Christmas Fun!

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from the holiday's - sorry to be so late! Before I get to the pictures, we have an announcement...I am pregnant! I am over 5 months along - due on June 10th. We'll find out the gender late this week so I'll give you all an update soon after.

Below are some pictures of our holiday happenings -

Here is Rory decorating cookies for the first time...pay close attention to the amount of sprinkles landing on this particular cookie. Also note her intense look...she took this task very seriously but was a bit perturbed when she learned that she wasn't going to be allowed to eat them all.

With all the family we have in Fairbanks Christmas is full on for several days. We always start things off on Christmas eve (around noon) at my folks' house. Growing up Christmas Eve was really our Christmas. Here is Rory posing with her gift from my folks - a cool sandbox that also has a water chamber. How cool are her grandparents to let her play with this inside the house!?

When we got home from Christmas Eve at my folks house Yuri got to experience the first of many late nights putting together gifts for Christmas morning. I actually think that Yuri was more excited than Rory about this train set.

Yuri posing proudly with his finished project! Pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Rory on her dad's lap Christmas morning - with train remote in hand and a smile on her face.

Christmas morning with grandma Judy and grandad Andy.

AWWWW...a very sleepy Rory relaxing on her grandad's shoulder. Grandad doesn't look like he's enjoying it at all!

Now...onto Christmas day at the Frank/Anderson/Morgan/Otey (Aka - FAMO) household! Below is Rory posing with her Aunt Genevieve and Cousin Estelle. Estelle is a great little girl who hardly made a peep all Christmas...so cute too!

Jacob, Bruce, Shannon and Dorothy opening their gifts on Christmas day. Jacob is modeling the snowboarding helmet we gave him...good thing we gave it to him as a day or two after Christmas he had a tumble on the slopes, landed up-side-down and broke his collarbone (but the helmet saved his noggin!).

Rory feeding the baby that Grandma Linda gave her...it's amazing how little girls just know to do this...I didn't teach her.

Showing off her new desk...I love the modern clean look of this thing. Rory just loves that she now has somewhere to sit in our house (other than the floor).

Christmas dinner back over at the FAMO house. Rory playing blocks with her cousin Tyson. Tyson is a year older than Rory and he tolerates her :-)

Someone obviously told Addy, another of Rory's cousins, "get in the picture". Addy is an absolute joy - always helping out and giving Rory lots of love!!!!! She is turning into a wonderful little lady (and very patient with two younger siblings).

L to R - Tyson, Rory, Quinn (another cousin of Rory's) and Bruce opening stockings the day after Christmas. The Eagle River Morgan's didn't get to Fairbanks until December 26th so we got to spread Christmas out a bit longer...great fun.

Rory had too many gifts to open up at Christmas. Not kidding! I actually put the Kibosh on gifts after a while...there were gifts for her under both our tree and the FAMO tree well after Christmas. I think she got to them all about a week after the big day. Here she is a few days after Christmas modeling her outdoor wear from my friend Dyanne - can you tell she likes it!? This kid loves clothes.

On New Year's day, Yuri, Rory and I headed out to the family cabin at Harding Lake. The weather was fabulous and it was great to cozy up in front of the fire place and just relax after a crazy Christmas. Here is Yuri, with a very unhappy Rory sledding down the hill next to the cabin.

One of my favorite pictures of Rory to date...she has such fair skin, beautiful eyes and don't even get me started on those lips!

Rory and her dad on the lake - this was a rare calm moment as she hated being on the sled and hated being outside. I fear that my being a "home body" is having a negative effect on her. She does not enjoy the outdoors...yet.

After throwing a fit about being outdoors her dad picked her up and consoled her...daddy's girl all the way.

We woke up at the lake on January 2nd and were surprised by 40 degree temps outside - just unheard of this time a year in Fairbanks.

Oh...here is another fit thrown by our princess (I say dripping sarcasm). She literally threw herself off the sled. Such a drama queen.

Anyone who has ever spent any time at the Warwick cabin as a kid or even as a young adult will remember that the cabin is equipped with swings...here is Rory testing out a new, improved swing that her grandad installed for her. I think she likes it.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! And, we wish you all a healthy and happy new year.

Rory Turns 2

Rory turned 2 on November 28th and to celebrate we had a party - something we love to do around here. Lots of friends and family shared in the festivities and I couldn't have been prouder of how well Rory behaved. She gladly shared her toys with the other kids and not once let being the center of the universe (for a day) get to her head.

Here is my little organizer making sure that the balloons were properly sorted before the party.


Kids area - pre party

Kids area - during party

Rory getting ready to blow out her candles with a little help from her dad and Piper.

Lots of friends and family helping us celebrate the big day.

Rory excitedly opening gifts - here she is showing off her Sesame Street stickers. You can see how many of her friends helped her open the gifts.

Rory showing off her gifts from Grandpa Sid and Grandma Karen...she loves these little animals!

Trimming the Christmas Tree

Rory and I spent Friday night decorating the tree.

Our Little Eater

This is too funny not to share - Rory couldn't decided what to eat first, the beans or the yogurt, so she dug into both at once. Then, she proceeded to switch off between the two for the remainder of the meal. She is too funny!

Busy, busy, busy

I have been negligent in updating our blog and am trying to get back on track. It's been so long since I last updated this blog that most of the pictures show Fall in Fairbanks. In fact, it is anything but Fall right now. There is snow on the ground and we've already had our 30 below weather.

Getting Ready for Winter

Rory saw her dad raking leaves and wanted to contribute.




Grandma Linda's Birthday

The Frank/Anderson side of the family met up at the usual place, The Pump House, to celebrate Rory's Grandma Linda's birthday. Below Rory is showing off her shades while Grandma dotes on her.




Grandma Linda, Bruce and Rory. As you can see from the picture below, Rory just adores Bruce (and what's not to adore...look at that cute smile).

Haircut

Well, Rory has officially lived through her first disastrous haircut. I was giving her the usual haircut when Yuri made a smart-alec comment - so, I told him to take a shot at the haircut. He managed to get one snip in and it was a doozy...snipping her bangs both too high and crooked. Here they are during happier times :-).

And here is Rory after her dad's handy work - she looks happy doesn't she?

Visitors

Yuri's brother, Dylan, and his girlfriend, Amity, took a road trip from Skagway to visit the big city of Fairbanks. We were lucky to have them stay a week - which is a record for Dylan in any one place - and we had fun catching up. Below (L to R); Rory, Shannon, Nick, Bruce, Amity and Dylan.

Pre-Halloween

We were going to be out of town for Halloween so Rory dressed up in her costume a little early to show off to my folks. The pictures aren't great but she was dressed as "Rory McMorgan" (after the PGA's rising star, Rory Mcilroy).

Gymnastics

Rory signed up recently for gymnastics classes. There really isn't a lot of true "gymnastics" going on, but she enjoys running around, playing on the trampoline and walking on the balance beam. Below is a picture of Rory bouncing on the super-sized trampoline.

Cross Country Travels

In early November, I attended a Utility Rate School in Clearwater, Florida, and Yuri and Rory decided to tag along. We spent the weekend before my class in Orlando enjoying the warm weather, pool and Disney World.

Yuri and Rory headed up to North Carolina to visit family for a few days while I was attending classes.

Here are some pictures of Rory's first experience with an outdoor pool...she was hesitant at first, but soon found splashing around in the water to be a lot of fun!

Here we are at the happiest place on earth...well, that might be an over statement but it was fun none-the-less.

Below, Rory showing her excitement at the end of the "It's a Small World" ride.

Rory's dad let her pick out her own hat (she needed one to shield her face/head from the 90 degree heat and sun. She just loves that Mickey Mouse hat.

Below is Rory visiting with Yuri's cousin, Rebecca in North Carolina. These two became fast friends and Rebecca was a wonderful hostess.

Next stop in North Carolina was to Happy Acres, the farm of Yuri's Aunt Lura and Uncle Curtis. Rory was timid around the animals but grew more comfortable with time and eventually fed pears to one of the horses (with Lura's help). Below is a picture of Rory with Aunt Lura.

Rory became very fond of Fancy Acres - here she is playing with her new buddy, Uncle Curtis.

Yuri's Aunt Pam made the trip over from Salisbury, N.C.to visit Yuri and meet Rory for the first time. You can't see Pam, Yuri and Rory very well in the picture below but it's a great shot of them up in the hay loft.

Before we left Florida, we met up for lunch with Yuri's cousin, Elizabeth and her husband, Chris, who live in Punta Gorda, FL. We had a great meal and it was great to meet Chris and catch up with Elizabeth. We look forward to meeting their little one, due to arrive in late May 2011!

Miscellaneous Rory

Look at that mischievous smile after Grandad Andy gives her rocky road ice cream.

Our super happy baby.

Rory and Yuri carving a pumpkin - Rory doesn't like to get her hands dirty so she wasn't much help.

Next up...Rory's 2nd Birthday Party (I hope to post this in the next week).