Holidays – The Rottman Family Adventures

The Holidays

March 8, 2015 by Beth Leave a Comment

I have to admit, Thanksgiving and Christmas were a little hazy this year. Nina was born just two days before Thanksgiving. So we just stayed at home, and Jeff and Nana made us a great meal.

We tried to do some festive things since this was the first Christmas we spent in Arizona. We’ve always been grad students or in between jobs and had the time to go back to Mississippi. Not this year and definitely not with a one month old baby! We saw lots of Christmas lights and put up our Christmas tree. Clara loved the tree. She would sit in front of it and just talk about the ornaments– “Mom, will you look at the ornaments with me?” “this one is pretty and glittery” “Which one is your favorite?”

Making a present tower of course…

The Children’s Museum trucked in 20 tons of snow so we went for the day to check it out. It’s Phoenix and it was drizzly, so when we got there only an hour after the museum opened, there was just a small pile of snow in the parking lot that was overrun with kids. Clara was unimpressed. She loves the museum though, so the outing was still a hit.

We tried to sleep…

We went to Zoolights again…

We played outside under our orange tree in the frigid Phoenix winter temperatures…

We went to our church on Christmas Eve and then had dinner at a friend’s house. We spent Christmas morning with just our family of four. We opened presents, read the Christmas story, and made cupcakes for Jesus’ Birthday. We are still trying to work out our own family’s traditions! We went to dinner at another friend’s house that evening. We are thankful for friends here!

December 2013

March 5, 2014 by Beth 2 Comments

Ok, so I realize that it is now March, and we are way behind on our blogging efforts. I hope to do a few catch up posts and then get back to current happenings. Here are a few December highlights excluding our time in Mississippi which should be in an upcoming post.

Avocado is a favorite.

Clara started a new thing this month where she decided that she just wanted to stay in the bed in the morning. She already hangs out in there quite a while before I go get her and seems to enjoy herself. I almost feel like she isn’t fully awake if I don’t give her at least a half hour. This was different though, I would go to get her after a usual amount of time, and she would be uninterested in getting out of the bed. She was just fine with reading books in her crib though. On this particular day, she was in bed until noon. Wow… this didn’t last long though, and we were quickly back to our normal routine. Although, I am definitely not complaining about her more typical hanging out in bed habits.

Jeff received Zoolights tickets from work so we planned to make a fun family night of it. Unfortunately, our tickets were for the same day that Walcott escaped our yard (as mentioned in a previous post). Thankfully, we found him with a nice couple via Craigslist but Jeff had to drop Clara and I at the zoo, pick up Walcott and take him home, and then join us at the zoo. Not exactly the family night we had in mind, but we still enjoyed it. Clara wasn’t too thrilled with the carousel but the talking giraffe was a highlight. We had just bought her some cold weather gear and were able to try it out before heading to Mississippi in a few weeks.

Clara is showing off her early Christmas present from Nana and Pops– a wheely bug mouse. It has been a huge hit.

Valentine’s Day 2014

February 14, 2014 by Jeff 1 Comment

Clara liked her flower…

Thanksgiving in Pine

January 28, 2014 by Beth Leave a Comment

We decided to rent a cabin in the mountains for Thanksgiving just to get away as a family. We had a really good time! It was beautiful there and relaxing. It was cold for us but we enjoyed bundling up and having a constant, cozy fire in the cabin. It was great to be outside and let Clara explore the woods. She learned about pine cones and acorns for the first time I think. They are just not very plentiful around Phoenix! We hiked at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. It was amazing! We went to an outdoor Christmas festival in Payson and even met Santa Claus in the small city hall of Pine after their Christmas parade. We managed to cook a pretty decent Thanksgiving dinner in our small cabin after bringing all of our food from home. This was our first family vacation with just the three of us (plus Walcott), and we hope to do it again soon!

Schnepf Farms and Halloween

December 8, 2013 by Beth 1 Comment

In October, we went with some friends to Schnepf Farms. We were surprised to see how much of an event it was. There were pig races, a dog stunt show, a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, and a lot more. It was a fun time!

We went over to some friends’ house for Halloween and just enjoyed some time hanging out. The kids were super cute in their costumes. Clara wore a cat costume that was given to her by Nana and Pops. As a child, I was a cat every Halloween for several years so my parents thought it was only fitting that Clara dress like a cat as well.

Christmas 2012

March 3, 2013 by Jeff 1 Comment

We were able to spend just over a month back in MS before heading to Phoenix to start my new job. It was great to get such an extended period with family and to let them get to know Clara better. Since we are so behind at posting we are just going to summarize this Christmas in pictures. Hope you like it…

While we were gone…

May 3, 2012 by Jeff Leave a Comment

So a lot has been happening in the Rottman household over the last few months. In no way do I use this as an excuse for my blogging delinquency, however, I’ll do my best to catch you up…

Mississippi Christmas

We’re Expecting!!!

We announced to our families by giving our Moms custom-made bibs. It was a great time (both times)!!

Winter San Carlos Trip

MLS in Tucson

Announcement Party: It’s a Girl!!!!!

We had a great announcement party with friends and family. We filled the cupcakes with pink icing and had the big reveal right after this picture. (Ryan didn’t want to wait)

The Maranto’s Visit

The destruction of my fingers

I dropped a railroad tie on my right hand and almost severed the tips of my index and middle fingers. I required a fair amount of stitches, but they seem to be healing nicely. Maybe I’ll put up some more pictures soon for those with strong stomachs.

Our Barcelona and Lisbon Trip

Christmas in North Carolina

February 5, 2011 by Jeff 7 Comments

Beth and I had the opportunity this Christmas to drive cross-country to North Carolina to spend Christmas with Beth’s sister Claire and her husband Mark. Their son Nathan had been born just days before we arrived. It was awesome to get to see him as well as hang out with the whole Maranto family. Due to the cold and snow we mostly hung out around the house, with a few outings to see Boone and a local cheese factory. It really was a very relaxing trip for Beth and me (one we hope to repeat soon). Here are some pictures from all the festivities.