...And May All Your Christmases Be White...

Well, Merry Christmas, Ya'll!
This is what we woke up to this morning. Unusual for these parts! We love it though!
Apologies to the locals. It seems that the snow followed us from Illinois.

(Please don't notice the date. It's not accurate. Ben changed the batteries in the camera and didn't reset the date. Oh, and pardon the construction equipment in front of the house. It's not my husbands 'project car'. I does belong to a contracted construction crew. They assure as that they're almost done, but I've been hearing that for a month. Of course the project completion date was Nov 15, and we still can't use the road.)

Baby Jenna is growing up!

It's exciting and sad at the same time, but my sweet baby girl is growing up. She's been capable of walking for a few weeks now, but suddenly it just all came together for her. Crawling isn't cutting it anymore--it's gotta be on her feet! And when she tries to run...Oh What Laughter! She has the most adorable little shuffle. Oh, how I love this little girl!

First Snow Day in Tennessee

 

Yeah. So this is what things looked liked like this afternoon when we got the call that school's cancelled tomorrow. For SNOW! Hmmm.

Thanksgiving

We didn't go far for Thanksgiving this year. In fact, we stayed so close to home that you could say we didn't even leave the house. Lame, I know. But it worked for me. I enlisted the help of all the kids; Ben had to work late so he slept thru most of the morning while we were busy.
Andrew was in charge of the green bean casserole.

Josh made delicious garlicky mashed potatoes--REAL mashed 'tatoes.

Michael had fun with a knife and a stack of veggies, resulting in a marvelous relish tray.

William helped keep Jenna busy with all sorts of things.

And I, I smoked the turkey. I know it's not the prettiest bird, but it was tasty and thats what matters most at our house.

Halloween 2010

 

Ok, so this is actually costumes for a Ward Trunk or Treat, but since that's all we did, this is all I have.
Jenna-little ballerina, Andrew-well, you can choose if he's Napoleon Dinamite or just Andrew, Joshua-again, you choose if he's a braniac nerd or just Joshua, Michael-Stitch, and William-Superman!

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!

We've been in Tennessee less than a week and haven't adapted to the appetite of the mosquitoes yet. These are pics of William's face and arms and Michael's legs after only an hour outside. In case you find your self in similar shoes (didn't get the bugspray out fast enough) Caladryl is the BEST friend of a bug eaten body. Love that stuff!!

 
 
 
 

Moving...Again...

I would really like to play catch up on our fun summer, but I'm just too busy packing...Again! But this time, we're moving to Tennessee. We leave on the 18th of August. When we get settled down south, I promise to fill you in on the fun, the sorrows, the pictures, the miracles, the summer!

Jenna's 6 month visit

 

 

 

 

Andrew's first Scout Camp

We got back from our trip out west just in time for Andrew to leave for his first Scout Camp. He went to Camp Freeland Leslie in Wisconsin. ...gone for an entire week!

 

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day

 

(Michael was the one to make the special door hanger, but William wouldn't let me take a picture of him with it, until after he -william- had his picture taken!)
Happy Father's Day to all you DADS!

Spelling Bee news

So, my nephew Tom, (who's Andrew's age) made it to the National Spelling Bee. Reports are that he's doing great! He's made it thru the first two rounds...we'll see how well he does today!
Here are some internet links of his progress.
http://www.ctpost.com/national/slideshow/2010-Scripps-National-Spelling-Bee-813.php#photo-1
and
http://www.ctpost.com/national/slideshow/2010-Scripps-National-Spelling-Bee-813.php#photo-8

First foods...is it really time for that?

 

Jenna's first solid food was sweet potatoes. She seemed to be enjoying them....until she found her thumb!

surprises

...downloading the pictures and found this one....I think it will be great for blackmail later on, don't you?

 

and I found this one...



and this one...




and these...

Mr G Q

 

Michael helped get William dressed for church...Truth is, he's not colorblind. He really did think this matched!
(So we took some pictures, and ate lunch, then I could change his clothes without hurting Mick's feelings)

visitors

 

I had a surprise visit from my niece, Lori, and her boys. It was so fun to see her again, and to meet her sweet boys!
Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit!