Family Pictures 2014

We finally got our family pictures done so we can send out our Christmas cards. I had a fun time editing them!

Don't let that cute little Eva fool you. She was actually making this face for most of the pictures:

Haha…I'm glad a few turned out anyway. I love this little family of mine!

Beautiful, wonderful Virginia

I am in love with this state called Virginia! It is so picturesque with rolling green hills,

forest,

red brick buildings, historic sites,

plantations, blue ridge mountains

and everything in between. Charlottesville has just a hint of southern hospitality, enough to make the people some of the nicest friendliest people I have encountered (granted, some of this probably has to do with darling Eva).

The community here is also very family centered. There are tons of mom play groups and lots of nice parks to have said play groups. There are book clubs, babysitting co-ops and mom work out groups. There also is an entire magazine called "Charlottesville Family" that lists family friendly events each week.

The music scene is also wonderful. I am involved in the Ash Lawn Opera's production of Amahl and the Night Visitors which will be playing downtown in Charlottesville next week. I'm part of the chorus and I was very, VERY impressed with the quality of musicians that are in this community ensemble. I also have the opportunity out here to be in an 18 person religious choir. We meet at the largest Presbyterian church I have ever scene each Tuesday night and sing religious works by Rorem, Mendelssohn and others. It is fantastic and wonderfully challenging.

Let me just talk a minute now about the architecture! The homes out here are marvelous. I'm not just talking about the famous houses either. See the picture below:

This is a house we found on a walk on Sunday. Last night I went to an activity at a house that is as old as Monticello. It even has the original slave quarter stairs. It was a very neat house to explore. Earlier this year we also had dinner at a mansion on a 27 acre plot of land. Case and point, the houses out here are marvelous! 

I am grateful that I have been able to fall in love with Charlottesville so quickly. It is a wonderful place but it would be nothing if it weren't for these two.

Eva is 11 months!

11 months! I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday when we were looking forward to meeting our little lady and now she is almost a year old! New things she learned this month:

- She can stand up entirely on her own without any help
- She loves to climb the stairs
- She loves to pull anything off of bookshelves or tables
- She has learned to give kisses (so sweet)
- She loves to crawl around in circles for fun as fast as she can go
- We have a little game we play where if I get on the ground at her eye level she'll look at me and laugh and giggle as she crawls right up to my face and pushes her nose against mine. I love it.
- She loves to play the piano. When I teach lessons, she cries and cries until I hold her and let her play.
- She is a little climber. We used to put a chair in front of the stairs and in front of our bookcases, but she figured out how to climb over them.
- She absolutely LOVES to dance. She has great rhythm already and can move and clap to the beat
- She jumped from 3 teeth to 6 teeth this month

We love her so, SO much!

Busy, busy, busy

Hello blog! It's been a while. November and December are the crazy months for first year law students.  So, we've been a little wrapped up in the sprint to law school finals. Morgan has been working like crazy getting prepared for the all important tests that make up his entire grades for his first semester. It is pretty tough and nerve racking work, but Morgan is giving it his all.

Little Eva is now officially 'on the move' in a BIG way. She can stand up completely on her own, loves to climb the stairs and has figured out how to climb over chairs or move them to get to said stairs or off-limit bookcases.

Earlier this week it was 70 degrees here in Charlottesville! It was such a beautiful day!

And then two days later we had the first snowfall of the season.

Eva is 10 months!

Eva was 10 months 6 days ago. At 10 months, she is finally playing peek-a-boo, patty cake, and dancing to music. She is also starting to stand on her own without support which is pretty cool--walking is right around the corner!

Fall Fun

Charlottesville is absolutely beautiful in the fall! We have loved driving around and pointing out every pretty tree.  Eva is such a good sport on these drives. She just plays in the back of the car and coos and squeals. She is one cute girl!

Here are some views we got up at Carter Mountain on a clear day. 

Here are a few photos of the pretty colors around our neighborhood. 

Lastly, Eva got the most adorable coat before she was born. It was marked 0-6 months, but it was definitely too big back in January. We put it away thinking we'd have to save it for the next baby. Well i'm glad to report that at 10 months, Eva finally fits into that super cute coat!

Eva's 1st Halloween!

Morgan and I carved pumpkins last Sunday in preparation for Halloween. I don't know what they do to their pumpkins out here, but they are all HUGE!

 Morgan's pumpkin is Gru's silhouette. Then for Halloween we dressed up as Gru, Lucy and a little minion. Morgan was a perfect Gru!

We had so much fun at the ward Trunk or Treat and then we threw a Halloween party on the 31st at our house. We had a costume contest, a soup potluck, games and then watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It was a perfect evening and we ate way too much candy. I, of course, just had to make labels for all of our delicacies and that is actually the only thing I got pictures of, so here you go.

 The soups were labeled, "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble"

Fall Decorations

I love having a fireplace mantle to decorate. I got rid of a lot of our decorations when we moved, so I have had to come up with new ones. Here is the final product:

I put this wreath together for only $12!