Happy Holidays!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are enjoying this wonderful time of the year. We returned last night from our "Grandma Tour." In 9 days, we drove through 5 states, saw all 6 grandmas, all 3 grandpas, cousins, aunts, uncles, and many friends. We had a fun time and Gabi did great in the car, but were we ever glad to get home! Here are a few pictures from our holidays:

Gabi had more fun with the paper and boxes on Christmas than with the actual gifts.

Daddy & Gabi on Christmas morning.

All dressed up in her Christmas dress ready for Christmas Eve Mass

4 Generations -- Grandma Mary, Great Grandma Dorothy, Mama, & Gabi

The LaMay family at my parents house in Iowa on Christmas Eve

Visiting with Great Grandma Genie in Alliance, NE on our way through

Having fun with Gio at Grammy Joyce's house

"This Christmas business is exhausting!" Notice the Wyoming lounge chair -- a Christmas gift from Grammy Joyce & Papa Dave

So, our travels started Friday, the 19th when we headed up to Buffalo, WY for a quick weekend visit. We attended the Green Christmas party, so we got to see all of Joe's Grandma Phyllis's side of the family. The Monterastellis met us in Buffalo, so Gio and Gabi wore each other out! Now that Gabi is walking, they have lots of fun chasing each other, playing, and stealing each other's sippy cups (well, mostly Gabi stealing Gio's). We also got to catch up with Chris & Tracy Jons in Buffalo as well.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to Spearfish, SD to stay with Joe's Grandma Fern. We had a nice visit and she kicked our butts in cribbage, as usual! On Monday morning, we started our longest leg of the trip. We drove to Alliance, NE to spend a couple of hours and eat lunch with my Grandma Genie. She is doing well and looking forward to having my Grandpa's book published in a month or so. Next, was to Leigh, NE to visit the Folkens, family friends of the Halls. They just built a beautiful new house and grilled us up some outstanding steaks on their indoor grill, yes, indoor grill. It was very cool.

On Tuesday morning, they gave us a tour of the feedlot that they operate and Gabi got to see Papa Dave's cows getting all fattened up. It was an interesting tour to see how that end of the business works. Later that morning, we headed to Lincoln to pick up my Grandma Dorothy and head to Des Moines, Iowa to my parents' house. It was nice to arrive there and just spend some quality time in one location. They fed us well, we saw the play Triple Espresso, and had lots of fun playing games and visiting. Gabi, Joe, my mom, and I had a bout of the stomach flu. It was short lived and wasn't too bad. Gabi came down with it shortly after we arrived, so she must have picked it up somewhere along the way. That was the only hiccup in the trip, so we were lucky.

On Saturday afternoon, we drove back to Lincoln to drop my Gramma Dot off and spend some time with my Aunt Virginia, Uncle Gary, and cousin Allie. It was great to see them and Gabi just adored Gary, just like I did when I was a little girl (and still do!) We heard all about Allie's wedding plans. She is marrying Brad on May 23rd. That just happens to be my due date, so I doubt we'll make it to the wedding, unfortunately, but we are so excited for them! Finally, on Sunday we headed home. It was was quite the undertaking in the middle of winter with a little one, but we probably won't be able to do it again for quite sometime with another little one on the way. We are so thankful that we saw so many people and that everyone is doing wonderful! Thank you all for your hospitality and time!

Well, I've rambled on long enough for one blog posting. We do hope you all have a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Love, Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Gabi's Big News!

I'm Going To Be A BIG SISTER!!!

Yea! I'm almost 16 weeks pregnant now and due around May 23rd! Everything is going well and we are counting our blessings everyday! I was pretty sick up until 12 weeks, but have been feeling great recently! We heard the heartbeat again yesterday and it was going strong at 158 bpm. We are not going to find out the gender early, because wondering and hoping and guessing and being surprised is just too fun!

Thank you for letting us share our joy with you! We know Gabi is going to be a great big sister -- she is such an affectionate, gentle, and happy little girl. We'll keep you updated on our progress!

Love,

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was complete with family, lots of food, some intense Mexican Train Domino playing, and being entertained by Gabi.

The feast is ready! Our Thanksgiving guests -- Tom, Dave, Joe, Tara, Mary, Gary, and Joyce is the picture taker (Gabi was napping)

Gabi enjoying her first Thanksgiving dinner -- she loved it, of course!

As previously mentioned, Gabi was our entertainment for the weekend. She loved having everyone around to clap for her and laugh at her. She loves her family!

Riding her fire truck


Helping Papa Dave unwrap his ornament during the annual Thanksgiving ornament exchange.

Wearing Uncle Tom's big boots

Giddy Up Horsey!

"Here Comes the Bumblebee..."

Gabi is walking more and more everyday. We have lots of fun with her! We're so thankful our family was able to join us -- thank you all for traveling so far and for the fun time.

Tune back later this week for a big announcement from Gabi!

Love, Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Watch Out...Here She Comes!

Gabi is officially a walker! We've been practicing for a few days and she thinks it is so fun to walk between Joe and I. It started as 1 or 2 steps between us and then collapsing in giggles and now, as you can see in the video, she is making it pretty far. She still crawls most of the time because it is a lot more efficient, but she is getting better fast! Let the chase begin!

Fall has decided to come to Golden, even though our weather has been very dry and warm for the most part. Joe has raked up close to 30 bags of leaves so far. Remember that silver maple tree I mentioned in a previous post, it isn't so well-liked in the fall! :) Gabi didn't know what to think when I put her in the pile of leaves and didn't want to touch them at first, but she warmed up quickly as you can see in the video.

"Yuck."

"Hmmm, whadat?" :-)

"Leaves are pretty fun afterall!"

Now if we could just get her to use a rake...maybe next fall!

We hope you all are looking forward to Thanksgiving. Both sets of parents and my brother, Tom, will be joining us in Golden. It will be a full house and sure to be lots of fun! May we give Thanks to God for all of the joys He has given us this year.

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Happy Halloween!

Hi Everyone! We hope you all had a fun Halloween and are enjoying the fall weather (we definitely can't complain -- it's been in the 70s all week!) Here are some pictures from Gabi's Halloween. She loved being in her peacock costume and acted even sillier than her normal silly self in it.

We went to visit lots of people for Halloween -- some neighbors, Joe's office, Tara's school (Thursday night), and actually took her out trick or treating with some friends around Golden. The picture above was taken by our neighbor, Angie, in her front yard. The picture below is at Brian & Julia's house with friend Lily before our candy-seeking outing! Lily was a cute bumblebee.

We spent last weekend in Buffalo visiting Joe's family. Gio and Gabi had such a fun time playing. Greer got them on video and posted it to YouTube. Click Here to see the video of their fun times together. We also went to the pumpkin festival in town and picked out a couple of pumpkins. They have so much fun together.

We put Gabi in her costume last weekend as well, so Grammy and Papa could see her. It is the cutest when she is crawling because the wings pretty much blanket her entire body, so all you see is the little tail wiggling back and forth. Good for a few giggles!

This is the rear view:

Gabi is just about ready to walk -- she gets closer and closer each day. I'm sure by my next post, we'll have some footage of those first steps. Her new thing is to say, "What's that?" (Heard as "Whatdat?") and point at an object. I bet we hear it and answer it at least 100 times a day. She is very observant and curious and it's fun to see her putting everything together. She still loves books, being around people, and being outside looking at everything.

We hope you all had a very fun Halloween! Thanks for checking in on us!

Love, Joe, Tara, & Gabriela Peacock

More Birthday Pics

Hi everyone! Here are some pictures from our trip to Laramie last weekend. We met up with Amanda, Greer, Gio, and Joe's parents. We celebrated Gabi's birthday and took in a Wyoming football game.

Aunt Amanda made Gabi this Dora birthday cake! Isn't it cool?!

Not only did it look great, it tasted great too!

Gio helped Gabi open presents!

Gio, Gabi, & Aunt Amanda at Jerad & Jen's tailgate before the game.

Gabi meets Cowboy Joe in Tailgate Park

This is what the UW quarterbacks were doing too -- asleep at the helm! So frustrating! Gabi can fall asleep in the noisiest places! I wish I could do that!

Eating some of Great-Grandma Phyllis's apples in the park. Those 2 little teeth (now three) had some work to do!

Until next time! Have a great weekend!

Tara

The Big One!

Here are some pictures from Gabi's first birthday! The first celebration of the day was at Teresa's house this morning after I got off of work. Octavia & Peyton helped Gabi celebrate by eating cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday to her! Octavia even helped Gabi blow out her candle!

Yumm!

Octavia & Gabi

Joe & I helped her celebrate again this evening with another round of cupcakes and singing. Even Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gary got in on the celebrations thanks to Skype! We are meeting up with Grandma Joyce, Grandpa Dave, Uncle Greer, Aunt Amanda, & Gio in Laramie for a football game and some more birthday celebrations on Saturday!

Joe thought these blocks would encourage her to become an engineer someday! :)

Our Silly Girl

It is hard to celebrate Gabi's birthday without thinking about her birthmother in Guatemala and what she must be feeling today. Words cannot express our appreciation for her for giving us our daughter. We're sure her decision was not an easy one a year ago. This little girl has brought such joy to our lives and a kind of love that only parents must know. Please pray for Gabi's birthmother, that she may be comforted to know that Gabi is healthy, happy, and thriving in our family.

Gabi went to see Dr. Julia today (whose birthday is today too!) and came out with the following stats and 4 shots (ouch!):

• 23lbs. 1.5oz (85th %ile)
• 31.25inches (100th %ile)
• Healthy as can be!
  

Thank you all for helping us celebrate our Gabi and her first year of life. The support we have received this year has been amazing and we are so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family!

Love, Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Dancing to Her Own Beat!

Hi Everyone! Thanks for stopping by for a Gabi update! She's been busy learning new things! I think going to Teresa's house (our babysitter) a couple of mornings a week has really helped her with walking, talking, and her new favorite thing to do, dancing! She is doing really well and didn't even cry when I dropped her off last Thursday, which is good, but I was kind of sad too!

Here is a video of her dancing to her favorite artist, Stevie Ray Vaughn! Grandpa Gary is so proud!

Gabi has started "cruising" around the furniture and with her walker. She also loves to do squats, which makes my legs burn just watching her!

Gabi has always been a good eater, but we've found a new favorite...spaghetti! Yum! She wasn't too big on the peas, though.

I think I tried too hard to get these pigtails to work, but I thought they were cute, nonetheless. Someday!

Gabi really likes Cowboy football, even though Mom & Dad are a little frustrated with them this year. She loves the music and when everyone claps (even though there have been more boos than claps this season!) ;-)

Gabi and I went to visit our friends, Char and Jason who had a baby girl yesterday! Morgan McKinnon Delaney is such a cutie! Her and Gabi will be good buddies once she gets big enough to defend herself! Congratulations you guys!

It's hard to believe that Gabi will be 1 year old next week (the 25th)! Tune back then for some birthday pics!

Love to you all!

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Gabi's First Photo Shoot...

...Okay, professional photo shoot! ;-) If you're a regular reader of our blog, you know that Gabi has had her picture taken many, many times and does actually pose on request! ha!

Our awesome photographer, Tanja, put Gabi's photos into a gallery ready to view. Click HERE to create an account. Then, click on Gabriela's gallery and enter the password "hall" to view. E-mail me at tmlamay@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Have a great weekend everyone! Tara

Go Pokes!

Gabi enjoyed her first Wyoming Cowboys football game on Saturday! She loved it, but due to the heat she was only able to watch the first half. Gabi, Jackson, and I headed over to Washington Park to play, while Joe watched the rest of the game. It was a beautiful day in Laramie and the Pokes won 21-20!

Dressed in Game Day Gold!

At Jen & Jerad's Tailgate party

Gabi also had her first camping experience this weekend. We set up camp near the Happy Jack area outside of Laramie. She loved looking at all of the stars, playing in the dirt (and trying every once in awhile to sneak a taste), and crawling over all of the sleeping bags and us in the tent. She slept great (who wouldn't with all that wonderful Wyoming fresh air?!)

Playing peek-a-boo at the campsite while Daddy sets up the tent.

We hope you all had a fun Labor Day weekend! Thanks to all that commented on Gabi's photos at www.contemporaryexpressions.net/blog. We should have the entire collection to view by Tuesday, so check back then for directions to that site.

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

One Busy Little Girl!

Hello Everyone! Since I'm only blogging every 2 weeks or so now, you're getting a big one this time! We have been having fun going places, visiting new people, learning new things, and watching Gabi grow so fast!

This past weekend, we went to Des Moines, Iowa to visit my family and attend a wedding. Gabi did great -- she is really opening up and getting over her stranger anxiety. She loves to be the little entertainer and is quite the socialite! We did get over to Lincoln to visit my Gramma Dot, Aunt Virginia, Uncle Gary, and cousin Allie and her new fiance, Brad.

Great-Gramma Dot

Aunt Virginia

Allie & Brad

Playing Great-Grandpa Larry's piano. Will she be a honky tonk player too?

My best friend from high school, Susie Tofte, married her soul mate, Adam Hollander on Saturday. It was such a beautiful wedding and I was honored to be a part of it. Their love for life and each other was apparent the entire weekend.

Susie is a beautiful bride!

Friends from high school that were at the wedding -- Angie, Courtney, Joe, Adam (groom), Susie (bride), and me! It was great seeing them and catching up!

Gabi with Joe Ness and Marie. She absolutely adored Marie!

Dancing with Daddy at the reception. Grandma Mary & Grandpa Gary took Gabi home early, so we could stay at the reception and help Susie & Adam celebrate. How we wish they were closer, so this could happen more often! Thanks Mom & Dad!

Here are some photos from the past couple of weeks around Golden:

A giant zucchini that overgrew in the garden. Gabi loves veggies!

Gabi in her new swing! She loves it!

I had to take a picture of the silver maple tree in our backyard. If we ever move from our cute little house in Golden, I will miss this tree the most.

Gabi can now pull herself up and proceed to crawl on top of things. She also mastered stair climbing on the first try. We had never practiced going up the stairs and one day I turned around from folding the laundry and she was on the 3rd stair. I don't think I've ever jumped up so fast in my life. She was evening climbing up the slide at the park today -- and then sliding down, of course -- her favorite part.

With buddy, Eliza, and Jane at the park this afternoon.

A request of our family and friends:

Gabi had professional photos taken last week. The photographer has given us a sneak peak on her blog -- www.contemporaryexpressions.net/blog. For every 10 comments we receive on our blog posting, she will give us $25 towards our purchase (up to $50), so please comment! The ones she posted definitely aren't my favorites, but that's okay. She'll have all of them up for viewing at the end of the week or early next week, so check back then for directions to that site! She did an amazing job!

Thanks for checking in on us! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Joe, Tara & Gabi