New pictures of Peyton

Thanksgiving

Ron and I celebrated Thanksgiving Day lunch with his family and visited with my parents and brother later that evening. On Friday, Amanda and Peyton arrived for our annual Christmas baking day - it was a little different this year with our one-year-old helper! Great Grandma Mintun was here to help entertain Peyton which was a life saver. Peyton was adorable in her "Queen of the Kitchen in Training" apron and enjoyed taste testing the goodies. I'm sure next year she will get into it more. We successfully made a giant mess of the kitchen and managed to get a lot of baking done too! What fun. Peyton was worn out from the event and took a 3 hour nap, which is unheard of at Grammy's house! We joined Grandpa at the Hawthorn Bank Christmas Parade Party at the Elks and watched the parade from the balcony. What a beautiful evening for a parade. Peyton had a great time seeing all the lights and walking around. Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Mintuns with the Great Grandparents and Great Aunt Mary and Great Uncle Mark. Chad arrived Saturday morning - he and Amanda played 9 holes of golf while Peyton hung out with Grammy. Great Grandma and Great Aunt Mary came over to play with Peyton and to help Grammy get ready for the Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday evening which was a great time.

On Sunday, our church choir presented "The Light of the World", a Christmas Cantata. Totally exhausted, I slept all afternoon, which rarely happens. I think I'm ready for another week now. the house has been transformed from Thanksgiving to Christmas - whew!

Peyton is One!

Peyton Augusta Todd is officially a one year old now. I went to Olathe on Friday to do a little shopping and to run a few errands for Amanda for the party on Saturday. Since I was there, Amanda and Chad took the opportunity to go out on a date to celebrate the one year birthday of their sweet little girl. Peyton and I had a blast having dinner together and playing before bedtime - she goes to bed early, so she and Grammy had to rush to get everything in we wanted to do! On Saturday, Amanda baked and decorated Peyton a beautiful birthday cake in the shape of a "One" and an individual two-layer cake for Peyton to have all to herself - which she enjoyed immensely - with both hands at times. She is her mother's daughter and her Grammy's granddaughter - she loves sugar! Peyton and I had a fun time helping her Mommy and staying out of her way at the same time while she prepared all the food for the party.

Of course, Peyton did not want to take a nap - she's kind of a busy body and she didn't want to miss any of the action. Her Mommy really wanted her to take a nap so she would be happy for her party at 3 p.m., so Grammy took one for the team and rocked her to sleep and held her while she slept for about an hour and a half (what a sacrifice - ha ha). Best part of the whole weekend. Ron transported both Great-Grandmas and Great Aunt Mary to Olathe for the party. Chad's immediate family were all able to attend as well -

Peyton seemed to enjoy her party and the guests, including her boyfriend from "school", Evan and his parents. Good food and fellowship - a winning combination.

Visit to Peyton's School

Grandpa and I took a road trip to Olathe on Wednesday (Veteran's Day) - first stop was the Goddard School to visit with Peyton. At first, she looked at us as if to say, "what are you guys doing HERE?" Then, she toddled right over to me and put her arms up, wanting me to pick her up - warmed my heart. We played with her for a while and sat with her and her friends for their snack, which was a hoot. She is transitioning to the 1 year old room right now, so all the other kids were older than her and used to the routine. 10 one year old babies having yogurt and cookies was a sight to behold. Peyton waved bye bye to us when we left - was a super way to spend our day off!