Thanksgiving Pictures

Sorry about how light it is on the left. Jim had the camera set for the light in the room and by the time we all got in place, the sun came out.

A big thank you to Hillary for the use of her home and fixing the turkey. And a big thank you to Heather for the minute to win it games. That was a riot! We love you all.

Last Week

Here is picture I took of Jana's family when we were there. I'm not real good at the picture taking business, but hey, it was free.

Dad finally got to Chik-fil-A and we got to see the cow!
These are pictures from the reception, starting with the candy table.
The happy couple.
I love the expression on Joy's face.
Here we all are.

Thanks for all of your help, it went very well, even with the couple of glitches we had.

Jamie Hyneman

That was Harvey's costume this year: Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters. Simon was Adam Savage, and the four of us went as the "build team". I was a bit apprehensive because when we were getting the boys dressed, Harvey started throwing a fit that he didn't have a cool shirt like Simon. We told him if he was good through the pictures he could wear whatever he wanted. Since we finished the pictures outside, he could see other kids already trick-or-treating, so he forgot about the shirt and we were off.

Simon actually wanted to stop after only a handful of houses, so Joe kept feeding him candy to keep him going. Harvey loved it. This is the first Halloween that he's really gotten excited about, so it was a lot of fun for us, too. We left a bowl of candy at our door so we could both go out. Harvey was so much fun. He kept saying how much he loved him costume. A lot of people even recognized who they were supposed to be.



And here's a picture of my latest creation. It's our baby-shower gift for one of Heather's cousins.

A Very Scary Hairy Halloween!

Carson's duck feet had to be taped on with packing tape. Poor kid, the first boy yet he's wearing his sister's hand-me-downs.

This is the best picture of Addie's wings we have. I think they turned out pretty. I shaped them with wire hangers, and it took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. They were very hard to manipulate, even with pliers. I then used white nylons (2 pairs for $0.33 each!) and hot-glued the pipecleaners on for the designs. She was so proud of her "hot-pink butterfly, and orange too" outfit. (And, to be honest, so was I!)

Here is Macie, on the run with her older friends. There are a few 9 and 10-year-olds in our ward who just LOVE her and take her everywhere with them. She loves the attention and was the most adorable Chick-Fil-A cow around! We had a great Halloween.

Muppet Movie

There is a new Muppet Movie coming out on Thanskgiving. I thought it would be fun if we go see it as a family! I'm sure not everyone, for one reason or another, will go, but I'd like to, and want to invite y'all to join me! I was thinking Thanksgiving night, or Friday night. What say ye?

Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! We had lots of fun this year. The good part was that I only had to make one part of one costume!

halloween

 The ballerina.

 The pirate...look at that vest, Mom, you made it.

 I had to throw this in here, I made these twins hats for their costume.

 Tonight instead of trick or treating we carved our pumpkins.

Noah was serious about carving this time.

Lucy also wanted to help.

This one is Noah's...he actually carved a lot of it.

 This one is Eric's

This one's mine.

Happy Halloween!!

pumpkins & family business

I'm sure most of you look at our family blog, but just in case, here are our jack-o-lanterns! I'm just happy we actually carved some this year, I was so disappointed that we skipped it last October. Here they are! I like them better with the lights on, so you can see their awesome ears!

Now, to business. I need to know what I'm supposed to have ready by the time we come up for the wedding/Thanksgiving trip.

1. We are exchanging family gifts, correct?

2. We are also doing an adult white-elephant exchange, correct?

3. Are we waiting to give Mom & Dad their present until Christmas? I still haven't received anything from anybody! Not that I've done it myself...

A Question For the Parents

I'm thinking that for Christmas I will give each of the grandchildren a Christmas ornament. Since we are doing Christmas at Thanksgiving, that will give them a month to see it on the tree instead of getting it at Christmas and not seeing it again until next year. My question to you is, what things are your children into? Dad and I are going to go to Bronner's and find an ornament to go along with what you tell us, so I need some ideas. Please let me know.

Jim's Haircut

Here are two different lengths of Jim's haircut. They aren't that much different because he didn't have me use a very short guard on the clippers, but I think for the wedding he should have a normal haircut and not buzz it like he usually does. I am taking votes, so what do you all think?

fall in full swing

WE LOVE FALL! These are some cute ghost treats Addie and I made for bookclub last night. The ladies loved them, and as you can see, so did the kids!

Macie, Carson and I went on a walk downtown a few mornings ago. The weather was beautiful and we got a handful of cute pictures.

Addie's preschool went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch last week. We rode the hayride (although there was no hay), got to pet the animals at the petting zoo, play in the corn box and on the combine-turned-playground, and, of course, picked pumpkins! It was so fun to see her interact with the other kids in her class. She is so sweet and sensitive to others and giggles all the time. It was a fun day.

WE LOVE FALL!

Moving

We got our much anticipated email today telling us where we matched for rotations.  We matched to our #1, York, PA and we are super excited!!!  Just thought you should know!

our cute kids

Addie on her first day of preschool. She LOVES her preschool (and so do I!). It is a cooperative school, which means it is driven by parents serving on committees and being very very involved in the classroom. We are meeting a lot of great families. Jason is actually going to be visiting in a few weeks to talk to the kids about their eyes. It's a good way to get his name out there, and we like being so involved. In true Addie fashion, though, when I ask her what she did that day she usually just tells me what they had for snack time...she loves food!

Here is Macie, playing Mom, acting all grown up. We started potty-training her about a week ago and she's doing pretty well. She is great at going #1, but still hasn't gone #2 on the potty. Oh well, we'll keep going. She's been fairly enthusiastic about it so far. On Labor Day we had her hair cut into a little bob, and her verbal skills have exploded over the last month or so. She's getting so grown up!

And Carson, our smiley little guy. He's happy as long as I'm nearby. He LOVES anything with wheels--cars, the rolling telephone, and especially our doll strollers. He spends a lot of time spinning and spinning and spinning the wheels, or pushing the toys around the floor infront of him. Still not crawling or even getting himself up into a sitting position, but hopefully soon. He has a doctor appointment in a week to track his weight gain. He's even smaller than Macie was, not on the charts, and actually declining on his own curve (and that is the real concern). I'm trying to beef him up with (what else?!?) lots of cream cheese! Mmmmm...

Can't wait to see you all. Sorry I've been MIA lately from this blog and our family blog. I'll try to be better about posting.

Fall

Marilyn Crofts, Betsy Bennett and I went to the Dexter Cider Mill on Wednesday. Kurt you could go on your lunch hour!
On Friday Dad and I went on our over night trip up North. It rained on Friday practically all the way the up, but we still saw some pretty colors.
I know you all heard me talk about seeing the Effiel Tower in Paris, MI, and here it is.
This is a big trout fountain in front of the historical museum in Kalkaska, MI.

This is a tiny church and the world's largest pie pan just south of Charlevoix, MI.
The clock tower on Little Traverse Bay at Petoskey, MI. We had dinner with Heather's parents at a bar where Ernest Hemmingway used to go. We went to several cider mills along the way and got to see a lot of the state that we've never seen before. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, which made up for the rain the day before. We had a great time.