Snowing Grand Rapids with the Proulxs

Maya loves her many Uncles, Aunts and cousins! Jeannine stopped by earlier in the week to see Maya which worked out great because she was snowed in the Monday we were hoping to spend together (yes, Michigan weather is very unpredictable). We, of course, loved the snow, given the fact that we read about it all the time but never see it. Maya loves her Aunt NeNe and looks forward to spending more QT in January.
Uncle David and Aunt Aimee stopped by for the day with Maya's cousins, Isabella and Jack. We had a great time catching up. We walked in the snow (or rather hail/snow) to Great Grandma Connie's house, which is a few blocks from my parents house.

Great Grandma Connie with Maya and Jack.
Sweet, funny Jack loved the time at our house. Especially my brother David who managed to tickle him into hysterics.
Isabella loved the early Christmas celebration. Because we would not be in GR for Christmas, we wrapped their gifts to give them at this time. With all the excitement and snow, we all opted for opening them early. Isabella loved her Belle doll and Princess pajamas, Jack loved his tool bench, and Maya loved her doll with bottle.
Here is Maya with her many cousins, Althea, Nokomis and Isabella.
The one shot of all 5 of them, one second before another one ran off...
A cute video of Jack, Isabella and Maya at Great Grandma Connie's house...

Grandma Liz, Part 2

Grandma Liz had a wonderful time in LA. Maya spent the days with Grandma and I spent the evenings eating Grandma Liz's wonderful food (will need to spend a few months in the gym to work it off, but well worth it).
Grandma Liz went with us to the Huntington Gardens and I was able to download her photos. Thought I would share a few of the pics.




Maya ate up the Grandma attention, making her go wild at times.
Thanks to Grandma Liz and Aunt Mary, Maya is living the kids dream. Aunt Mary gave Maya a wonderful dollhouse and she loves it! Spends a good part of the day putting all the figurines to sleep in the many beds, or putting them on the swing and down the slides.

Grandma Liz gave Maya her other favorite toy, a stroller for her baby. All through the house, Maya pushes her baby, wishing everyone "bye-bye."

We were both so sad to see Grandma Liz leave that we decided to join her on a flight to Grand Rapids for a week.

Grandma Liz

Grandma Liz is in LA and brought the wonderful fall Michigan weather with her. She came for 10 days to help us with Maya while John prepares for his recording session this Thursday. Now with the daylight shorter, we spent many late afternoons at the park and watched the sun go down. John was called to do a short tour with Natalie Cole in Oklahoma and Texas and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, he took the camera with him so I don't have photos of our time at the Getty Museum and the Huntington Gardens but we did have a wonderful time. It's been a whirlwind month, with John preparing to record his next album this week and then flying to New York for a gig and the photo shoot. Maya and I are flying to Grand Rapids tomorrow for a week in snow and ballet heaven.

Halloween

Halloween was a wonderful day. We started the day with a trip to a local pumpkin patch to buy our pumpkin for carving (a little holiday procrastination). Maya loved the pumpkin and the slimy interior.Maya's friend, Zoe, joined us for the afternoon.
What is Halloween without a costume. Above, Maya had the undergarments for her bee costume (and looks like a working jazz musician, or a ninja, your pick)
Now, introducing Maya the Drinking Bee...

Maya, the Magic Johnson Bee...
Maya, the Running Bee...
And Maya, the misfit family Bee...
John and I dressed up for the occassion and made wonderful fools of ourselves.
Sherry and Zoe came along with their great costumes for the afternoon fun and nighttime trick-or-treating.
Cutie Zoe!
Anna, Chris and little Kate came along as well and was my personal highlight of Halloween. Kate is 3, a perfect age for Halloween. She fully embraced her costume. In fact, while we were trick-or-treating, I heard her little voice behind me say, "Don't turn around Anna, there is a pumpkin behind you." So cute!
John's fantastic pumpkin...

Yearbook Shots

This was just too funny not to post.  Through Yearbook Yourself, you can download a photo into past hairstyles.  Kind of freaky to see Maya as a grown up with the round baby face.  Enjoy!

YeYe in LA

Maya's Grandpa, YeYe, came into town for a quick but fun Maya adventure.  Maya took right to YeYe and the constant soundtrack of the trip was Maya's voice shouting, "YeYe!"  Of course, my dad loved the fact that she could say his name.
We spent Saturday evening in Santa Monica where Maya spent a good amount of time finding "rock"s everywhere.  
The swing is always a hit especially with super fun YeYe.
And like a truly good movie, it ended with a walk into the sunset...