We just got back from a wonderful weekend in Philadelphia celebrating our cousin Josh's Bar Mitzvah. It was great to see everyone and introduce Rylie to even more of her crazy family.

Rylie had a blast visiting with people, dancing, and trying lots of new foods (including kugel, potato knishes, and mini hamburgers.)

On Saturday afternoon, Rylie had another birthday celebration with a fabulous Elmo cake! (Thanks Tanta Debbi!)

Nana and Auntie Wendy gave Jordyn a pedicure for the party on Saturday night.

Jordyn and Rylie playing back in the suite.

Rylie's already learned the reality--- you can't pick your relatives! (Nana, Great Uncle Michael, and Tanta Debbi)

Josh's Bar Mitzvah party on Saturday night---
Rylie with Stephanie & Shelly
Rylie dancing--Getting down with Jordyn
Dancing with Daddy

Rylie visiting with Nana and G.G. during the reception.Enough with the pictures already!Hanging out with some of Sara's cousins.
But Mommy, I am so tired. I can't dance anymore...
Getting love from G.G.
Rylie, Jordyn, and Micah at the Sunday brunch.
Micah and Rylie
Our Little Artist...

Rylie proudly displaying her first two art projects- a lady bug and a caterpillar. Have you ever seen anything cuter???
Love to everyone....

RYLIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!

Our little pumpkin is ONE! We had a wonderful weekend celebrating with lots of firsts....

On Friday, Rylie got her first haircut.

This is the "before" picture

Rylie was very intrigued by the whole thing for a few minutes, but unfortunately the woman working there wasn't quite fast enough to finish the whole thing during the "intrigued" phase.

On Friday afternoon as we were coming back from the park, we saw that our new camera had arrived and Adam was busy playing with his new toy. Here's Rylie for her first pictures with the new camera.

On Saturday night, we went to dinner with Auntie Bethany, Uncle Jay, Jordyn, and Micah. We had a great dinner, and Rylie had her first ice cream sundae after the waiters all sang Happy Birthday! For a child who has been pretty picky about food lately, she was not picky at all about the sundae. She LOVED it!

It's almost my birthday!!! The many faces of Rylie....

On Sunday morning, we gave Rylie her birthday gift... a red wagon. She loves it, and especially enjoyed putting her dolls and other toys inside of it. We took Rylie for a walk in her new wagon.

Since Rylie has had so many parties in the three months she's been home, we decided to do a low-key afternoon at the park with some friends to celebrate her first birthday. There is a splash fountain at the park, so we tried on one of Rylie's bathing suits in the morning, but it was a little big, so it will be for next summer.SI Swimsuit Edition, Watch Out.....

Here are some pictures from our afternoon at the park and the splash fountain. Rylie LOVED the splash fountain. She is unbelievably adventurous and eager to try everything. Something we definitely love about her, but her fearlessness makes us extremely nervous!

Yummy Cupcakes!

Getting ready to dig in...Needless to say, we are all exhausted from a wonderful weekend!

Love to everyone...

The past few weeks have been filled with a lot of wonderful visits and outings!

It was a special treat to have cousins Dave, Heather and Jake in town for a visit. Jake is just a month older than Rylie, so the two kids had a ton of fun playing together.

Last weekend, we went back to D.C. to see Sara's parents which was really nice. It was wonderful to get to see family and friends and we were so happy to introduce Rylie to so many special people. More pictures of the weekend to come...

And today, we spent the afternoon with our friends. The little cutie in the picture with Rylie is her buddy who is just a few weeks younger than Rylie and originally from Kyrgyzstan. The two girls had a wonderful time playing together.

And one last picture- this is Rylie's "I belong in Kazakhstan" look!

Love to everyone... And get excited, we got a new camera, so pictures should be much improved very soon!

Just a quick update from Phoenix...

Rylie has had a great couple of weeks. We have been really busy between Rylie's first ear infection and stomach flu (all in one week!), Sara starting a new job, a bunch of trips to the park, Rylie starting gymnastics class, and a couple of outdoor festivals/ carnivals.

Last weekend, we went to WorldFest in Phoenix. It was a big festival downtown with activities, food, and music from all of Phoenix's sister cities. There were cities from France, Canada, China, Israel, Ireland, Mexico, Japan, and a few others that I know I am forgeting. No representatives from Kazakhstan, but still a fun, outdoor activity.

On Friday, Adam's work had a Welcome Home party for Rylie. It was a lot of fun getting to see everyone, and as always, Rylie had a blast.

This is when we got to Adam's office. Rylie was much more interested in exploring (and destroying) Adam's office than posing for a picture.

This is one of the fabulous centerpieces one of Adam's colleagues made for the party.

Check out those pigtails!

In case you hadn't figured it out yet, Rylie loves to be the center of attention!

Rylie also started gymnastics last week. She loves it. She is such a little monkey in the class- she loves hanging upside down and climbs all over the place.

Today we went to the Purim Carnival at the JCC. For those of you who don't know what Purim is, basically- Jewish children get to dress up twice a year- Halloween and Purim. And instead of going trick or treating, there is a big carnival with rides, music, food, etc. Here's our little lady in her costume...

Love to everyone....