The Baptismal gown has been worn by all 4 of our girls in addition to their two other girl cousins, Hannah and Sophie! Very special indeed!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Amelia Grace Gabriel - Baptized December 18, 2011
The date was set and our special friends answered the call. Shelly and Chris made the trip out for Amelia's baptism, and the weekend was perfect. Shelly traveled from Arizona and Chris from Colorado to become Amelia's Godparents this past weekend. She is such a lucky little girl!!! We are feeling very blessed on this special occasion for our youngest little girl. She was a perfect angel!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
It's Disneyland days baby! Woo Hoo!
There's really not as happy of a place as Disneyland! It's just something about being there that brings a smile to people's faces - even with humongous crowds, long lines, tired feet, rain - nothing can dampen the good times had at Disney.
And we had it all - turns out that the week of Thanksgiving is one of the busiest weeks of the year at the Magical land of Mickey Mouse! No worries - we still got to see pretty much everything and the kids had a great time. We got rain on the first day, but the lines were down. Sun on the second day and the lines were LONG! Unfortunately, we didn't even catch one glimpse of Mickey, but that only means that we have to come back!! DARN! :)
Sydney turns 9
Sydney's birthday always comes around a busy time, but she manages every year to have a great time at her party! This year was no exception with new friends to help her celebrate her special day. To top it off, she got to spend her actual special day at DISNEYLAND! Her home party entailed some dancing, singing, acting, and lots of giggles. It was fun to be able to meet some of the girls outside of the school setting and to be able to help those friendships grow! 
Thursday, November 17, 2011
4 Months Old Already
Amelia celebrated her 4th month on the 15th! It's hard to believe how fast time is going. She changes daily, it seems! Now she is giggling, sucking her thumb or two fingers, rolling around the floor, and sitting fairly well in the purple seat. Next on the agenda is rice cereal! Fun times ahead!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Happy Halloween 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
We LOVE Yosemite National Park!
Gabriel Clan 6 went camping in Yosemite National Park this past weekend! Amelia didn't know what to think about being all bundled up! It was COLD overnight, even though we were in a tent cabin (unheated), but everyone stayed warm.
Morning cuddling with sisters was a highlight for Amelia!
The views were spectacular and the park was gorgeous!
As much as we miss the beaches of Okinawa, we certainly are happy to be back in the mountains, hiking, walking, and breathing the mountain fresh air!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Amelia Grace at 3 months
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Pumpkin Patch
We discovered a nice pumpkin patch today on this beautiful fall day in very sunny California.
They had some unique and interesting pumpkins!
Of course, our pumpkins were the cutest!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Our new home
I've had a great time decorating our new home, mixing my Chinese antiques and our other furniture. Here are some photos of the areas that are pretty much completed. The upstairs is still a work in progress . . . I love every piece of furniture that we ended up getting!
Kitchen area
Family room
Formal living area
Buffet
Formal living/entry way
Entry way
Mud room
Grandma and Poppa visit California
Grandma and poppa came for a September visit! It was a fun week - lots of running around to and from all of the kid's activities, but we got some good visiting in, and poppa got to meet Amelia! It doesn't seem like we took a lot of pictures, but we got some nice ones on a day trip to the coast - it was a beautiful day! This particular beach allowed dogs, which turned out to be a lot of fun!
Sydney couldn't resist playing with Shad in the ocean! The water was freezing, but she spent a good amount of time in there . . . how did I know to pack extra clothing just for Sydney???? :)
Grandma and Poppa with 4 of their 6 beautiful granddaughters!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Sydney's School Class
This morning I asked Sydney to help me with Amelia, so I could finish getting ready for the day. She obviously didn't want to stop playing her "school" game, so she situated Amelia among her other "students!" All was well for the first 10 minutes or so, then the live student became too disruptive and needed to be removed from the class! I love Sydney's creativity and imagination! Amelia is not much bigger than the baby dolls, but she is definitely growing!
First day of school 2011
School has started!
Yipee, Yahoo, BOO-HOO . . .
I have had mixed emotions - very glad the kids are in school to meet new friends, get learning again, and get into a good routine, BUT I sure have missed having the extra hands to help with Amelia! It's been a long time since I've had so much time on my hands, but I'm just enjoying Amelia and trying to stay on top of things in and around the house!
Morgan and Sydney are attending a small Catholic School - NOTRE DAME! We LOVE this school! It is totally awesome and we are blessed to have this experience for them. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot more about their experience here. The thought of uniforms was horrid for them at first, but they have grown to LOVE wearing them! Great teachers, great kids, great families! It was meant to be.
Brenna started HIGH SCHOOL! Unbelievable! The first week was somewhat rocky (it was hard starting school without a single friend), but now that she has met some kids, life is looking good. Brenna decided to try out for the volleyball team and is now playing Freshman volleyball! It has been interesting and quite an adjustment for our family to work everything in. It will be a fun experience for her. On top of her school load, a sport, and a choir club, she started attending youth group at church and will enjoy that. I don't know when we will ever see her!
Trip to the Redwood Forest
The Gabriel's went on our first California adventure - and Amelia's first road trip! We were on pins and needles at the beginning of the trip, because little Amelia HATES riding in the car seat. She proved to be a good traveler, with a LOT of coaxing from me in the back seat. Dan and I had been to the Redwood Forest about 17 years ago, and we wanted to take the girls to explore this beautiful place. We weren't disappointed! The trees are magnificent!
We had to crane our necks to see the tops of these 200-300 foot trees!
The hiking was very successful - Amelia does love her sling! Who can nurse, hike, and take pictures all at the same time? ME!! I'm all about multitasking! As a matter of fact, I don't remember a time that I wasn't doing more than one thing at a time!
Humongous tree!
Dan did a fabulous job capturing the neat forest. We enjoyed getting back out in nature . . . and we are looking forward to camping next time . . . Holiday Inn Express was the way to go this time, although I think Sydney was 5 months old when she had her first tenting experience.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Amelia Grace at 1 month
Lucky for us, Aunt Stacy was visiting and we got lucky with a photo shoot! She was so happy and cooperative! Stacy had fun doctoring the pictures and they turned out just beautiful!!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
AMELIA GRACE GABRIEL
Amelia Grace Gabriel
July 15, 2011
6:07 AM
6 pounds 4 ounces
19 inches
BEAUTIFUL BUNDLE OF JOY AND BLESSINGS
Well - we are no longer GabrielClan5 - with the new addition of our little girl, Amelia we are officially GabrielClan6. We were the talk of the Labor and Delivery ward, and needless to say, we were lucky to be physically in the hospital when labor started. It's kind of scary when you have to ask if you even pushed! She is a perfect, precious gift from God and we are so blessed. Of course the family is crazy about her and it is wonderful having all of the helping hands around. Life as we know it will forever be changed . . . for the better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)