Thursday, January 31, 2008

Visiting Grandpa and CC...

My dad and Cheri invited us down to Florida in January (what a great month to leave Seattle!) for a Charity Ball that they were involved with.  'Place of Hope' is a ministry tied to both a church and the Foster system down in Florida.  My dad and Cheri are mentors to a brother and sister who live at Place of Hope and are involved in various activities that are offered.  Each year a ball is thrown to raise money and involvement in this awesome charity.  We had such a wonderful time visiting the village and learning how my Dad and Cheri are involved.  If you are interested, you can visit the website.

Here Kurt and I are getting ready to leave for the ball;  I insisted on taking the classic "prom" photo first since we never did go to the Prom together.
So cheesy! 

Cheri's Dad and Stepmom came down for the ball as well.  Here Cheri is with her Dad.  He was so fun to get to know and visit with over the weekend!!
What a fun night!

So silly!  
(check out those thighs!!)
"I am so cool!  Why is everything so dark?"


It's very humid down in Florida and Maddie's hair seemed to curl right up.  It will be neat to see if the curls stick around as she gets older!


"Watch out Mom, I can almost crawl!"

Lots of love and kisses!!

"I love coming to visit G and CC...I get spoiled!!"
(yikes, yes this is her first taste of ice cream!)
"ummm...Daddy, what have you done with my hair??"
Madelyn did great out for dinner while we were down in Florida, we laugh though because we had to go to dinner for the early bird special to make sure we were back in time for her bedtime.  Needless to say, it was nice to be able to leave her with a sitter for another night and the four adults were able to enjoy a great Italian dinner at a normal hour :)

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Madelyn's First Christmas!

Christmas 2007 was spent up in Alaska with Kurt's family.  We had a great time visiting with everyone and celebrating Christ's birth and Maddie's first Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas gift...a baby in a box!!

What a face :)
Kurt and his brother, Kevin, went for hike one afternoon...yes it was this cold when we were there...have to enjoy the Alaskan winter!  Having a white Christmas was not a problem, it was beautiful!


Just hanging out at Papa and Mimi's with the fam...
Yay for cousins!!


"must put things in mouth, must put things in mouth..."


Biederman tradition is that on Christmas Eve we go to the Christmas Eve service at church and then to Grandma's place for dinner, which of course includes her amazing deviled eggs!!  We then exchange our  gifts with her.  
Maddie and Daddy hangin' after dinner...
"So many things to suck on...maybe I'll get some teeth soon!!" 
Kyle's wife, Susanna, and their youngest girl Sierra

Kurt, with his brothers Kevin and Kyle


Picture time with a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 6 month old doesn't exactly go "1, 2, 3, say cheese..." haha, maybe in a few more years!
Maddie wasn't exactly thrilled with pictures due to her sniffly nose and tired eyes :(
"Presents for me??" :)



Snuggletime with Mimi...

Thanksgiving in Florida

For Thanksgiving this year, our family traveled to sunny Florida!!  Here are some highlights of the trip.  
The traditional carving of the turkey...

Someone's excited about turkey...

Our first Thanksgiving!!  We are so blessed and thankful to have a beautiful and healthy baby girl!
Madelyn was very happy to be visiting her grandpa and cc!

We went to the beach one afternoon so that Maddie could have her first Atlantic Ocean experience!




"I'm done with this now..."


While down in Florida, Madelyn seemed like she was ready for more than just her rice cereal she'd been eating for the last couple of weeks.  Sweet Potatoes seem to be a popular first food and I think it's safe to say that Madelyn loved them!
"mmmmm!"