Our Little 4 Year Old



Sunday was our sweet Maya's 4th birthday.  We had a very fun day starting with birthday pancakes and ending with having the "ranch family" over for dinner and cake.

 



 

Funny story about the cake...I leave the fancy cakes up to Amanda and Joyce...but I wanted to make Maya a cake for her actual birthday date (we're having a party for Maya, Marco, and Milan on June 6th where they will get the fancy cakes Amanda makes them!)  Anyways, I told my friend Bev that I had made Maya a cake that day.  Bev then asked Maya what kind of cake I made her.  Maya said super excitedly, "A RECTANGLE CAKE!!"  I felt like Mom of the Year!  For the record, I did give her a choice of a circle cake, a rectangle cake, or a round cake with a hole in the middle. :)

Marco and Maya...the newly (and soon to be) 4 year olds

 

The kids table!

Opening presents!

The cousins

Maya's new tutu dress from Grammy Mary & Papa Gary. 
I'm thinking she might wear this one as often as she wore the other one last summer!

Gabi got new glasses last week.  I thought this was a cute picture of her taken by Greer at Milan's birthday celebration last week.

 

 

On the other baby front...Maya's birthday also happened to be my due date.  Although I'm glad they won't share birthdays, I am more than ready to have this baby.  It is still measuring a couple of weeks ahead and the doctor thought it was already 8-8.5 pounds at 39 weeks.  He wanted to induce last week, but I decided to wait it out thinking it would have come by now on its own.  Was I wrong!  I have an appointment today, so I'm sure we'll make a plan!  My next post will most likely be of the new one and the new big sisters!!

 

Lots of love, Tara

Branding & Mother's Day!

Last Friday was Branding Day for the Hall Ranch! The weather was beautiful and all went well! The kids got in on the action for a little while.

 

Maya :)



Marco :)

A new crop of cute calves!

We went for a little hike around the ranch on Mother's Day.  When we got home, Gabi had the good idea of flying kites.  The wind was perfect (it isn't very often that we call wind "perfect" around here!)


 



 



 

I always have Joe take a picture of me with the kids on Mother's Day.  This might be my favorite so far.  Love. These. Girls. With. All. My. Heart.

 

 

There's one more kiddo hiding in there who doesn't want to come out!  Hopefully soon! (Due the 26th)

Love to you all!  Tara

Dance Recital: "In the Limelight"

Both Gabi & Maya have been taking dance classes since January.  They have both loved taking dance and were very excited for their recital.  Their teacher had a baby last September, so since lessons were only a 1/2 year, the recital was fairly low key with simple costumes.  The girls didn't seem to mind and had a great time!

Here are some pictures from before the recital started. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With buddies Kodi and Tera

 

Kodi & Maya

 

Gabi's "Kinderdance" class was both ballet and tap.  For the recital, they did a tap dance to "Lollipop!"  It was really cute. :) Gabi did lots of practicing at home!



 

Here is the very end as they are walking off stage:

Maya's "Creative Movement" class did a dance to "Dance With Me to My Music".  Maya practiced a lot as well.  She is on the far right in the front.

 

 

Both girls had a part in the finale as well!  Their teacher told me that they were such good listeners and always came to practice on time, so she wanted to reward them!  They loved it and did a great job!

Maya during the big group performance of the finale: 

(Gabi was on the far right side, so I couldn't get a good picture of her.)

 

 

Lots of people came to support Gabi & Maya!  Their babysitter, Evonne and her daughter, Grammy Joyce and Papa Dave, Grandma Phyllis & Grandpa Don, Amanda, Gio, & Marco, and their good friend, Turner, from Ms. Evonne's house!  They were so excited to see everyone and very proud of themselves for doing a great job!!

 



With Marco & Gio after the finale!

With buddy, Turner!

They are both sad that dance is over and cannot wait for it to start up again in the fall!



Lots of love, Tara

Spring Break: Phoenix

We headed to Scottsdale/Phoenix the first week in April for a little vacation and quality time with the girls before all of our lives are changed with the arrival of the new baby in a month or so!  We had such a great time!  The girls are at such a good age to travel right now...they stay close to us in large crowds, they can entertain themselves on the airplane, and they get excited about everything!

 

Gabi giggled the entire time the airplane was taking off...she was so pumped about riding on an airplane. 

 

The first full day that we were there, we went for a hike at a nature preserve near our condo.  The cacti were blooming and everything was just beautiful.  It was in the 80s the entire time we were there, so the weather was perfect!

Hiking in their new shades from the Easter Bunny. :)

"That is one scary looking cactus!"

 

We did A LOT of swimming!  Our condo had a huge pool with a splash park and a couple of waterfalls.  There were also a couple of large play structures on the resort grounds. The girls had a blast!  

 

We took in an Arizona Diamondbacks game one evening.  They were not very into the game, but loved all of the food.  Joe & I enjoyed seeing the stadium...it has a retractable dome and is pretty cool!

 

 

We also went to the Phoenix Zoo one day.  The girls liked the huge tortoise the best, but Maya was enamored with the monkeys and they both were able to throw some carrots into the elephants.

Riding the carousel was just as fun as seeing the animals!

We made a trip downtown to have lunch and go to the Arizona Science Center.

Watching the "IMAX: Into the Arctic" (in 3D with Polar Bears!)

A digital waterfall...very cool!

Even the littlest one got in on the fun!  I look huge!

Maya blowing bubbles to make "bubble art"

 

We went out to eat quite a bit.  Even though our condo had a kitchen, we lack a variety of restaurants in Buffalo, so whenever we go somewhere with tons of options, we hit it hard!  A couple of people had suggested places and they were all awesome!  We had (the best we've ever eaten!) Mexican food at Los Tortes de las Reynas and Italian food at Oregano's among others.  Oregano's gave the girls their own little ball of dough to play with before the food came out!

The girls were exhausted after the trip.  Since we flew in/out of Casper, they both slept the whole drive home (as did I!)  We really enjoyed the trip and hope to return one day!

Easter Festivities

 

 

We had a very busy Easter season with Spring programs at school, Easter egg hunts with family and friends, Easter Sunday Mass and dinner, and getting ready for our trip to Phoenix.

 

Gabi was a butterfly in her Spring program and did a great job with her speaking part. 

 

 

Maya was a flower in part of her program.  She is very dramatic when she sings and does hand motions.  It cracks us up!



 

 

Maya's class had an egg hunt on the playground after the program.  Here she is with "my buddy, Kade."

 

We had a big egg hunt around the ranch for the cousins!  Gabi & Gio had the biggest area to hunt eggs from.  I guess they missed quite a few because Rusty (the dog) has been finding them and enjoying the treats they hold!  They had fun!

 

 

Some of our friends had a huge Easter egg hunt at their house as well.  I don't think we'll ever have to buy plastic eggs again!  The girls hit the jack pot!

I took the girls to get their fingernails painted before we went on our Spring Break trip.  They love getting them done, but have a hard time sitting still to let them dry! 

I can't believe we didn't take any pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses.  We went to Mass and then enjoyed steaks and bunny cake at Grammy Joyce's house. :)

Lots of love!  Tara