washington ballance reunion

well, we went to visit meemaw and papa b(allance) for the first time since the missouri move. when we got to the ballance house, the first thing we noticed was that sophia loved the deer shoulder mount in the living room. we spent a lot of time looking at that deer. it was pretty funny.

we started the week off at leavenworth, wa hanging out with friends and family. it's a small bavarian town with lots of shops and walking around. sophia impressed everyone with her eating skills! on the way back to grandma and grandpa's house, we stopped by her cousin's. it was the first time they had really played together and it was fun to watch.

we did all sorts of fun stuff while we were in colville. we went to the hippie store and got stuff to make homemade mozzarella cheese. delicious! we went to canada (sophia's first international trip) and walked around rossland. there are lots of shops and good things to eat there. we saw good friends and played in the yard. it was very relaxing a TON of fun.

despite some flight troubles, sophia was no trouble on the flight so we are ready for more traveling!

papa b and sophia hanging out



black kitty was one of sophia's favorite things at meemaw's house


sophia wouldn't ride with papa in the tractor but the whole family rode in the bucket afterwards.


sophia and meemaw b look alike contest.


sophia and some tronsen girls (aunt karen, grandma enid, sophia and meemaw)


sophia is ready to go again! she has to save up some vacation time first.

birthday girl 2010

We had a birthday party at grandma and grandpa palazzolo’s house for Sophia. What a blast. Sophia loves animals but kitties especially. We had a kitty theme. She loved it. We had pictures of real kitties and she had a hello kitty cake. Her cousin Syd helped her get dressed in a kitty shirt and skirt with leopard trim. She got lots of awesome presents but her faves were the sled and an outfit. She loves clothes! We tied a BUNCH of balloons that Christina got her to the sled and Ben pulled her around the house. She was in heaven.

She was too cute eating her cake that grandma got her. Pink frosting was everywhere. It was a lot of fun and only a little sad that my baby is a toddler now.

getting big

I think it’s genetic. You open the fridge in our house and either phil or Sophia comes running/crawling. Both of them are more than willing to stand in front of the fridge and check out the contents. At least phil is quiet about it. Sophia is ooohing and aaahing so loudly that I have to stop what I am doing and check it out. It sounds like she’s found treasure. Her new trick is climbing onto the shelf in front of the veggie drawer. Maybe she’s starving???

The other weekend she took a hard nap and woke up with a bad case of bedhead. I don’t think she knew where she was when she woke up. she is adorable.

There have been some sunny days, but it’s still pretty cold so Sophia has been getting bundled up to ride her tricycle and wagon around. I can’t believe how big she is! She rings the bell on her bike and if we take her off too early, she lets us know that she isn’t done. Miss Independent. And now she’s walking, too.

celebrations!!!

it was a big weekend for our little girl! she turned one and was baptized! she is getting so big, we can hardly believe it. she is really developing her personality. she's become much more independent about eating (unless she's REALLY hungry, then she'll take some help), she wants to walk all the time (she took her first totally independent steps 2 days after her birthday) and she's really funny (we take all the credit for that). when she eats something she likes she says mmmm..., when she hears music she tries to snap and dance (mostly bobbing and kicking her leg out), she's crazy about animals (usually communicated with elated screaming) and she loves clothes: her closet, shopping, laundry, whatever. she ooohs over piece she can get her hands on. her birthday was a lot of fun. we took some pics the night before in case we could see an immediate change when she turned one (it was a little bittersweet for mom) and we made it a whole birthday weekend (that's how we roll, birthday weeks, months, whatever). she had lo mein (her favorite) and wore new clothes all weekend.
after her baptism we went to a restaurant in columbia called Sophia's. we had some delicious food but the best part was the cake that phil and i made. it was funfetti and shaped like a 1 with sophia's name on it. she LOVED it. when we tried to take it away, she pulled it closer. she is such a ham. she got some great birthday presents. her papa b (phil's dad) had the idea to have a rosary made for her special day and all colville was involved in making it. it is beautiful and sophia loved it. she got some new toys and a really adorable snow suit. she was exhausted by the end of it all (and quite full of food) so i think she enjoyed it.

on her actual birthday we got up, got dressed and went to church for her christening. my parents are her godparents, which was extra special and a lot of fun. her aunt heather came and her favorite cousin ben. he was awesome helping make sure she had a great birthday. the christening was beautiful. sophia wore a dress that was originally my mom's wedding gown turned into a christening gown. ben wore it too. towards the end of the mass, the priest introduced sophia to the congregation and there was a drum roll to which sophia raised her arm like she was pretty proud of herself. everyone thought it was hilarious and a few people thought we had trained her. she's a natural.




happy
birthday
to
our
little
princess!