Theresa at work

We've heard from Tim's little sister a few times in the past week or so. She's stationed on the USS Truman in the Persian Gulf. She sent a few pictures of herself at work. She's promised us some pictures in which we can actually see her face, but for now, she's the smaller person in green...

Look at me!

Puffs

Larissa wasn't sure Maya would learn to pick up food and put it in her mouth while she was in town visiting. She may not have mastered it before Larissa left, but it was close on the visit's heels. Never underestimate Maya in milestones related to food...

Visitor from the snowy north...

Our friend Larissa (from college) came to visit us for a week. It was fabulous. We hadn't seen her in, oh, ..., well, a long time. We like to pretend that she was coming to visit us, but I think she was coming to get away from the 3+ feet of snow in Maine and to see Maya. We had a good time. My parents babysat for Maya on Saturday, so we went down and walked around South Congress, had dinner at Tim's favorite place (Guero's Taco Bar... Larissa had demanded mexican food), and then went to see Jon Dee Graham at the Saxon. We really intended to stick around for Porterdavis because, well, Larissa and I were falling asleep. Sunday we met my parents for lunch in Georgetown to retrieve the stinker. Monday, Larissa watched Maya while I had a meeting, then the three of us went to Ikea. Monday night, Tim watched Maya so Larissa and I could catch a movie (my first movie in a theater in near a year). Tuesday was Tim's day off, so he, Maya, and Larissa made a day of going to the gourmet grocery store and making a (day-after) Christmas dinner for Larissa. (Orthodox Christmas was on Jan. 7 this year.) Wednesday, Larissa tagged along with me to work, then she and I went to see the capital building. Here are some photos from our adventures:

Tim and Larissa at Jo's on South Congress:

Maya at the Monument Cafe in Georgetown:

Go Tigers! (2)

Monday, Tim and I went up to Dallas to go to the Cotton Bowl with my parents. We met up there with Dave and Emily, who'd driven down from KC. (And randomly ran into Kyle and Cortney, who'd flown in from Des Moines!) Luckily, all of the traveling was not for naught... the Tigers schooled Arkansas 38-7. It was a very exciting game, especially for Tiger fans. My dad has a great game recap on his blog, so I'll be lazy and not write my own. Here's the day in pictures (in reverse):

The final:

You know it's a good day when the stands look like this with 2 minutes left to play. The Arkansas side:

The Mizzou side:

The Arkansas fans started leaving just after the fourth quarter started, so we got to tease them about it for a long time... :)

It was a bit chilly:


Though it was warmer inside the Mizzou Alumni "Tailgate" before the game:


All in all, the day couldn't have been better. Take that BCS.

Swingin'

Grandma and grandpa got Maya a swing for Christmas. This weekend, Tim got it hung up in the backyard. Maya loves it (and our 70+ degree December weather...)

Family Time

One of the benefits of moving to a warmer clime is finally coming to fruition. We were joined by lots of family (largely coming from the snowy north) for the holidays. Grandma, Ron, and Joann came from Springfield, MO, Aunt Becky came from Oregon, and our cousin Bryan from San Francisco. We spent a lot of time just hanging out and catching up.

Here's a rare shot: Maya with her great Aunt Becky:

Maya made a valiant (I think successful) effort in increasing Aunt Becky's comfort level with babies. Maya even got her first traditional Becky story, with holiday versions of Winnie the Pooh and his buddies.

Maya's been napping a bunch this week, too; here she is catching some z's with her grandpa:

And what would a visit to Texas be without some Rudy's Barbecue. Here's the gang (minus me). Yes, Maya is in this picture, but she's apparently just dropped something on the ground: