Happy 1st Birthday Astrid!

Today at 2:58 p.m. Astrid will be 1 year old!!!
I can't believe how quickly this last year has passed. It really is no fun (fine, it has been a ton of fun) to have your baby grow up so quickly.

Speaking of new babies, my sister my brother and sister in law had their baby on the 10th, Ruby Elizabeth VanWagenen:

On a final note, Lex, gets home from his mission tomorrow. In fact, he has a layover at the Salt Lake airport. Astrid and I are going to surprise him there and then fly to Colorado Springs with him. I'm giddy excited!

California Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we (Drew, Marisa, Arthur, Astrid and I) decided to go to Pasadena to spend it with our fun sister, Sarah. We had a yummy restaurant Thanksgiving dinner and lots of good Trader Joes in between. Astrid got to see her California cousins (not nearly long enough) who she has only met a handful of times in her life.

Lamely, we didn't take any pictures except for our day trip to Ventura to visit the Florences. Astrid had almost as much fun on the beach as she did at the hot springs, if not more. Every time we picked her up to go inside (after more than hour of crawling and playing) she screamed and tried to squirm out of our arms. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my baby own a beach or hot pot.

(notice the blurry lens from the hotsprings...I finally cleaned it a few pictures in)

I love this picture.