Back on Solid Ground

We had a wonderful time on our seven day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. This vacation was given to us as a gift, and we are SOOOOO thankful! We had a great time with Dave's family, and now I'm sad that no one comes to my house to make my bed twice a day.

Here's our ridiculously large ship.

Here's the beautiful banquet hall where we ate a three-course meal every evening.

Now for some crazy cute photos of Lucy...

Having a balcony was SO wonderful.

Lucy loved to play on it and watch the world go by.

We bought Lucy a sweet little dress in Cabo.


I was planning to get tan... apparently I forgot that taking care of a one-year-old doesn't normally involve basking lazily in the sun. So, I'm still fair-skinned but happy.

60 Flights...

... in one year!!!! Lucy tells us how she feels about air travel.

Too Busy

I have my favorite blogs that I check semi-obsessively, and I'm SO frustrated when they haven't been updated... and I am TOTALLY that non-updating blogger right now! It's been driving me crazy that I haven't posted anything new in forever, but we finally have a few days in a row at home, and I'm hoping to work on some awesome craftiness.

In the meantime, this is what we've been up to (in non-chronological order, because I can't remember what happened when)...

We've been to the beach in Southern California

.. and northern California..

...Pennsylvania (which made us sleepy)...

Lucy got to hang out with her cousin, Bryce in Costa Mesa...

.. We had an AMAZING photo shoot in Hollywood (I'll be sure to post some of those photos really soon)..

.. and we flew, and flew, and flew

Lucy should be the official poster child for Southwest Airlines. She's been on 52 flights in 10 months. Go baby, go.

Addendum

I was downloading the photos I took of my new fabric, and I came across these photos from camp that I had completely forgotten about. They're from western night during the our last week at Crooked Creek.

Photo Shoot #2

Dave shot some more photos of me as the sun was setting the other night at camp. I'm glad we were able to take advantage of the beautiful surroundings up here.

A View From Our Bedroom Window

This rainbow was so large that Dave had to combine two photos to capture the entire thing. It was a beautiful way to welcome the evening at camp.

Camp

Hey friends,
We just got up to camp here in Fraser, Colorado and it is SO beautiful. Lucy just went down for a nap, and I'm going to follow suit VERY soon. We'll be here for the next several weeks... photos to follow when I'm a little more awake :).

San Diego

We just got back from a WONDERFUL trip to San Diego. The weather was perfect, so we tried to spend as much time outside as possible.

Lucy wanted to try on my sunglasses. Okay. I wanted Lucy to try on my sunglasses :)

Hers are cuter, though. She's totally into sticking out her tongue these days... she's so cute!

She loves her daddy.

Reconnection

Facebook strikes again. I somehow managed to get in touch with my sophomore english teacher Tracey, and we found out that we have many things in common (including a love of sewing). When our little family was in San Jose a few days ago, we were able to get together for a lovely dinner and great conversation. She even took some REALLY great photos of our little Lucy. Which reminds me that I forgot to post a link to THESE awesome photos taken by my friend Sarah last month.

San Francisco

Our little Heller family took a day trip to San Francisco a few days ago and it was SO relaxing and wonderful.

We walked over to Ghirardelli Square (very touristy but very fun).


We spotted a super cute cupcake shop.

I was tempted to go inside for a taste, but I was holding out for one of my favorite desserts (stay tuned for the photo).

We went to Houston's, our favorite restaurant! We didn't have time for a meal, but we definitely had time for an ice cream sundae. I normally don't like chocolate sauce very much, but there is something magical about Houston's :)

Granny's House

This is my dad's mom.. we call her Granny. This is the day when she met Lucy for the first time. Granny is full-blooded sicilian, and sang some italian songs to Lucy. It was such a special moment.

This is Granny's living room... click on the photo to blow it up and get the full effect. She painted the artwork hanging above the couch. This scene is so typical of what it's like at Granny's house (chips & dip and all), so I wanted to to include it here.

This is Granny's dog "Precious," who they call "Preshy." I think this photo speaks for itself.

Here's a happy mommy with her happy baby.

She melts my heart.

D.C.

The Heller family just got back from a lovely trip to Baltimore and the Washington D.C. area. It was surreal to be there. It brought me back to my 8th grade Washington D.C. trip.

We took a cold walk around the capital building...

And checked out Union Station...

Dave's Uncle Jim got to meet Lucy for the first time...

We had to bundle her up because Baltimore was still quite chilly. Doesn't she look pretty in pink?

Ohio!

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Ohio (we were home for one full day, and now we're in Baltimore... photos to follow). Traveling with a baby is proving to be quite a challenge. We've discovered that Starbucks is a great place to stop and feed her.

Here's Daddy trying to get Lucy to burp :)...

And here's a cute photo that I wanted to post just because...

Our dear friends sent us a bunch of wonderful things for Lucy (including a pair of tiny, pink Chuck Taylor-style shoes). Here she is modeling them as we wait for chapel to start at Malone University in Canton, Ohio.

She's wondering what these strange things are on her feet. I hope she doesn't grow out of them too soon because they are just so darn cute. Thanks Mike and Shakeh!

While we were in Canton we were housed in an unbelievably awesome bed and breakfast. We got to stay there for three nights! I wish I had taken more photos to share, but these are all I have...

This is the fireplace in our room:

Here's Dave and our friend Lindsey (who has graciously agreed to be Lucy's nanny when we travel in the East) sitting down to a delicious breakfast.

Doesn't is look amazing?

It was such a great trip and I hope we get to go back for another visit!

California

The Heller family took their first trip to California all together.

Lucy was happy to fly (praise the Lord!). We're hoping the flight back to Nashville tomorrow goes just as well :).

She saw the ocean for the first time...

... and met her great grandpa for the first time

.. and all these "firsts" made Lucy and Mommy sleepy...

... but really happy!