Crawling, Piano Playing and Splashing

This is a video of Hailey showing off her crawling moves. She is getting pretty fast- and she loves to pull up on whatever she can! The entertainment center, couches, legs, etc.

Hailey has taken a liking to the piano. She can play some nice tunes in her high chair! =)

And last, but not least- Hailey splashing in her tub. We have since moved her bath time from the kitchen sink to the bathroom tub. She can splash all she likes there and it won't make a wet mess.

And here's a smattering of other photos...

We went and had lunch with Stephen at school the other day- and Hailey had fun "blending in" with the rest of the dental students!

Hailey showing off her two bottom teeth.

Daddy's birthday

This is what we like to call "active parenting." =)

Hailey and I went to Utah back in August to spend time with family and friends. 

We got to see Hailey's cousin James get baptized. I am so proud of this kid! 

We got to go swimming in Arizona...

Hailey tried rice cereal for the first time...

We spent time with Grandma Oblad...

And Grandpa Oblad...

We may have a future piano virtuoso on our hands!

We got to tour the V Chocolates factory with cousins.... yum...

We went to dinner with family...

Played with cousins...

 We also saw the new City Creek mall downtown- sooo cool!

Hailey got to meet her Great Grandpa Cook.

She also met some aunts and uncles for the first time.

Grandma and Grandpa Oblad have these fancy mini chairs at their house, so we took some glamour shots of Hailey sitting on one. 

  

We also toured a taffy factory with cousins...

And we stopped by one of my and Stephen's favorite places in the avenues in SLC- Hatch's Chocolates.

We loved spending time with everyone (including Grandma and Grandpa Neeley)! It was a fun (and exhausting) trip!

Savannah, GA

For Labor Day weekend, we went to Savannah, GA- just 2 hours south of Charleston.

Just a quick picture of a cute girl and her cute dad.

Some of the pretty townhomes downtown.

Forrest Gump was filmed in Savannah- this is at the Savannah History Museum- it's an "exact" replica of the bench.

 Like many of the Southern states, Savannah used to have a booming cotton industry. Here's is the Savannah Cotton Exchange building.

Randomly enough, in the Savannah History Museum there was an old, old, old dentist office display. There was a little foot pedal (like for old cotton looms or sewing machines) that the dentist would push on really fast to get the drill going. YIKES. And do you see that white cone thing above the not-so-comfortable looking chair? That's the x-ray. Yeah.

Here we are by the moat at Fort Pulaski. This fort was Savannah's protection- like Fort Sumter was for Charleston. 

This is looking down on the middle of the fort from the wall.

Stephen trying to move the cannon- this thing would NOT budge!

We went for a run one morning in Forsyth Park- it is a beautiful area. This is supposed to be one of their famous water fountains.

More pretty downtown Savannah.

We saw this on River Street- a touristy part of town right next to the Savannah River. We saw this hearse taking people on a "ghost tour." We haven't seen anything like that before!

And finally, a picture of the old buildings on River Street. It was a fun trip, but in our opinion, Charleston has Savannah beat! We like our southern city best.

Laughing videos

I swear, Hailey's laugh has to be one of my favorite sounds in the world. Here are two funny videos showcasing her laugh:

Video #1: Stephen's awesome brother in law Mark and his wife Kathryn loaned us this oh-so-useful baby toy. Hailey LOVES it! Mark and Kat, I'm not sure you've used the toy like this before! =) Stephen claimed it didn't hurt his head to do this- I think he may have been studying for a bit too long that day.

Video #2: Hailey taking a bath! Grandma and Grandpa Neeley, be sure to notice the rubber duckies that Hailey is playing with. She loves seeing water squirt for some reason... we learned this for the first time while playing at Lynette and Alan's pool in Arizona during our August trip.

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken last month! I didn't realize how much work this would be, but we pulled it off, Hailey smiled the whole time, and we love our pics. Here's a little selection of photos for your enjoyment:

Asheville, NC - Biltmore House and Gingerbread Houses

My husband rocked Thanksgiving this year! He cooked the turkey, and made amazing stuffing and apple pie from scratch.

We went to Asheville, NC for a short weekend trip Thanksgiving weekend- we went to a German restaurant for dinner one night, and my husband was in HEAVEN.

Jaeger Schnitzel (so good) with potato salad (not as good). We also got this interesting "salsa salad" and soured red cabbage. Definitely an experience! It was pretty authentic.

Stephen's beloved spaetzle, roladen and sauerkraut.

We visited a fancy hotel to look at some gingerbread houses that were in a national competition- the people who participated did not mess around! I was amazed at the talent and creativity! This really looked like a box of ornaments!

I loved this playground- it had all of the "modern amenities" that playgrounds have these days... and I liked the fun, bright colors.

Just one of the hard core gingerbread houses- you could look in the windows and see beds, nightstands, lamps on the night stands, etc.

I liked this french - style marketplace...

So how does someone think- oh yeah, gingerbread house competition- I'm going to make a sewing machine, and spools of thread and ribbon, pins, buttons, etc. ...?

Here is a shot of us driving up the "driveway" to the Biltmore house- a 2-mile-long driveway, mind you- it goes under the Blue Ridge Parkway, a beautiful highway that spans across North Carolina and Virginia (maybe more than that; I can't remember all of the details).

Welcome to the Biltmore House- this was a "vacation home" for family and friends of the rich and famous. It was all decked out for Christmas. Such an amazing place to visit!

The back porch...

View from the back porch. No inside pics- they weren't allowed. Guess you'll have to go see it for yourself. =) So nice to see mountains again!