Easter Celebrations

We had a great time celebrating Easter this year! Brenna got a few fun gifts from the Easter bunny...a new backpack, crayons, and a coloring book. She loves putting things in bags and carrying around my purses, so I thought it would be fun if she had a bag of her own. The backpack is practically as big as she is, but she loves it!! 

Easter backpack...a dog of course!

coloring in her new coloring book

Brenna was very lucky to get a car for Easter from Grandma Ann and Grandpa Bill. Pat enjoyed putting it together and now Brenna absolutely loves her car. Many mornings she has had her morning bottle while sitting in her car :)

I couldn't get a great picture of Brenna after mass because she was more interested in running around. At least this one there are cute flowers even if she is on the move.

For Easter dinner we went to my Uncle John and Kathy's house. Yes, between mass and dinner Brenna got a huge bruise on her forehead. She was walking while holding a big, wooden cube toy and fell, hitting her head right on the corner. Thankfully there was no blood, but she has a pretty nasty bruise. She didn't let that stop her from having a great rest of the day!

Brenna coloring with cousins Parker and Chloe. Brenna was loving playing with the big kids!

March Madness

Today GU lost in the Elite Eight after an awesome season. It was sad to watch them lose to Duke, but Brenna and Nolan still loved cheering for their Zags!

12 month photos and first birthday

It's hard to believe the Brenna is ONE! This week Pat and I have been reminiscing about where we were this week last year and what we were doing. On December 4th I texted Colleen to say "this day last year I was in labor the entire day...and it's not Brenna's birthday" to which she replied "Happy Labor Day!" 

It's amazing how much she has grown and changed over this year. She is such a happy, fun, inquisitive, funny, outgoing, and wonderful person!!

Here is her 12 month photo shoot:

I think this photo represents that challenge it was to get her to sit down for any pictures :) 

 For her birthday we celebrated with some friends and family at our place. Brenna enjoyed her first (and second) cupcake and loved seeing many of her (and her parent's friends). Her favorite gift was actually one of the cards, from Paul and Madison, that plays the Star Wars song when you open it. Pat was over the moon that this was her favorite :)

Here are a few highlights from the birthday celebrations...

she is obsessed with this card, and dances every time she opens it and the music starts :)

just a little frosting :) but notice, almost the whole cupcake is gone!

so much birthday fun!

Thanksgiving in Sunny Newport Beach

This year for Thanksgiving, the McGah's all headed to Newport Beach! This is the last year Peter and Caroline will be living there so we wanted to enjoy one more warm Thanksgiving while we could. It was the first time all of us have been together since Brenna was born--and she loved it all!!! From the moment we arrived Brenna was so excited to have her grandparents, aunt, and uncle all there to play with!

Our journey the night before Thanksgiving couldn't have been better. I had the day off of school thanks to our Cross Country team winning State. So I had the whole day to do laundry, relax, pack, and then go get Brenna and be off for the airport. Here are the amazing things that happened on the "worst day to travel":
-dropped off the car and the shuttle was waiting for us right away
-got through security in about 10 minutes
-got randomly chosen for TSA pre-check which meant shoes stayed on and nothing had to come out of our bags
-found a table in the food court right away, with a high chair
-had time for Brenna to play in the play area
-had time to grab a drink (and saw Paul Silvi!)
-had an empty seat in our row for the flight
-flight left early because everyone was boarded
-Brenna slept for most of the flight
-Brenna woke up for about 30 minutes at the end of the flight and proceeded to smile at everyone around us

we each go our choice of drinks

ready for California!!

playing in the extra seat before our flight took off

On Thanksgiving, Caroline cooked up an amazing meal for us all while we played and hung out. She is the best!!! Brenna had fun helping out in the kitchen :)

 While Caroline cooked, we took advantage of the 80 degree weather and hit the pool!

Our meal was wonderful and it was so fun to all be together!

seriously amazing!

Brenna and I took many walks around the community Peter and Caroline live in. It was so beautiful the whole weekend.

 On Friday we hit the beach! It was 75 degrees and a perfect day to hang out at the beach. We got lunch with Elaine, Rachel, Finn, and Brannon who drove over from Rachel's house. The boys absolutely loved playing in the ocean and had no fear of the waves!

We got a few family pictures while out to dinner with Bill's cousin and his family!

love

 On Saturday afternoon we headed out to Balboa Island to walk around and enjoy the views and weather. It was amazing to be able to walk around in flip flops and shorts!

All the houses get super decorated for Christmas. It was hilarious to see the yard covered in fake snow next to the ocean :)

Our wonderful hosts. Brenna loved every minute spending time with her aunt and uncle!!

After a fun and sunny weekend we were headed back to Seattle. 

Brenna was excited to be home, but more excited to play inside the suitcases :)