket and her carseat... uh-oh!) She brings us so much joy and are so thankful that the Lord entrusted her into our care. We love you Abigail! We're so proud of you, precious!