Celebrating Daddy's birthday at Hidden Meadow Ranch!

Last weekend we drove up to the White Mountains to celebrate Matt's birthday at Hidden Meadow Ranch. It's truly "in the middle of nowhere" but beautiful! (www.hiddenmeadow.com). We passed the last small town of Showlow and drove 35 miles north and then another 15 miles on a dirt road through open range with lots of cows! Mia loved the horses, cows, aspen trees (they make a really cool noise!) and the bears (the wood ones, that is). She was quite popular with both the guests and the staff, as the only baby at the ranch. Matt went fly fishing, did some woodworking and just hung out with his girls. For his birthday dinner he had elk! It was really good and definitely a first!

Cool enough to try on some warm clothes

We have received so many beautiful gifts over the past year and we wanted to try on some of the winter clothes prior to heading up Greer, AZ this weekend and before going to Michigan for Thanksgiving.

Here are some pictures during the process. We loved the gift that Aunt Angie, Uncle Marty and cousins (Logan, Ethan and Parker) bought Mia in the spring, and as you can see she is a little taller then expected at this age. The snaps on the jumpsuit legs unsnap when Mia sits down.

The outfit is so cute though, and it's fun to see Mia in her big girl clothes. I love the cupcake on the front!

Fall has arrived in AZ!

Well, it's October in Arizona and we can finally go outside (even though we're still wearing tank tops and shorts!)! Mia is learning to kick the soccer ball. Does that make me a soccer mom? Oh no!

Welo and Nana Week

What a week - we had Welo and Nana visiting Mia. They did a ton of things from making Mia's Halloween Costume (she's going to be a mouse and her stroller is a piece of cheese. Nana made the stroller cover and it is too cute---pic below), cleaning Matt's messy workshop (thanks Vic), visiting all the quilt shops in town, helping the economy by buying out the extra stock at Sam's Club, throwing some money into road improvements in AZ by playing slots and Keno at the local Casino, and last but not least, spending quality time with their grand-daughter Mia. It was a great week.

Saying good bye to the baby cradle

Twelve years ago, Welo (Vic) hand made an heirloom cradle that Audrey, Wyatt and Mia each used when they were born. It's a beautiful piece of work (I can say this considering my love for wood) and made from my favorite wood, American Cherry. It seems like just yesterday that Vic and I spent a Saturday sanding the cradle smooth and finishing the piece with an oil finish.

We are getting ready to put the piece away since Mia has outgrown the cradle. Actually, she outgrew it a while ago, but we have been in denial and have kept it up in our room as a reminder of those first few months when she was so tiny. Mia wanted to have one last test drive in the beautiful cherry cradle. Now that she can rock it back and forth, she thought it was pretty fun!

Hello!

Crazy Aunt Lisa and Cousin Audrey

Aunt Lisa and Cousin Audrey send a long distance greeting to Mia!