Easter

The weather couldn't have been more perfect on Easter. We enjoyed a wonderful morning of going to two services together as a family because it was my week for volunteering in children's church. After that we headed over to the Jones' for a relaxing day of hanging out together. 

 This picture didn't do Audrey justice for how gorgeous she looked that day. 

She was definitely a princess and she enjoyed every minute of it.

 Alex and "baby" Jacob

 Ethan, Audrey and Jacob

 Cooperating as much as possible to take pictures. The really wanted to start looking for eggs.

 Ready, Set...

 GO!!!!

 "Baby" Jacob wasn't sure what the hurry was about!

 I think everyone was happy with the amount of eggs they found!

 Pictures of us were an after thought as we were getting ready to leave to go home.

One of these days I'll remember that pictures of the parents are just as important as the kids.

Christmas 2011

We opened presents at home on Friday, December 22nd!

Jacob and Ethan got the entire collection of baseball cards for 2011!

Jacob looks like he is the happiest one in this picture, but Ethan loves them just as much and is constantly making different lists of his favorite teams and players.

Audrey got her first American Girl doll and named her Audrey! So cute!

Road Trip

It took us 16 hours to drive from St. Louis to New Jersey, but the only thing uncomfortable about the trip is Doug didn't put the bubble on the top of the car so we were packed in like sardines.

Since we would be gone for a whole week, we didn't want to leave our guinea pig, Bucky, at home. The kids have become very attached to him and he is definitely part of the family. He also proved to be a very good traveler like the kids. When we stayed the night in a hotel, we put him in this small cage, but we had a bigger cage for him in the car.

These Yankee sweatshirts were a big hit with the boys! 

Pop Pop and Ethan

Vivi and Audrey

After we spent Christmas at Dan and Kim's we headed to Milford, PA to spend a few days with Doug's parents. Earl had a chance to take the kids to his work and one of his favorite diners in town. Doug also has great memories of going to his office and the diner as a kid. So, it was great for the kids to learn about that part of their lives.

The big gift for the year was from Pop Pop and Vivi. After the kids studied Astronomy last year they developed a love for the solar system, so their grandparents decided to invest in an amazing telescope for them. We were all extremely grateful, and it will be something we will use for many, many years. 

Thanks Pop Pop and Vivi!!

Thanksgiving

We were lucky to have our very good friend, Danny, the Jones', and Doug's sister, Jeanne, spend Thanksgiving with us. 

Danny has a been a close friend since Spokane and we have seen him at various places where we've lived, like Lacey and now here. It's always great when Air Force friends cross paths because it's usually unexpected or last minute. Danny drove from Kansas to be with us and we were so happy to have him with us for the holiday. 

The only unfortunate part about Thanksgiving is that I wasn't very good about taking pictures so this is the only one I took. I really need to get better about that!!

Miss Audrey looking so sophisticated in Jeanne's glasses. 

Each year The National Shrine of our Lady of Snows has a tour of lights called "Way of Lights" which tells about Christ's birth. Surprisingly, we live only 15 minutes from the shrine, so we have gone every year to see it and this year we took Jeanne.  In addition to driving through the lights, Fontanini comes to sign his nativity pieces the weekend after Thanksgiving. We met him last year when I bought my nativity set and had him sign it, so this year Jeanne got to meet him and have a picture taken with him. 

We had a great visit with Jeanne and it's always tough to say goodbye, but we are so happy to have the memories of spending time together.

Halloween

As with all holidays, I always plan on having more planned to celebrate the day and it tends to be a last minute effort to make it special. Even though I didn't have all the details planned like I wanted to, I was able to pull some things out of the hat at the last minute.

Ethan (Jango Fett), Jacob (Anakin Skywalker), Audrey (Raggedy Anne) Alex (a Smurf)

All of their costumes needed some repairs or fixing. I had fully intended on doing that weeks before, but on the day of Halloween I was adjusting Jacob and Ethan's belts, sewing Jacobs shirt because the hole for his head wasn't big enough and I completely redid Audrey's hair. Thankfully, I got it all done and didn't make anything look worse because of it.

My last miracle of the night were the cupcakes. I had no idea how I was going to decorate them, but this is what they morphed into. I actually impressed myself for only having 30 minutes to make them into something special. The kids were a little surprised too and their laughter made it all worth it.

The kids of course had a great time trick or treating and got tons of candy. Jacob was also a trooper and sat with Doug at the end of the night to pull everything out of his pumpkin that had chocolate, wheat and peanuts. The only thing I have to say is thank goodness he is our child with IBD. If it was one of the other two I'm not sure how we would survive it.

Easter

This Easter was really fun for us and the kids. Doug and I went out on Saturday night to buy the kids their first pet. We came home with a guinea pig and a really large cage that thankfully blends in with the fireplace. See if you can pick it out in the background.

Since we've had so many storms in the last few days they had to go hunting for eggs in the basement. 

So Sweet. Daddy and his little girl.

Our new guinea pig! Bucky!!

Already a part of the family

Last Pictures for 2010

Gingerbread 5K Run 

December 4th

My 40th Birthday Surprise Party!!

 Me and Cammie

My long time friend from our days in Spokane, WA.

 Anne Marie and Me

One of my new home school friends. Our kids also have a lot of fun together.

 Dave and Sandi

Dave works with Doug, they live down the street from us and they've become our good friends.

Unfortunately, someone didn't do a very good job with taking pictures so these were pretty much all I had even though I had a lot of other good friends that were there.

Oh wait...actually there was this really good picture taken of Doug with his friends. Well, at least I have a really good picture of the boys! Maybe for his 40th I'll make sure I get a picture of me and the girls.

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

 

 

Christmas Eve at the Jones' House

 Jeremy, Jennifer, Jeremy's parents (Sue and Kenny) and baby Jacob

 Ethan, Jacob, Alex and Audrey

 Jen and Me

 Our house when we got home that night.

Christmas Morning

 

 

 

 You think she got enough dolls for Christmas? And what about that doll house?

 Star Wars and legos were the main theme for the boys' gifts!

We had so much fun on Christmas that we didn't get around to sledding until the next day.

 

 Keeley (our next door neighbor) and Audrey

 

Tuckered out after a big day of sledding!