Numero One.

Piper's birthday crept up on us this year and before I knew it I had a one year old! Has it really been a year? I still remember sitting in the airport with Lexi Shaeffer, both of us pregnant and tired, coming home from Grenada to have our babies in the states. It wasn't a year ago...was it? Now, I have a little pumpkin head that crawls everywhere and has started making mad faces. ha! (Sorry, we call her pumpkin head.) It seems like Gabe's 1st year was one, long year and Piper's was a snap an' whiz across the room. It was still a wonderful year and falls at a wonderful time! Happy Birthday little one. (sorry this is late, it was Dec 13th.)

The birthday girl.

Ohhh, cake.

All gone.

Umm..

Here are a couple of pictures from before.

2 weeks

2 weeks

1 month

2.5 months

3 months

6 months

9 months

9.5 months

9.5 months

10 months

10.5 months

Happy Birthday little Pip!

My husband, the wise man.

I always knew I married a wise man. I just didn't know he could tie a turban like that.

(Our ward had their Christmas party last Saturday and asked Ren to be

a wise man in the Nativity scene.)

Some furry visitors!

I picked Gabe up from school the other day and noticed her carrying an extra bag with her. I asked her what it was and she lit up as she explained that it was her turn to take home Mrs. Perone bear and Mudge. These happen to be two little, stuffed animals that get to come home with you & enjoy going everywhere with you over the next 4 days. You also get to record what you did with the bear and her little sidekick Mudge, in the included class journal. Needless to say, we had fun with Mrs. Perone bear and Mudge. We took lots of pictures with them the second we got home and took them with us to our "Polar Express Christmas Party" at the Hill's the next morning. P.S. Britt, that party was so much fun!!

Everytime I look at this picture, Gabe seems suddenly
grown up. Where is my 5 year old?
She is growing up way too fast!

Hugs for everyone.

Piper's turn.

All the kiddo's in their scarf's that Brittany made!

Writing letters to Santa with Anna & Mrs. Perone bear!

Radio City Music Hall!

Gabe & Ethan in the Lego Superstore!

The Rockefeller tree, the night before it was to be lit!

A couple of weeks ago, Gabe and I had a special mother, daughter date! We joined Ethan and Brittany out for a night on the town in NYC! We had purchased tickets to the Christmas Spectacular, at the Radio City Music Hall and were more than excited to see the show! It turned out to be so fantastic and something I will definitely take my kids to again! We both loved watching the Rockettes dance and especially the nativity scene at the end, where live animals walked across the stage, including 2 camels! The show flew by and before we knew it the curtain was closing. It was seriously something I will always remember. Thanks Gabe, for being such a fun date! :)

Blood moon-Dec 21 2010

Blood moon-Dec 21 2010, originally uploaded by Casey McDaniel.

Last night around 1:33am, there was a pretty cool Lunar eclipse! The moon changed a deep red at the end of the eclipse and unfortunately, my fingers froze off by 3:15am, so I had to run inside and may have missed the very end of it. But, I am happy that I woke up to see it, even though I did feel a little eerie in the dead of the night, taking pictures of a red moon..all that was missing were the vampires.

The talented Miss Gabe.

Ok, so I think I have the bragging rights to say I believe my daughter has a gift. She has a way with drawing things and portraying movement that seems above her years. I thought it would be fun to scan some of her latest works of art and post them for my family & friends to see! I don't think she'll mind..:)

(Notice who's wearing the head dress)

Fairytale Castle (notice the little dog on the drawbridge)

This was a collage she drew, cut out and glued together

The day after we saw "Tangled" Gabe came home & drew this.

Felix? I love how it almost looks like his little claws
are tearing the paper.

Halloween Ghosts & their graceful jumps

I really think she should illustrate a children's book. I need to look into that..

My first wedding!

The ring and shoes, originally uploaded by Casey McDaniel. (Dean Michaels Studio)

I am just starting to get into shooting weddings. It is very different than the normal types of shoots I do, but so far I have loved it! There is so much energy going around and you are constantly shooting and trying to be quick, so the bride and groom can get back to their guests and cocktail hour, etc. It was so exciting, though, to go shoot one of my first real weddings! I went with a good friend, whose name also happens to be Kaycee and together we clicked through the night. It was seriously so much fun and so crazy at the same time! I have to thank Sara and Edmund for letting me a part of their gorgeous day! If you would like to see more of their wedding, click here.

P.S. I am pretty sure they both were doctors too. I have come to realize that NJ happens to be the home of many doctors!

Ok, so we are a little excited!

We don't usually put up our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving,
but this year we were a little excited to
get it up!

Gabe helping put the ornaments on last night

Super happy

Our Christmas stockings
(since they only had 4 different ones, Mom and Dad have
the same one; Mr. Claus and Mrs. Claus with a beard)

The first time Piper has ever seen a Christmas tree

Yesterday, we spent a lot of the day decorating for Christmas. Back in August, we found a free Christmas tree on craigslist and found out yesterday, it was pre-lit with colored lights. Since we really wanted white lights (I guess I should say I really wanted white lights) we decided to take off all 650 of the already army-knotted lights & put on our own white ones. Needless to say, after about 5 hours of unwrapping and cutting lights, then re-wrapping, we had our very own tree! And, we love it. I think it was worth every little scratch I got from all those fake needles. ha!

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Before we jump to the parade, I had to include these two shots of the very first Thanksgiving turkey we have ever made! I was so excited to brine it and marinade it and of course eat it! And, luckily, it turned out delicious as you can see below!

This year we decided to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and battle the crowds!

Luckily, everything went really smoothly, which made
Thanksgiving Day that much better!

Britt & Lizzie with Piper & I all bundled up!

The whole gang (notice we are in the front! Yahoo for the guys for saving our spots!
They had to be there around 6am to get that spot and the parade started at 9am.
Talk about dedication!)

The crowd across the street.

Jessica Simpson

I am not sure who this girl is, but she looked familiar..anyone know?

Glady's Knight

Ronald McDonald in his shoe car

Ronnie

Parade guy! Pretty cool trick!

The worlds largest drum.

This is by far my favorite float. Who could forget the Hamburger Helper helper's.

I am not sure who these guys are either, all I know is that the girls seemed to scream the
loudest when they saw them.

Smurf

Happy to be there!

I thought of Gabe's cousins (Kennedy, Cameron & Bailey) when I took this picture,
cause they love the Shrek.

Jolley Saint Nick.

One of the bands

Here he comes..

Kung Fu over you!

Kayne West (quiet boo)

Dora and India Arie. (I think India was a little bummed she didn't get her own float.
Just the vibe I got.)

Mr. Penguin giving Gabe a hi-five!

Performers

Gabe's face cracks me up!

Fiery bird

Dancing lady

Alton Brown

This really was one of my favorite floats, because this is the real deal!
The original cast from Sesame Street!
Flash Gordon! He made my day.

Can't forget Oscar...where is Slimey?

We had so much fun at the parade on Thursday and are happy that everyone left happy! I think this will be the only time we go, since it is a good chunk of your day and takes a lot of work to make it worth going, still it was something we will always remember and take with us when we move along this crazy road of ours!