Decorating the Christmas Tree

what a fun time decorating the tree this year with my little elf Vail. She loved putting the ornaments on the tree by setting them on the branches. She oohed and awed over all the sparkly ornaments and lights.

numbers = meaning

if you are ever in our home and notice numbers randomly placed throughout, know that there is meaning behind it.
while decorating our home, we wanted meaning behind the artwork so each number represents a year we have been together.
just another tradition to continue.

Leavenworth

we decided to do a weekend in Leavenworth for the Tree Lighting Ceremony. For some reason we pictured ourselves strolling through the town, playing in the snow and looking at some pretty lights. What we drove into was huge crowds of people, tons of Christmas music and lots of sledding and lights. It was a magical experience to share as a family.

to my family

So I just have to say how much I love my job! I love working for Starbucks and I love the people that I work.

Robyn is on the board of the YWCA and Angeline’s is a woman’s shelter supported through the Y. I organized a half day where our team did community service for the shelter.

We cleaned the kitchen and the dining room, served food to the homeless woman and spent time talking with them (or the ones who were willing and capable of talking). Some of the woman are on drugs or under the influence, some look like they would be homeless with ragged clothes and dirty hands, some looked completely put together with a North Face jacket on and hair/makeup done. I asked one of the employees at Angeline’s if they are all truly homeless because from the looks of it, some of these woman look put together. She told me that they are homeless. To be homeless doesn’t necessarily mean living on the streets begging for change but some of these woman could have gotten depressed and lost their jobs/homes/families, ext. Angeline’s offers a safe place for these woman to come during the day to shower, wash clothes, sit and read, get counseling and get a warm meal. All food and supplies are provided through donations.

Although we only volunteered for 4 hours to these woman who live this every day of their lives, I saw the difference we made. They warmed up to us quickly and thanked us over and over for our service. I quickly warmed up to them as well and no longer saw the physical part of them but saw the hurt and hope in their eyes. It felt good to help for the day but it also drove something inside of me (which has been there for a while) to do more for people in need and not just during the holidays.

I wanted to share this with you because we are all so blessed and lucky to have so much in our lives. I am the first to admit that I can be some-what materialistic J but this service made me take a look at my life and realize how blessed I truly am. How wonderful each of you are in our lives and how much I love you and am thankful for all that you are and all that you do.

Here is to looking at the glass half full, to being thankful for what we have because there is someone else out there who is struggling and to knowing that small actions like the one our team did can make a huge difference in someone else’s life.

YWCA Blog

the manning family

i finally did it and am so thankful i did. i booked a photography session for our family and couldn't have been happier. the shoot was only 30 minutes long which was the perfect amount of time for theo and vail. we had a lot of fun laughing, kissing and sharing our love. of course, bebe (baby) was also included in the shots. more to come...

Lights

Vail helped put up the Christmas lights outside this year. What a fun tradition. We go for the less is more look but they always look so pretty.

All month she pointed to the house lights and said "dada" and pointed to the tree lights and said "momma". She is so funny.

O' Christmas tree

traditionsplural of tra·di·tion (Noun) 

Noun:

The transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way. A long-established custom or belief that has been passed on in this way. theo and i are excited about starting traditions with our family. one of the traditions we have done since we met is pick our tree from a christmas lot. this year we decided to stick local and support the greenlake pta at greenlake elementary. vail was in awe of the lights and the music and the smell of hot cider. we played in the lot, running and squealing until we came upon our perfect tree (for this year).  excited to go get our tree

thankful

love

happiness

laughter

kisses

hugs

dogs

husband

daughter

family

work

hobbies

friends

peps group

forgiveness

music

prayer

We have a talker

one of my favorite things about Vail right now is the amount of "talking" she is doing. the body language, tone of her voice, all of it just keeps me smiling.

walks

 we discover new things each time we go on a new one

we love our neighborhood

found a pile of leaves to play in

here kitty, here kitty....

meow meow

music class

vail loves music and what better class to attend on a weekly basis than a music class. we play with instruments, dance to different types of music and sing songs. she lights up every time we go and teach sarah says she is a natural when it comes to rhythm and music.

dancing with bears

watching all the kids

instruments

PUMPKINS

pumpkins from our trip to craven farms

Trick or Treat

leaves changing colors, crisp air, warm drinks...its my favorite season. FALL! This year was a whole different experience sharing halloween and fall with a toddler. oh to see it through a child's eyes. the brightly colored leaves and the pumpkins. 

kisses for dadda

love

on our way to find the perfect pumpkin

at the farm, they also had a petting zoo with kittens included. if vail has one love besides her "baby" it would be kittees (kitty's). her dream came true when she got to hold these sweet little kittens.

one of our annual traditions for halloween is to trick or treat with the blaisdell's. this year we met so em and vail could trick or treat around the shoreline neighborhood together. vail insisted on carrying her candy bucket the entire time, even though it got really heavy. thank goodness she didn't drop it. she had a great time trying to keep up with emmy (emily).

AND of course, we couldn't forget about the furry kids too. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

things don't always turn out as planned

my vision....

we started her costume on a sunday afternoon 

and this is how far we got....

vail's vision....

and she was the prettiest little kitty out there.

6-teen months

i love photography and i love taking pictures of vail. it was a sunny afternoon so v and i decided to head to old ballard for a photo-shoot. we started off with a visit to grandma-grandma at work and then got a momma and daughter coffee/milk. the onlookers in the neighborhood were smitten with vail walking around in her little hat and boots.

sweetness

i love my boots

laughter

mirror mirror on the wall, who is the sweetest baby of all

VAIL IS!!!!