Thankful

We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving week with our families in Palm Desert. Abigail was loved on by all her grandparents and aunts and uncle... I'm sure she'll be quite bored with just me this week. It was awesome to have her join us at the table and hear the ways each person had been blessed by the Lord this year. His provision is truly amazing in love, grace, support, and resources.
Tara spent her first Thanksgiving as an Engle with my family and did a beautiful job setting the table for our feast...
Abigail enjoyed all of the food too... she also had fun flinging the mashed potatoes on the ground which was a funny sight... I'm not sure she enjoyed the texture on her fingers.

Abigail also had fun enjoying the heated pool in Palm Desert...
As well as the jacuzzi for the first time (it wasn't too hot)

David and the guys got to enjoy their traditional 2 rounds of golf during the week... not counting the 7 holes of golf they played one night with glow-in-the dark balls!
It was a great week with both of our families and we feel very thankful for them, indeed!

First Steps

So... we have a walker!!!!

Abigail's been close to walking for awhile now and had taken 1 or 2 steps before, but yesterday she started taking 4+ steps, which I deem her official first steps! David caught this on camera this afternoon while I was on my way home from tutoring... he used me on the phone as bait.

Yay Abigail! We're so proud of you!

11 Months

Hard to believe but this girl's 11 months old! I can't believe she's a few weeks away from her first birthday... crazy! A few new things this month include her responding to a few questions like "Where's Mommy's nose? or Where's Daddy's ear?" It's pretty awesome to realize she's starting to understand us more. She's also been quite talkative recently although no official words yet. Lastly, she's finally starting to sleep through the night as a result of our latest sleep training efforts... finally!!!

This series of shots shows her budding personality... we're having a blast with her!

"Okay, Mom, I'll sit still for a second, but only a second..."

"Here Mr. Bear, you can wear my badge since you're smaller than me now"

"Mom, you're so silly"
( I think I had something random on my head at this point to encourage her to smile)

"My turn to be silly..."

"You can't keep me down!"

Happy Halloween!

A little craft we made at Mommy-and-Me :)

We visited a pumpkin patch as a family last week...

Then last Friday, David had a Halloween carnival at his school and we arrived as the Red Sox crew... David was a player, I was a fan, and Abigail was a cheerleader.

She loved her pom-pom...

Enjoying her cheerios at the carnival and checking out all the kids in costume

Finally, on Halloween, we went Trick-or-Treating at my parents' house and a few other houses on their street. Here's our first official Trick-or-Treat... I don't think Abby understood what exactly was going on or why my parents were so excited to see us!

Lastly, one other quick mention... Abby has discovered my sunglasses and enjoys borrowing them. Looking like a star...

Happy Fall Everyone!

10 Months

Abigail hit the 10 month mark the day of Matthew and Tara's wedding. (That delayed this post, but better late than never!)


We can't believe she's less than 2 months away from turning 1! She's such a joy to us! Here are a few skills she's showing off at 10 months...

1) Holding multiple objects in her hands/arms at once... She likes to grab additional items without letting go of the current object she's holding. It's pretty funny. Yesterday she even used her chin to hold something against her chest so she could pick up a fourth item! Pictured here are a cream cheese carton (minus the cream cheese), two toys, and her new toothbrush.
2) Climbing... she's not quite tall enough to climb on many things, but she's trying her best to get on or over things. Today, she climbed on this box of diapers that just arrived in the mail.




















3) Following directions (or one direction anyway)... She has started to obey when I stick out my hand and say "give that to Mommy." I think this is my favorite development of the month!!! It's come in handy when she's picked up things she shouldn't really have. She is also starting to "share"... offering us bites of her food or handing us a toy.

4) Pumpkin discovery... we went to a pumpkin patch with our mommy-and-me class last week and Abigail discovered how much she adores pumpkins. She loves to touch and hold the one we brought home with us.


5) She learned rapid hair growth! Er, I mean, she learned the family secret about her great-grandma's hair, that is, her wig!

Matthew and Tara's Wedding

It's official! My little brother is married! We traveled up to Solvang last weekend for the wedding extravaganza which included 4 days of festivities beginning with a round of golf for the boys in vintage golf attire...

The whole wedding theme was vintage. They did a great job in making the theme come across in the details... lace parasols and fans at the ceremony, a silhouette artist, row boats on the lake, a typewriter to write the bride and groom a note, old photos, croquette, wine glasses with their family crest (that they created), etc. The wedding was at the lake at the Alisal Ranch where our family goes for a reunion once a year... it's a very special place for our family. Here's the group of us on the way to the rehearsal dinner on the "Hay Wagon":

The wedding was beautiful and very honoring to the Lord. David was a groomsman and I was a bridesmaid... Abigail was able to be a part of it too as we held her coming down the aisle (the groomsmen walked down the aisle with the bridesmaids).

They did a foot-washing ceremony where they both washed each other's feet as a symbolic act of committing to serve each other in their marriage. During this ceremony, Tara's brother and I read scripture about Christ's call to serve and love others.

The parents served them communion and prayed for them. I was close enough to listen in and was moved to tears by the sacredness of this moment.

The Kiss...

Here we are after the ceremony...
Four generations of women...
First Dance...

A few momentos from the wedding:

-Wine glasses with the family crest (E's on top for Engle, upper left: the empty tomb, top right: books symbolizing the pursuit of knowledge, bottom right: the Jerusalem cross, bottom left: chandelier meaning light)

-A robe from Tara as part of my bridesmaid welcome package... she also gave us pearl earrings and a necklace to wear at the wedding, bubble bath, and underwear that say "Bridesmaid" in rhinestones on the rear. The robe also had the family crest embroidered on the front in gold thread. Very generous of her!

Now the newlyweds are enjoying their honeymoon in Fiji (my brother surprised Tara and actually didn't tell anyone else where it was either until the day after the wedding... of course, I had my suspicions)! Whew! What a crazy, fun, but exhausting weekend!

7 on Wednesday

I have been bad about bringing my camera along lately, but wanted to mention a few things we've done lately...

1) Abigail went to her first two football games at El Camino College to help root on my dad's team. She only made it through the first half, but had a great time watching the cheerleaders with their sparkly pom-poms and giving Grandpa good-luck kisses in the coaches' booth. (We'll have to take a picture at the next game!) My dad started coaching there when my mom was pregnant with me, so I've been going to those games since I was Abigail's age... we had to get this girl indoctrinated early into this football family!

2) Abigail's first tooth came in 2 weeks ago! Yay!

3) We recently got Abigail a cruiser type toy since she loves to stand and move around these days. She hasn't taken more than 2 steps with it yet, but is loving the music activity center on the front :)

4) We've spent a couple afternoons hanging out with my friend Becky and her daughter Kylie since Becky's on bed-rest with baby #2 and can't venture out. Here's a shot of the two girls hanging out in Kylie's cute new room...
5) My mom gave Abigail a (very) early birthday present which we love... her first pair of Toms!

6) Recently, Abby has been spending a lot of time with her mouth open. Apparently, David was known for always having his mouth open as a baby too... another way she's like her Daddy! (Notice that most of these pictures have her mouth hanging open)



7) Abigail has began to laugh more often, which just brings me so much joy. This week, she was laughing hysterically at me when I blew bubbles with my gum. This video gives a sneak peak (even though it's not very close and she's not laughing as hard here as she was before)