Fun in the Sun!

We packed our bags and headed to the Caribbean for some fun in the sun before all the Christmas excitement begins! We flew to San Juan then headed to the cruise ship, our home for the next week. It was a great way to see the Caribbean with a 15 month old! Kayla loved running around the ship, watching the shows, and dancing to all the music.

Enjoy the pics....

Snacking on some raisins in Barbados

At the beach in Barbados

Babaanne & Dede

Enjoying the rainforest in St. Lucia

Mmmm....

The sunsets were amazing!

SPLASH!

Having some fun in the "kiddy" pool

This little girl loved sitting in the chairs out on our balcony

Beach #2 - this time in Antigua

Love them!

Can't forget the sunscrean

The first two days she wasn't interested in the sand but it looks like she is loving it now - so happy!

Marching in the sand

Tortola

Enjoying the sand between her toes

My hubby - isn't he cute :)

Kayla giving Mommy a hug

My two loves!

We had a wonderful week but were happy to get home in time for all the Christmas festivities! Thanks again to Babaanne and Dede for a great vacation!

O Christmas Tree...

Last year we started a new family tradition - cutting down our own Christmas tree. Kayla was too little to join the fun last year so we were excited to have her with us this year. She was such a good little helper - she walked around showing us all the trees she liked and she even helped Daddy cut our tree down.

Kayla and Daddy with their Shades

Time for a ride on the big wagon/trailer


She had a blast running around all the trees

Kayla helping Daddy cut our tree down

Kayla and Mommy

We've been busy shopping, decorating, and getting ready for Christmas. I love this time of year and am so excited to celebrate with our little angel.

November, where did you go?

What happened to November? It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Halloween with our little Piglet and now we're gearing up for Christmas. Good news - I just checked my calendar and sure enough there were the usual 30 days in November so I'm not going crazy.

One of the highlights in November was Thanksgiving, of course. We headed out to Lake Travis for a few days to celebrate and visit with the rest of the Bayazitoglu clan.

Bayazitoglu clan - thank goodness for the timer feature on the camera :)

Showing off their new wheels

Thanksgiving 2010

Kayla found herself a perfect little spot!

Ummm...excuse me, I want to play too!

Kayla and Daddy

Kayla with all of her cousins - she had SO much fun playing with them!


A few days later we headed up to Gigi and Gramps' house to celebrate Thanksgiving and Gramps' birthday. Unfortunately, I was too busy eating and catching up with them to take any pictures!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

this little piggy....

This little piggy went to Zoo Boo,

This little piggy played at Little Gym,

This little piggy had some snacks,

This little piggy had fun.

And this little piggy went..."Wee wee wee" all the way down...

We had a fun-filled weekend with our little piglet and all of her Halloween activities - costume party at Little Gym, Halloween Parade with friends, Zoo Boo, and Trick-or-Treating!

Kayla must have known that we had a busy weekend coming up because during the middle of the week she started walking all by herself! And when I say walking I mean running - she is everywhere. If I turn my back for a second she's across the room or around the corner! She's definitely keeping us on our toes but it's been so fun to watch her explore all on her own (instead of holding our fingers and pulling us everywhere).

Hope your Halloween was full of treats!

Fall Fun

We loaded the car and headed north to Gigi & Gramps' house last weekend to visit for the day. It was a beautiful day so we decided to check out the pumpkin patch which happens to be right around the corner from their house. I wasn't sure how Kayla would react to all the pumpkins and excitement but she loved every second. She ran straight for the pumpkins and wasn't afraid to climb on top of them. One of her favorite things were the stickers on the pumpkins. I think we came home with 2 pumpkins but at least 4 or 5 stickers!!

Climbing on the pumpkins

Looks like she found her pumpkin

BOO!

Daddy and Gigi trying to help Kayla pick out her mini pumpkin

Come on Daddy...hurry up!

Checking out the water fountain

I LOVE this girl!

Daddy's Little Girl

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!!!

Mo & Mel's Wedding Weekend

Kent and I headed up to New Jersey/New York this past weekend to celebrate Mo & Melanie's weddings! Yes, they had two - the Indian wedding took place on Friday and the Jewish ceremony took place on Saturday evening. We flew to Newark first thing Friday morning. From there it was a short drive to Woodcliff Lake, NJ. The trees have started to change color so we enjoyed the beautiful drive. After a quick lunch and a little down time it was time for some fun!

The evening kicked off with the Indian Baraat (Groom's procession) - Mo rode a horse while everyone danced towards the venue. The ceremony took place shortly thereafter. I had never been to an Indian wedding so it was interesting to see their traditions and customs. We had a great time dancing, eating/drinking, and visiting with friends.

Mo during the Baraat



The Baraat


With my husband and his turban

Debbie & Ethan

Matt, AB, and Kent

The guys

The surprise dance from the Groomsmen

Mo & Melanie

Marcus & Kent

I love this picture - you wouldn't know that she's 7 months pregnant!

Melanie & Mo's dad

Matt playing the piano in the lobby for everyone - he was surprisingly good!

We slept in on Saturday which was amazing! Needless to say, we had a few hours to relax and grab lunch before it was time for wedding #2 - this time in NYC! Kent and the groomsmen had to leave around 3:30 to get there in time for pictures, etc. Matt and I headed out a couple hours later with about 4 other people on a van. We left in plenty of time to get to the city in time for the 8pm ceremony - at least that's what we thought! Our van driver was AWFUL - instead of taking us to Bridgewaters (name of the venue in Manhattan) he took us to Bridgewater, NJ which was about 40 miles away from where we were supposed to be. We left the hotel at 5:20 and arrived in Bridgewater, NJ at 6:45 when we realized this guy was crazy. We finally got back on track but got stuck in traffic/a parking lot trying to go through the tunnel into the city. It took us over an hour to go 5 miles! Anyways, we finally arrived at about 8:50 but unfortunately missed the ceremony which I heard was beautiful. We had another great evening on Saturday and even went out afterwards which was fun! As you will quickly notice, I didn't take nearly as many pictures on Saturday night.

My handsome husband!

Ben and his perfect bow-tie

Matt with the amazing scenery in the background

We had a GREAT time but couldn't wait to get home to our little girl! Kayla stayed with Gigi and Gramps for the weekend. From the smiles on her face I think she had a blast - they went to the park, played with the dogs (which Kayla loves), went out for lunch, and played. Thank you so much for taking such great care of Kayla.