Today we all went to Mormor and Morfar's church to be there for their send-off to China (they leave in a week!). They'll be teaching English for a year in Inner Mongolia through a Lutheran outreach program.

The two cousins :-)

Annette checked out a deep water scuba diving suit,

and learned about life on a rig :-)

On Saturday Nani, Frank and his grandchildren from France came to visit with some of their friends. Everyone had a good time relaxing in the pool,

and eating hot dogs for lunch (courtesy of Kendall the grill-master)!

Taking one last look at the beach before heading home on Sunday. We all came back a bit tan and very refreshed!

Taking in the view from our condo on the beach

On Thursday we visited the aquarium at Moody Gardens where Annette got a kick out of the penguins

(both real and stuffed),

and got to pet sea creatures in the touch tank!

On Friday Kendall fulfilled his dream of teaching his daughter about his former life working on a rig with a visit to the Offshore Oil Museum :-)

Happy 10 month birthday, Annette! We had a wonderful first family vacation in Galveston last week. We got there on Monday, and immediately got in the pool where Annette floated around with her Daddy :-)

We had a beach day on Tuesday,

where the princess discovered sand for the first time :-)

Mormor and Morfar came to visit on Wednesday. Annette showed off her crawling skills in the sand,

and we all took a nice walk on the beach!

We had a big family gathering yesterday - my parents are back from Canada this month before they head to China for a year, so they had Nils, Allison, Sophia, and Allison's parents over for dinner. Nils and his family just moved here from Chicago, so Annette's looking forward to spending more time with her uncle, aunt and cousin (plus another cousin on the way!) :-)

Sophia showed Annette the animals from my old Noah's Ark toy box - the giraffes were Annette's favorite!

Today Annette got to see Rachel again, plus the 7-month-old Crozier twins, Reid and Corinne. All the babies had a good time playing together while their parents enjoyed homemade margaritas and enchiladas!

We're leaving tomorrow for our first family vacation - we rented a condo in Galveston so Annette can play in the sand and splash in the waves (minus oil slicks, hopefully!)

We have to make sure to pack all the essentials, including the baby :-)

Annette was busy at the doctor's office this morning for her 9 month check-up. They had an older version of the table toy she has at home in the waiting room, which she enjoyed :-)

Then she moved on to a classic wooden ball toy,

and read a story with Daddy while she was waiting for the doctor.

Our big girl is 20 pounds 3 ounces (75%) and 29 inches (90%). The doctor was proud of her scooting and babbling, and said she's growing right on track :-)

Annette celebrated the 4th of July with a playdate with her friend Rachel!

She showed Rachel her toys,

and "borrowed" some of hers as well :-)

Both girls chewed their way through the afternoon...

Those little teeth get awfully itchy!!

Today was Nani's birthday, so Annette went over to visit and give her birthday hugs!

She got some kisses while she was there from their big dog Vallie :-)

Annette's started pulling up on everything, and hoisted herself up to the bathtub to help Daddy get her bath ready tonight!

Today we had lunch with our friend May who was in town from Scottsdale for the weekend!

We had a great time catching up with everyone, and Annette loved being handed around the table for everyone to hold :-)