My parents had a few families over for a Fourth of July bash.  We swam and a lot and ate WAY too much delicious food.  

Lucy snapped some pictures of the family and the boys for us in our Fourth of July gear.  I made Captain American shirts & new shorts for the boys.  It was my first attempt at making pants!  

Fourth of July

We didn't have any big celebrations for the Fourth, but I wanted to post a picture of Parker in his festive bow tie that he wore to church!

Christmas Day

We had such a fun Christmas morning...and then afternoon at our house! Parker was present-ed out by about 10:00 so we had to take a little break and then finish later! I wish everyday could be Christmas because we had such a fun time watching the man get so excited about everything!

I hate videos of myself (especially first thing in the morning with no make-up), but here's one of Parker's reaction to all the gifts.

Trying out his new chair from Grandma and Grandpa Scholl

Opening a present, granola bar in hand

Of course he wanted to play with each gift after he opened it. He loved his train from Great Grandma and Grandpa Best

The aftermath

That evening we headed over to Jim and Terri's house for Christmas dinner. The food was delicious, so was the company, and Parker continued to be spoiled!

Opening more presents with daddy--I think by this time he had had enough!

With (my) Grandma Scholl and Aunt Vicki

Some of the crew at dinner

Our first Christmas on our own was definitely a success!

Christmas Eve

This was the first year we spent Christmas away from either of our families. I think it was a little bittersweet for us. We definitely missed our parents and siblings, but also really enjoyed spending so much time, just the three of us! Ashley's extended family in San Diego also took good care of us and fed us on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve we spent some time at David & Solveig's new house, where Parker received his first round of gifts!

A new airplane from Great-Grandma Scholl

Later that evening we opened our traditional Christmas jammies. Parker was really getting the hang of ripping off the paper.

I wanted to take a family picture by the tree, but Parker was not having any of it. Here are some I snapped while trying to set up the camera.

After Parker was in bed Sam and I enjoyed some peace and quiet, and fondue!

Then we got to play Santa!! I told Sam that setting up all the gifts made me feel like a parent for the first time!

Christmas in 300 words or less

I'm way late posting about our holidays, so I'll give a quick recap-in pictures.

HO HO HO

Breakfast

Love

First Christmas

Toys!

Uncles

Aunts (and tired dads)

pulling hair *ouch*

Happiest Place on Earth

roller coasters

celery

more aunts

fiances <3>

sink baths

Hope your holidays were merry and bright!

Happy Halloween

Labor Day

This Labor Day we finally took our first trip to the beach! We went down to Del Mar (which is only 15 min. from our house BTW!) with our friends Bob and Becky, and their little boy Shane. We had such a fun day!

Parker fell alseep while chilling on the beach,Sam did some boogie boarding,


and later in the day Parker got his tan on at the pool!

The Fourth of July

It was a fun and relaxing 4th of July here at the Schmidt's! We started out the day by going to a pancake breakfast at the church. It was fun!! There was good food and we met a couple new families. Later in the day we headed over to a local park where they had a little 4th of July celebration. The weather was great, but it was really sunny so we had to keep Parker covered up.

Here's one of Parker in his 4th of July outfit.

After the picnic we went home and took a nap and relaxed for awhile, and later that night we went back to the church and sat on the lawn to watch the Rancho Bernardo fireworks. Parker started out the night by sleeping.

But then he woke up and chilled on dad's lap for the show. I think he actually watched them for a couple minutes, but he quickly lost interest. The noise didn't scare him at all--this is pretty much what he looked like for the rest of the night.

I think we wore him out though, because he fell asleep on the way home and slept all night! I actually had to wake him up at about 6:30 so I could feed him. We are so lucky to have such an amazing baby!

Time Flies

It's been a long time since I've posted!! Where to begin?

Sam and I went to Florida with the Schmidt family for Christmas. We drove down with Sarah and Meg and the whole fam stopped in Savannah for a day. I LOVE Savannah. Such a cool city. Favorite thing: Paula Deen's restaurant. YUMMM!

Here we are on River Street

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil house

Annie won the "Best Dressed" award on the ghost tour

We spent the next week in Orlando. The weather was incredible so we spent the week hanging out at the hotel, going swimming, seeing National Treasure, reading (FINALLY finished the vampire books) and of course going to Disney! Still fun, even though I couldn't ride the good rides. Here are some highlights.

Stafford and Sam in Sam's favorite park, Animal Kingdom

Blair and Sarah

Here's a really good picture of everybody eating in France at Epcot
The Castle

On the drive home Sam and I made quite a few detours (which Sam claimed were "on the way"). I don't think Atlanta is "on the way" to Pennsylvania... Most of the stops were to check out potential business schools, but first we stopped to visit friends Joel and Amelia in Brunswick, GA. We had a great time catching up, seeing their cute new home, checking out where they work, and going to lunch. Thanks Joel and Amelia!!!!

Then we headed to Atlanta to see one of Sam's friends, Scott, and his new fiance Lea. The weather was crummy and rainy, but they showed us the city and we took a look at Emory.

Sam and Me in the underground mall in Atlanta

Scott and Sam, so cute.

After two more stops in Durham/Raleigh to check out Duke and Charlottesville to see UVA, we finally made it home on New Year's Eve. Happy 2008!!!