Our girls had a wonderful day -- we were fortunate enough to have my parents and Grandma Dorothy come to visit this weekend. We attended Mass this morning and then gorged ourselves at Table Mountain Inn's Easter Brunch Buffet. Here are some pictures of the girls from today:
We dyed Easter eggs on Saturday. Gabi enjoyed every minute! She loves eating hard-boiled eggs, which is good because neither Joe nor I are big fans. She is wearing a strawberry shortcake apron that my Grandma Dorothy made me when I was a little girl!
Here is a four-generation picture from this morning! Look at all that brown hair -- gotta love it!! ;-)
We all went to the Denver Zoo on Saturday. Gabi was able to get up close and personal with a giraffe. The giraffes at the zoo are her 2nd favorite; elephants are by far her favorite! Camels come in a close third. :) We love being zoo members and would highly recommend it!
My dad's birthday is next Friday, but we celebrated this weekend with a long-standing tradition -- bunny cake! His mother (my Grandma Genie) started making this cake for him when he was growing up since his birthday was always near Easter. Since then, my mom and I have taken over the tradition. Of course, Gabi was all over the chocolate cake!
I just had to throw this picture in...everyone gives Maya a hard time for being so rolly poly (even though she is average for weight/height!) She usually cleans up her plate AND her bib every meal. Gotta love those bib pockets, right Maya?!
Grammy Mary & Maya: 
Gabi and Papa Gary had quite a good time this weekend -- he taught her all kinds of new words and tricks! They had so much fun and were soooo silly! Now I know where I get my silliness! Her favorite new phrase is, "that's not proper!" I guess you have to hear it to see why it is so funny! They giggled almost the entire weekend!
I was off of work last week and enjoyed EVERY minute I got to spend with my girls. The weather was so nice that we were outside most of the week -- playing, swinging, walking, visiting neighbors, eating lunch outside, having friends come to visit, chasing the dog/cat, having fun at the parks, having Easter egg hunts, blowing bubbles, etc. Here are a few pictures from the week. I am so ready for summer (8 more weeks and then an entire summer to spend with my girls -- yippee!) It always goes by so fast after spring break.
We're looking forward to a visit from Amanda & Greer this week. Love to you all!
Joe, Tara, Gabriela, & Maya
We celebrated by having a Guatemalan dinner and taking a family picture. She was being her usual silly self tonight!
We gave Gabi a little dog backpack that we bought while we were in Guatemala. She gave her "nana" a ride in it and thought it was pretty cute. She named the dog, "Jackson"...how original! ;-) 
I had a snow day yesterday! Gabi & I had lots of fun building this snowman, but she did not want to get her picture taken with him AT ALL! So, being my stubborn self, I took one anyways and think it tells the story well...yes, yes, I did make her hold his hand. What a mean mom I am! ;-)
We went to Buffalo last week and had a great time! Joe drove up Tuesday for some business meetings and I flew up with the girls on Wednesday evening. Flying by myself with both girls was a bit of a challenge, but I managed okay. Going through security was kinda crazy, but both of them did great on the plane ride. It was great to see everyone...we played lots with Gio & Marco, died some Easter eggs, and visited the new calves. Gabi got to see her first calf being born and is still talking about it! She says, "after the baby calf was born, his mama wicked (licked) him. That's nice." She loved getting to pet a new calf as well.
Other than that, we have just been hanging out, doing some hiking and running, took a trip to the zoo, and are enjoying every minute with the girls. Here's a picture of Maya on one of our hikes:
Maya has been changing lots lately...she has 1 tooth now! We didn't even realize that she was getting one, it just appeared while we were in Buffalo. I think the 2nd one is on its way now because her nose is a little runny. She has also started to army crawl. The video below shows it pretty well. She gets faster and more efficient every day. I guess this is what my brother did and he never ended up really crawling. He went from army crawling straight to walking. They called him "the linoleum lizard." We don't have any linoleum in our house, so we will have to come up with a fitting name for Maya. 
Here are a few more...we are all doing great!
I wish I had some pictures of our trip to Steamboat last weekend, but my computer "ate" them. We met a bunch of our great friends from college for a few days of skiing, stories, and the SuperBowl. Go Saints! (Joe has been a lifetime Saints fan, so he was pumped with their victory.) Gabi was able to ski quite a bit and loved every second. We are amazed at what good balance she has. She really liked riding the magic carpet. She thinks that the Olympic skiers on TV ride magic carpets as well! Steamboat was having their Winter Carnival while we were there, so we were able to see some ski jumping, ski races, and horses pulling skiers down Lincoln Ave, The girls (minus Maya) attended a night celebration complete with the "lighted man" sking down Howelson Hill and some outstanding fireworks. Here is a picture that Ashley took that night.
Joe received some "muck boots" for Christmas, a little bigger than the cowboy boots Gabi received, but still fun for her.
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were surrounded by family and friends!