Lucy and Ethel do Halloween!!

My best friend Patty hosted a Halloween party last night, and guess who showed up as Lucy and Ethel? Finally, after years of truly acting like the famous duo, we had the opportunity to dress the part, choosing the Chocolate Factory episode as our "theme" for the night. We had SO much fun! We wined and dined on devilish delights and played a very animated game of "Taboo", pitting Patty and her Soroptomist buddies against Diane and the Bunco babes. The Soroptomist buddies prevailed, but we had a great time. Check out the pictures in my Photo Album.

Bath Time for Tasha

Tasha likes to take baths, especially because she gets to go in Grammy's "princess" tub (that's because she is a princess, too.) Brian gets in the tub with her, and Ann assists by handing him shampoo, soap - whatever he needs - and she keeps Tasha occupied with various toys. Tasha's favorites are the rubber ducks that light up when their bellies are touched. She has big ducks, little ducks, Christmas ducks, Halloween ducks, birthday ducks. She is one lucky duck, seriously. When she is all finished with her bath, she gets to put on her yellow ducky robe that Grammy got her. She doesn't like to have the hood on her head, but she was a good sport so Grammy could take some fun pictures for the scrapbook! Our Photo Album has more pictures of our little duckling in the water.

Tasha's First Birthday Party

Tasha will be one year old on November 10. I thought it would be fun to celebrate her birthday while they were still here, so we invited her great-grandparents and other family members, as well as my friend Patty and her husband Jim for a Hello Kitty birthday party. She opened her presents with some help from her mommy and daddy and Cousin Ryder. After munching on some pizza (Tasha preferred Cheerios), the time for the main event arrived - singing happy birthday and watching Tasha with her birthday cupcake. She was equipped with her "first birthday" bib, and our floor was prepared with a large shower curtain strategically placed under her high chair. She didn't disappoint us. The cupcake was squished into many tiny pieces, some which even made it into her mouth. She was very entertaining, and it was also fun to watch Ann and Brian as Tasha destroyed the cupcake and swept it back and forth on the tray. This was obviously quite a test for them as they go to great lengths during meal time to keep her and her tray clean. Not this time!! Tasha had learned to point during her visit with us, first with her arm and hand extended and then using her index finger. Every time she used her index finger we kept saying that she was going to be "one". We like to think that she made the connection! Check out more pictures in our Photo Album.

The Hayneses do Sedona . . . and more!

One of the places that Brian and Ann originally asked to visit was Sedona. We had a great time there with Dave and Meg four years ago, so we thought it would be a fun trip for the seven of us. However, after all of the Christmas activities, day at the zoo, etc., Ann and Brian got cold feet and said they didn't want to go. Dave and Meg were jazzed for the road trip, so we promised Ann and Brian that we wouldn't do a lot of walking which was one of their concerns, not to mention the long car ride with Natasha. We rented a mini-van, packed it with our water bottles, sodas, and snacks and started out on our venture. Jim and I have been to Sedona many times (we actually went there on our honeymoon in 1975!), so we were pretty familiar with the road to get there. Jim also brought his GPS for extra measure. All was going well until the Garmin instructed us to make a turn which took us off our usual route. Instead of trusting his gut instincts, Jim continued on the new path. At first we were delighted in the sights we saw, particularly the autumn leaves and farm-style houses. But it became apparent that our new route was taking us into very unfamiliar territory. As it turned out, we took a HUGE detour - I saw Mormon Lake and Lake Mary for the very first time, and we drove through parts of Flagstaff, a place that Megan had expressed an interest in seeing. And to add a little more drama to the whole scenario, Natasha threw up in her car seat. Fortunately, on a whim, I had thrown some paper towels in the van as we were preparing to leave the house. We pulled over to the side of the road (there was absolutely no traffic to contend with!), changed her clothes, and did the best we could to clean her and the car seat with water and baby wipes. Frankly, she was in a great mood once she was cleaned up and eventually fell asleep for a good part of the trip to Sedona. Four hours (twice as many as it should have taken) after we left the house, we arrived at our destination. One "advantage" of going out of our way was that we had the opportunity to drive through Oak Creek Canyon. The autumn leaves were gorgeous, and it really was a spectacular sight. We had lunch, walked through a few shops, and stopped at the chapel to take a few pictures. When the girls bellied up for their picture, Ann said that Tatyana started kicking. Megan thought maybe she was trying to high five her cousin. On the way home, we made stops in two cities that I have never been to - one for a potty stop for the pregnant ladies and the second for a very important diaper change for Natasha. It was an exceptionally long day - but as we promised Brian and Ann, we didn't do a lot of walking!

The Princess broke her crown

Sunday night we dined on Mexican food at Macayo's, a "must" for the boys when they are in town. Natasha had entertained us throughout dinner, especially having fun with her Uncle Kevin. While we were finishing up our meal and enjoying the ambiance on the patio that overlooks the water, I felt something hard in my mouth and proceeded to fish out part of my crown! Unfortunately, I spent two hours in the dentist chair the next day getting the tooth prepared for a new crown and having a temporary one put in. This was definitely not an activity I would have planned during the boys' visit!! That night we went to Grandpa and Grandma Henning's house for dinner, and Ann and Natasha had the opportunity to meet my Aunt Flo and cousin Jan. We watched "Dancing with the Stars" and got a kick out of Natasha's dancing along with the music!

The Traditional Trip to the Zoo

The day after "Christmas" we observed another Haynes family tradition - a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. Brian and Natasha wore the U of A shirts that Grammy gave them for Christmas and looked pretty darn cute. Unfortunately, our temperatures returned to the mid 90's, and Ann and Megan didn't think they could handle all the walking in the heat. We rented electric scooters for them, although I think Meg would have preferred a Sedgeway (the zoo didn't have them!). We all agreed that the babies were about a year away from really enjoying the zoo experience, but Grandpa and Natasha sure enjoyed the time they spent together at the zoo.

Christmas in October

Our family learned this year that Christmas can be celebrated whenever families can be united, no matter what the date is on the calendar. Our Christmas in October was planned many months ago when Brian, Ann, and Natasha booked flights to come to Arizona from Thailand for a three week visit. Our nieces Christy and Pamela wanted to come to meet Brian and his new family and suggested that we celebrate Christmas in October as they wouldn't be able to make another trip from Minnesota and Seattle, respectively for the holidays. Brian thought the idea was splendid, so Dave and Megan made arrangements to also fly in from New York for a 10 day visit. Our immediate family celebrated Christmas Friday night with our gift exchange. It was a very special time for Jim and me to be able to share our Christmas traditions with Ann and especially our granddaughter Natasha. Because her parents do not celebrate Christmas in Thailand, this was technically her "first" Christmas. The next day, the entire Haynes family

• Dad and his wife Rosie,
• brother Tom, his wife Diana and daughters Christy, her husband Charles and their 7 month old son Clark, Pamela, her husband Brian and their 8 month old son Benjamin, and Lauren,
  
• brothers Ted and John,
• Jim, Dave, Meg, Brian, Ann, Natasha, and Kevin, and I

gathered to celebrate a very special Christmas for all of us. Ted arranged to have a professional photographer take pictures of the Haynes clan at the ASU Research Park in Tempe, so we were able to capture this Kodak moment. The festivities at the house (besides eating!) included more photo ops, the highlight being pictures of the three babies wearing red velvet pajamas provided by Christy and reindeer antlers from me. We exchanged gifts and had a great time being all together - a first since 2004. Since then, we have celebrated two marriages, the birth of three babies, and the anticipated arrival of two more in the next few months! How fortunate we are to have such blessings in our lives.

Getting ready for Christmas

It was a busy day today for us. Ann's introduction to Christmas preparations began with the girls decorating Christmas cookies. Ann was a natural, and of course, Meg brought her usual artistic talent to the table, literally. I had surprised the girls at breakfast with a gift bag for each of them containing a cute pair of flip flops and a gift certificate for a pedicure at a local day spa. So after lunch we left the boys in charge of Natasha and enjoyed a leisurely hour of pampering. Meg and I totally enjoyed the experience. We learned that Ann has ticklish legs, so she had to fight the urge to kick her legs during the massage part of the pedicure. Meg cooked our dinner tonight, and afterwards we decorated the Christmas tree. For the first time in a very long time, our tree has all the boys' ornaments on it. In fact, other than our "Grandma and Grandpa" ornaments, Jim and I hardly had room to put up our ornaments. For safe measure, we have a little metal fence around the tree to keep Natasha from getting to the tree. Actually, she stuck her hand through the fence when we first set up the tree and enjoyed touching the branches. However, she didn't seem to have a lot of interest in it while we decorated it. Tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas with just our boys and their families, a moment I have been looking forward to.

We're all here!

Dave and Meg arrived yesterday, so we're all here now!!! Kevin came over for dinner last night, and Ann cooked two Thai dishes for us. Natasha provided our night-time entertainment. Her "game" was to come to Grammy for a sip of water from a big girl glass and then walk over to Ann. She did this over and over and over. We had to put the air conditioning back on at bedtime as it had warmed up again. Our Thai family was freezing last night, and our New York family was hot. Jim and I were comfortable. It will be interesting to see if we can find a common ground. In the meantime, I have given Ann and Brian every blanket and afghan that I own!!!

Where have all the animals gone?

Brian, Ann, Natasha, Brian Mikel (Brian's boyhood friend), and I drove down to the Arizona Desert Museum today so we could show Ann some of the animals native to Arizona. But when we got there, we hardly saw any animals! The bears were "retired", the mountain lions were nowhere to be seen, the javelina and coyotes were AWOL, the ocelots were off exhibit, and one other animal was "at the vet". We did see the paw of a bobcat, the backside of a gray fox, the head of a wolf, a bighorn sheep, and a couple of rattlesnakes (in an enclosure!). We think we saw more wildlife in our neighborhood in Tucson! Natasha, our little energizer bunny, slept all the home. We think that this is confirmation that the drive between Tucson and Phoenix is indeed the most boring drive ever!

Rare Picture of Natasha

I had to include this picture in my blog as it captures Natasha in such a rare moment. Isn't she sweet?

Off and Running . . . with John Deere

We decided to bring Natasha's John Deere tractor in the house as she wasn't outside much to play with it. She had such a good time and could walk - quite quickly - behind it all the way from the living room through the dining room. She is taking more steps all the time, and we are confident that one of these days she will realize that she can just stay upright. If you are wondering what she has on her head in this picture, she is wearing her reindeer antlers! We are taking Christmas in October quite seriously. She met her Great-Grandpa Haynes and Great Uncle John today. We have decided that she likes men; and Grammy is feeling a tad jealous right now. Please keep checking our Photo Album of Natasha's Visit as I have been adding pictures to it every day. We are all looking forward to Dave and Meg's arrival on Wednesday. Our Christmas tree is going up Thursday night when we celebrate Christmas with just our immediate family. We intend to put a fence up around the tree as we know that a little girl who would be all over it in no time.

Natasha's "Do"

Natasha has been taking baths in Grammy's big bath tub as there is a lot more room for Ann and Brian (as it is usually a family affair) to maneuver in our bathroom. Today was the first day that we got to see Natasha's "natural" hair style; now we know why she always has her hair up in a little ponytail on the top of her head!! She is really falling in love with her Grandpa. She sees him and immediately breaks into the biggest smile! Tonight we were sitting on the floor playing Yahtzee, and she crawled up to him and laid her head in his lap. He tickled her, and she just laughed and laughed. It really is heartwarming for me to see how infatuated Jim is with her, and how much she has taken a shine to him. Ann, Brian, and Jim went to the store this morning, and I got to babysit for the first time all by myself. We looked at books together, did a tour of the yard, sang songs, played the musical drum, hugged and kissed (OK, so I hugged and kissed her!), and just had some good bonding time. Brian and Ann were quite surprised when they walked in the door to discover that (a) she wasn't crying and (b) she was actually looking at a book with me. Isn't this the magic of a Grandma? :)

Trip to the Desert Botanical Garden

Ann expressed an interest in seeing plants that were native to the desert, so we took them to the Desert Botanical Garden this morning. She took a lot of pictures and discovered that there was one plant that looked familiar - the aloe vera plant (in Thailand it is called "alligator tail"). The weather was perfect, especially when we sat in the shade under a ramada with a city view. Unfortunately, the view was a bit hazy from the dust that accompanied the wind. Diane cooked Thai for dinner (they had seconds!), and we continued our Yahtzee competition once Natasha was asleep. Grammy was the big winner in tonight's round.
On Friday I took Brian and Ann to Pei Wei for lunch. After Brian read the menu to Ann, she decided on a meal called "Thai Dynamite" which promised to be a spicy dish. Once the dish arrived and Ann had her first bite, she told us that it tasted like nothing she has ever eaten in Thailand! So, if you are looking for authentic Thai cooking, don't be fooled by the word "Thai" in Pei Wei's menu!! That night, two of Brian's friends since kindergarten came over to see Brian and meet Ann and Natasha. The timing of their visit was perfect as Jim and I were going to a wedding. Ann cooked a Thai dinner, and Brian was happy to have the chance to visit with them. Brian, Ann, and Natasha were sound asleep by the time we got home.

Something different is cooking in my kitchen

My kitchen island is adorned with a new basket full of goodies!

Natasha Meets Her Cousin Ryder

Natasha finally got to meet a family member who speaks the same language as her - her 20 month old cousin Ryder T. Hatch (my brother Mark's grandson). Ryder's mom Lisa had been prepping Ryder for his cousin's arrival, and he greeted her with a smile as he pointed at her and then headed right to the toys where he discovered some new additions since he last spent time with me. The two of them interacted as much as two little people do at their age; then we went to the main event - putting them in the jacuzzi to float in their boats. We were very entertained and hope to get them together again soon. More pictures of this momentous occasion can be seen in our Photo Album. Ryder ended his visit by planting a big kiss on Natasha.

Babies Make You Tired!!!!

Today's big event was Natasha meeting her cousin Ryder (look for a future post). After Ryder's and Lisa's visit, Brian, Ann, Natasha, and I went to a soccer game at Mesa Community College so Brian could see one of his friends who was playing on the team from Pima Community College. We stopped at Yupha's Thai Kitchen for take-out and and feasted when we got home. Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Ann retreated to their bedroom to take a nap, and I decided to take a relaxing bath as I was pretty exhausted myself. When I got out of the bath and looked into the living room, Natasha and Brian were sleeping on the floor; Jim was asleep on the sofa!!! And to top it off, Caitlin and Meggie were both zonked in their crates!!! Babies sure do make you tired.

Natasha Meets Her Great Grandparents

Natasha met her Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Henning today and enjoyed playing pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo with them. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures, because for the most part, Natasha had a rough day. She had been up every hour during the night, and it caught up with her in the afternoon. As we were sitting around the table playing Yahtzee tonight, we got to witness the effects of jet lag. Natasha was sitting in Brian's lap watching us roll the dice, and she kept nodding off. She would wake up and then nod off again. This happened repeatedly. Since Natasha has not warmed up to us yet, we are unable to give Ann and Brian any help so they can deal with their own jet lag. It is a bit frustrating. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day as Natasha will be meeting her second cousin Ryder who is 18 months old.

Oh yes, and then there is the entertainment provided by Natasha

There is never a dull moment when Natasha is awake - which seems to be most of the time. Her energy is endless! She is quite talkative, has a knack for throwing every and any toy that you put in front of her, crawls up the stairs faster than I can walk up them, stands up and walks around whatever is in front of her, and has even forgotten what she is doing a few times and has taken a couple of steps all by herself. She has quite a repertoire of facial expressions, and her Pebbles pony tail is irresistable. And today, she gave me a kiss - on the toe, but I'll take it!!

Cooking Thai

Ann had us all cooking Thai tonight. Diane was in charge of the rice and cleaning the shrimp (yuck!); Ann was the main cook for the tome yum goong (shrimp and lemongrass soup) while the pork satay was delegated to the boys. Jim cut the pork and skewered it, and Brian and Kevin made sure that Jim didn't grill it to jerky consistency. We had fun preparing it and even more fun eating it!

Happiness is . . .

. . . seeing those you love come into sight at the airport!!! This was a very happy moment with lots of hugs for everyone except Natasha who wasn't quite sure what was going on and who we were! Brian took her out of the stroller so we could go down the escalator, and she just kept watching us. When we got to the car, she was a bit upset at first as we put her in her carseat. Once she realized that her mom and dad were going to be right there with her, she was fine and seemed to enjoy the ride home (I had packed some toys which made noise and seemed to keep her content). As her carseat faces backwards, she kept straining her head to look up at me with her big, brown eyes. She enjoyed spending some time in her bed with all sorts of toys, but she is definitely most entertained with Caitlin and Meggie. She loved the Chicken Dance Cow (Auntie Meg, she started to dance!), and Grammy got lots of smiles with peek-a-boo. She took a bath in Grammy's tub and finally took a little nap on a blanket in the living room. We had all gone into the kitchen to have some lunch; when we were clearing the table, Brian walked by the doorway, and there was Natasha crawling towards the kitchen, and she didn't even cry!! They are all sleeping at the moment; we remember well the fatigue that goes hand-in-hand with overseas travel. It is certainly taking every ounce of patience and restraint for me not to grab that little girl and give her lots of hugs and kisses. I did hold her for a brief second; she is as light as a feather and tinier than I had expected. In the meantime, Jim and I love watching her and for now get great satisfaction in the smiles that she gives us. For those who were wondering, her baby sister's name is going to be Tatyana.

The day has FINALLY arrived - the meeting of the Princesses!!!!

Just like the time leading up to a wedding, the anticipated date is finally here!!!! In about four hours from now, all the waiting will be over. That moment in the airport of seeing them coming towards us has played over and over in my head, with me taking Natasha in my arms and hugging and kissing her like I did when she was 7 weeks old. In reality there will be a "breaking in" period. At 11 months old, she only knows us through pictures that Brian and Ann have showed her. Hopefully in the next three weeks we can make quite an impression on her :) so that when we visit her next year Natasha (soon to become the big sister), will toddle into our arms and give US hugs and kisses!! Stay tuned for updates over the next three weeks. I'M SO EXCITED!!!