Agnes

Carmel Beach is a paradise for dogs and dog lovers because there is no leash law. Tonight a cute little dog named Agnes took a liking to Abby and played tug-of-war with her and the kelp.

A Thirty-Five Year Old Wallet Photo

Dick has carried this photo of baby Will and Teri in his wallet for thirty-five years. Yesterday on our walk at Point Lobos we decided to get an updated shot for Dick, but Will found it difficult to perch on the slippery log. Abby had an easier time of it!

Sunday School Christmas Performance

Abby performed in her first Christmas program on December 16, 2007. She sang three songs (The Little Drummer Boy, In a Little Stable, and Jesus Has a Birthday)with her Sunday School classmates. She did a fine job and even managed to survive a headband malfunction -- she simply took the headband off and tossed it on the ground!

This is a terrible photo, but I was so nervous for Abby that I couldn't manage to make my fancy camera perform any special tricks to get a better shot!

Shoveling

Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt gave Abby a shovel of her very own! I'd like to say she was a big help, but in fact, she seemed to enjoy shoveling the snow back onto the sidewalk! (This picture was taken December 8 when we were still in Rochester -- there's no snow in Carmel!)

Two Stott Elves -- Abby and Izzy

Click below to see two cute little Stott elves.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1504934835

Fairy School

Fairy school teacher Abby had a lot to teach fairy students Will and Lynette (and Mira). They learned how to use magic wands and they got a lesson in making maps. They had to raise their hands if they had something to say. When they did raise their hands, fairy school teacher Abby always responded with a curt "What?"

They also learned that "Fairy School is not about laughing!" As you can imagine, it was rather difficult to keep a straight face after that one!!

New Snow Gear

We managed to get two winters out of Abby's last coat, snow pants and boots, but a third year was out of the question. So, off to the ski shop we went. Abby picked out a coat and snow pants very similar to the previous ones. She loves the boots because they have a polar bear on them!

She made me laugh when she unzipped her snowpants and said, "Mommy, do you know what this is?" I said no and she said, "A broken heart!"

Sunday School (At Last)

Grandpa Engelhardt has been trying to get his daughter and son-in-law to get his granddaughter into Sunday school for about two years now. Finally, with a little additional encouragement from a Bishop, Abby started Sunday school on November 18.

She didn't think she needed Sunday school saying, "I already know a lot about Jesus and know all the stories from the Bible!"

However, she enjoyed the class a lot and later showed us a puppet show about Samuel, Eli and Hannah.

First Snow this Winter

Our first snow of the season was a light dusting on November 17, 2007. It accumulated a bit on the trees and bushes, but melted away before we could even get outside! Nonetheless, Abby was excited to see it!

Abby Poses with the 2007 Stott Family Christmas Tree

Happy Diwali!

Tonight we celebrated the Indian festival Diwali -- the "festival of lights." According to our friend Sapna, Diwali honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and signifies the renewal of life. We went with Sapna, Stephen and Tara to a Diwali celebration. Sapna loaned me a lovely sari and Abby and I wore wonderful bracelets and we each had a bindi on our forehead. We ate delicious Indian food. Abby and Tara danced and danced! Abby was so serious as she was dancing.

Baby Needs Shoes

Abby has worn the same size shoe for the last year and a half. This was great because it was easy on the wallet (especially given that Tonto likes to buy her shoes). But her shoes were starting to look pretty grubby because I've been putting off buying her new shoes, waiting for her feet to grow. Just when I was beginning to think that Abby's feet would never grow, they sprouted -- that means new shoes and new snow boots! Unfortunately, Tonto is in Alabama! Hurry home Tonto -- baby needs shoes!!!

Skitchy

This is Skitchy -- Abby's pet guinea pig. Yes, I know it looks like a marble, but believe me, it is a guinea pig -- just ask Abby! Skitchy goes everywhere with Abby. She likes to ride in the car, but doesn't like to stay in the car because Minnesota is getting cold. She's rarely allowed out of her cage in the house because one never knows what trouble a guinea pig might get into. Abby does let her run across the floor sometimes, but always puts her back in her cage. Abby talks to Skitchy and feeds her.

Hair Cut

Abby announced today that she needed a haircut. She said she wanted a lot cut off, "but not all of it!"

Jim, the nice stylist at the JC Penney Salon, gave Abby a very cute haircut that includes layers!!For those of you familiar with Abby's hair, you know that it is rather unruly (my fly away hair and Will's cowlicks)! The result is very cute!

A Fairy Tale

Kansas -- Abby's 14th State

Will is on a quest to visit all 50 states in the U.S. On Friday, he made it to #43 and Abby made it to her 14th state -- KANSAS -- when we arrived in Wichita for the wedding of friends.

Abby is a GREAT roadtripper. She likes to call our roadtrips "journeys." We were on the road 11.5 hours yesterday (including stops along the way), and Abby was cheerful the entire time. Highlights of the trip included:

1. Abby and Lynette were allowed to touch the bones of a 70 million year old triceratops.
2. Catching up with many DC and Dayton friends who were also attending the wedding.
3. Seeing a baby black rhino at the zoo. (Black rhinos are highly endangered.)
4. Seeing an incredibly beautiful amur leopard -- an extremely endangered cat. (There are only 50 amur leopards left in the wild.)

We learned that Abby is the same size as a King Penguin.

We also learned that Lynette finds bats to be rather disgusting!

Our friends BJ and Erich joined us at the zoo.

Abby spent hours practicing her numbers and letters! At one point she even said to me, "Mommy, don't interrupt me! I'm doing my work!"

An Excellent Halloween!

Abby decided that she wanted to be a bat this year so that she could "scare Tonto!" So, a bat she was and Aunt Lisa (Tonto) was frightened!

Abby had an excellent Halloween night. Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt joined us for the festivities. Abby told Grandma to wear a costume, so Grandma came as an alien!
We drove to some of Abby's friends' houses. This is Abby in the Batmobile (Grandma and Grandpa's new minivan)!
Our first stop was Aiden's house. He and Abby had been discussing for days the fact that Abby's Grandpa is scared of spiders (Aiden's costume was Venom from Spider Man). Grandpa played the part and pretended to be scared of Aiden and Abby and Aiden laughed and laughed!

I kept trying to get a picture of Aiden and Abby, but with no luck! And then, just as I was about to call it quits, Aiden walked up to Abby and gave her the sweetest hug!

And then Venom and the bat finally let me take a picture of both of them!

Snow White (Tara) was much more willing to pose for her picture with the bat!

Abby also enjoyed trick or treating in our neighborhood!

But I think Abby's favorite part of the night was giving candy to the children who came to our door. She greeted them by saying Happy Halloween and gave each one a big handful of candy!

And then when the group had left, Abby patiently sat by the door -- waiting and watching for the next children!

When we finally ran out of candy, I told Abby it was time to turn the lights off and close the door. Will said he could run out and get more candy, but Abby said, "I know!" She ran to her own bag and put most of her candy in the bucket to share with the other trick or treaters! We were very proud!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!