Back From Vacation!

We are back from our week-long vacation in Williamsburg, VA. We had a wonderful time there and would love to go back one day. The small historical towns, the river beach, the resort we stayed in, was just perfect for our family. The weather was wonderful the whole time and Daniel really enjoyed it too. We felt so blessed having this time together; it was hard for Jonny to go back to work today... We have many special memories of this "first-ever" family vacation. Thank you Vozinha for giving us this week away using your timeshare!

Coming back home was also very special, especially for Daniel. He was just so excited arriving home, being in his room again, playing with his toys, it was the cutest thing ever to watch! Because he hadn't climbed any stairs for a week, Daniel squealed excitedly when he got to climb the stairs to his room and then later climbed the stairs over and over again!

Since we got back, we have been busy getting ready for my dad's arrival from Brazil. He arrived yesterday and now we are just enjoying him so much! Daniel loves his Vovo and my dad is just wonderful with him! I will write a blog about my dad's visit soon.

Here is the slideshow of our photos from our vacation:

We Are On Vacation!

We're going away on vacation today and so there will be no more blog updates for at least a week. I look forward to sharing about our time away when we get back! This is a special vacation for us: it's the first "only us" vacation since Daniel was born, it's Father's day on Sunday and then my birthday on Monday! It will be nice to not think of work and just enjoy being together. And soon after we return, my dad will be visiting us from Brazil! Special times ahead, praise God. More when we get back! :-)

Linnan's Photos - Part 4

Here are the final photos taken by Linnan - the second part of our outdoor "photo shoot" this past Saturday. Enjoy the highlights below followed by the slideshow for more. Wonderful memories, precious moments... Can't thank you enough Linnan!

Linnan's Photos - Part 3

So here is the first half of the outdoor photos that Linnan took of our family this past Saturday. We all had so much fun! We just walked around our neighborhood and Linnan kept snapping, directing us to certain scenic spots, etc. It was like we were all official models participating in an important photo shoot - lots of fun! Thanks again Linnan, we've never had anything like this done before and these photos are now one of the best taken of our family ever!

Here are the highlights - check out the slideshow for more!

P.S. If you would like to have any of the photos in a larger size for printing, please let us know since some may need to be larger.

Linnan's Photos - Part 2

As you know, our family is just crazy about photographing and videoing everything. So to have a friend who is even more passionate about photography and who enjoys spending most of his vacation practicing his passion on more than willing subjects (us!), was the best treat ever!!! In these next blogs, I will be sharing the other photos that Linnan took of us during his visit. Tonight, I'm focusing on the photos he took of Daniel taking his bath this past weekend. It's been so long since we last took bath photos so to have these taken was very special.

Linnan, thank you so much for visiting us. It was really wonderful having you and thank you for dedicating so much of your time taking photos of our family. Be sure that they are so appreciated by us and by many of our loved ones following this blog. I have already received a request from Grandpa Boon (Jonny's father) to send him the family photo that I put on the blog (top right had corner). (I will be publishing that and many more soon Boon, there are lots of great photos still to come! :-)) So thank you Linnan, on behalf of us all!!!

As before, here are some of our favorites of Daniel during bath time followed by the slideshow.

Linnan's Photos - Part 1

Our friend Linnan is visiting us from Boston and last night, he took the most amazing photos of Daniel! I was just amazed to see what a difference a really good camera makes - it captured the colors and the light in our home so well! But of course, Linnan is a very gifted photographer and we are just so thankful that he took these. Thank you so much Linnan!!! See below some of our favorites and in the slideshow, you can see more of the photos and download them too! Linnan will be staying with us until Saturday and he said he will take more photos of us, so keep posted for more of these to come!








Slideshow of photos - click on it to see larger and/or download:

Watering Can Video!

Here is a video of Daniel using the watering can in the pool for the first time ever! We are so thankful summer is just beginning since, God willing, we will be able to enjoy many special moments like this!

Gymboree Video!

Here is a video of Daniel at the Gymboree class this past weekend. As you will see, he enjoyed some activities but wasn't too sure about others... It was so cute to watch him experiencing it all!

Yay, The Watering Can!

After many days of rain, we got to enjoy the pool again this past weekend. This time, it was warm enough for me to get in and I thoroughly enjoyed playing with Daniel. For the first time ever, he understood how to play with his watering can and bucket, and he did that for ages and just loved it!

He loves the water so much and has no fear whatsoever - not sure that's a good thing! :-) When we first got to the pool, Daniel just walked in straight with Jonny and just squealed with excitement, not even noticing how cold it was. Jonny kept saying "uh, it's cold!", but Daniel just kept walking in and squealing! He has definitely taken after Jonny in this aspect, I usually take a long time to get the courage to get in the pool!

He focused intensely on pouring the water into the bucket... most of it did not make it in! :-)

Going home after the pool - still holding the watering can!

We think this outfit is so cute on him!

P.S. In case you noticed that my hair looks "orange" in some photos... Well, in bright sunlight, it does! Let's just say I had a bad highlighting experience... Though it's been "corrected", it's still not perfect! At least now it's closer to caramel...before, it was orange/red - no kidding!

Indoor Activities At 15 Months - Slideshow

Daniel turned 15 months this past week! It's so amazing how he has grown and how he is becoming his own little person. We are loving this age so much!

In the past week, we tried out two different indoor playgrounds/activities and it was great seeing Daniel experiencing new things. The first place we went to, PlayWise, was a bit disappointing, I felt it was rundown and dark, but Daniel particularly enjoyed playing in the small houses, getting to see and go in his first ever real fire truck (which he loves pointing to in books and on the road) and playing on a keyboard piano. He also got to play in the sand for the first time, but wasn't too thrilled about it.

We then went with our neighbors, Justyna, Konrad and Enya, to a Gymboree (a well known play gym for children) class called "Play and Music." As we were just trying it out, we got to go for free and it was fun! It is so colorful, the teacher was great and Daniel really enjoyed it - particularly playing with the maracas they were given and banging on the "air log."

Check out the slideshow of Daniel having fun!