Thursday, November 1, 2007

halloween-little people

Ok, so here are a "boatload" of pictures from Halloween. We had an eventful October this year. We carved pumpkins with McGoldricks and the missionaries....well, let me rephrase that....the missionaries carved pumpkins with our kids, the guys were watching a game, and I took pictures! The gooey mess is not my thing, but by the time these 2 missionaries left our area I totally had them trained. They knew where I kept all the cleaners and how anal I am about the kitchen counters. I was so surprised at how fast they had my kitchen clean after the pumpkin fiasco!!! We may not have been the best influence on the missionaries, but their wives will thank me one day!!! Lexi had a big Halloween party at school, it was so cute to see her interact with her friends. She has so many friends in her class this year, they all take dance and gymnastics together too. She is growing up so fast! We had McGoldricks over for soup and rolls before trick-or-treating and we saw everyone else while we were out. Not many pictures of the boys, they were with friends. Jake was with the Benedetti's and Small's, and Cameron went with the Myers. If you did not figure it out (and I can't imagine why you wouldn't) Cameron dressed up as Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox. We could not stop laughing, the wig was so funny. Our boys and their Red Sox, I think Jake was just the generic Red Sox player! Lexi was Jessie from Toy Story and Ethan was Buzz. We have the perfect neighborhood for "little kid" trick-or-treating. It's not very big, and the houses are close together. Lexi was in heaven with the little girls. It was a fun night!










halloween-big people

Our friends Todd and Dana have a halloween every year. Their is a big parade in town and back to their house for yummy food and games. Dana has such perfect parties. Her house looks absolutely amazing for every holiday and she makes great food. She's a great host and we always have so much fun. We missed Nicole and the Brostek's.

























































































































Wednesday, August 1, 2007

4th of July

It may have poured buckets, but it was still fun! Our friends Tom and Nicole had everyone over for a 4th of July party. Tom and Nicole made great food, the boys played basketball in the rain, little one's tore their house apart, and we did sparklers on the porch. I had no idea so many people could fit in such a small space. It was great! It's not very common to actually find the big fireworks on the 4th back here. Our town does them in June. They have a big Jamboree and finish it off with a big fireworks show. It's right across the street from our house so we have a front row seat for the whole thing!























This is one of my really good
friends in the neighborhood.
Ethan loves to play with both
of their boys.


























Heather trying to talk Jarrod
into not going home!
Too many people in a small
space for him.





























Ethan was completely oblivious
to the whole party.
He was completely content playing
with Thomas in the toy room.


























Parents had to take turns playing
referee to the kids in the basement
and we all ended up down there.

























Isn't he soooo funny! We try
not to laugh at him, it
only encourages him!














Sparklers on the porch. It was raining
and the only dry place the kids could
do sparklers. They didn't care and loved it!



It was so much fun spending this holiday with our friends. They have quickly become our CT family. They make it a lot easier to be so far from home.























































Friday, June 1, 2007

Lexi's Preschool Graduation























As you can probably tell from our faces, it was HOT and HUMID! Lexi went to Canton Community Nursery School for 2 years and loved it. It's a small little school in the woods, literally. It's old and does not have a/c, so there were more than a few crabby adults that day. The kids of course were totally oblivious. They had so much fun, they had their little ceremony and a big picnic lunch outside after. Her teachers this year were Mrs. Iskra and Mrs. Lane. At the beginning of the yr. Alexia could not say Iskra, she called her Mrs. Buttscratch. We never figured out why, but quickly taught her how to say it the right way!





Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Ethan's Dinosaur





















Ethan is such a funny little boy when it comes to his toys. He really loves his toys and takes very good care of them. When Jake was about Ethan's age Grandma and Grandpa W. gave him 4 of these little creatures. They moved and roared and jake was absolutely petrified of them. We had to box them up and I was tempted to send them to grandpa's to live!!!

Well....9 years and "????? moves later(too many to count!) Ethan found the dinosaurs. He was completely in love with them. We found mini marshmallows and fishy crackers in their mouths and had to explain to him that they were not real and definitely did not need food. Not the easiest concept to explain to a 3 year old!


With Ethan, we have learned to keep the camera handy at all times, because he does the funniest things. This would be one of those moments. He was very concerned that his dinosaur was thirsty and wanted some of his smoothie! If only toys could talk!!!



Thursday, February 1, 2007

February: Trip to Georgia

Every year our kids get a week off in February. If you live on the east coast, you know how cold and icky that month can be. The kids and I decided to take a trip down to Georgia to visit Aunt Jill and her family, Jarrod had to stay behind for work. The kids were awesome in the car and were so excited to get there. We absolutely love Sonic, more for the drinks than the food and we got excited as we passed signs for Sonic. We actually called Jarrod and had him map every one of them along the highway for us and we hit them all. The kids loved it. I think they had tried every flavor of slushy before the trip was over and we ended up with more than 1 straw poked through the bottom of the cup. We finally just started asking them for 2 cups! Yes, we did more than visit every Sonic between Connecticut and Georgia! It was so much fun to see Jill and Jeremiah. Christmas was a little crazy this year in Utah and emotions were running high and we did not all leave the best of friends. They live in such a cute town and did a great job fixing up their house. Jill is a good decorator. Ella was not too sure about us invading her space. Her and Ethan definitely had their moments. She was sick most of the time we were there, like really sick. The boys were just happy to be outside. They played baseball in the backyard, and even found some friends across the street. The weather was awesome. They thought it was a little chilly, but we came from the "negatives" so 70 was heavenly! Jeremiah and I went running everyday, it was so much fun to have someone to run with and we had some great conversations. I've never been able to spend that much time talking to him and living so far apart, felt like I did not even know him. It was so much fun getting to spend time with his family. We had dinner at his brother's house, the kids loved it. They got to ride on this big tractor thing in the dark and Scott and Cindy (Jeremiah's brother and his wife) took them to see this huge pig, I kept telling Cindy she needed to give the thing a bath....it really smelled! Jill and I got to talk a lot, I really miss that. We cooked, went shopping, spent a day at the beach and they took us to some really cool places. We went to the Okefenokee Swamp and saw alligators, St. Augustine, Cumberland Island, and Jacksonville, Fl. We even spent some time at his Aunt's house, which was definitely an experience. For fun, the kids have taken the hood of a car and turned it upside down, tied it to the back of an ATV and they ride around in the pasture on it. My kids did not participate in that activity, well....they did until their mother saw what they were doing! It was probably one of our more favorite vacations. Not because of the location, but because we were able to spend so much time with Jill and Jeremiah and Ella. We really miss them.



Lexi and Ethan had a huge fascination with Jeremiah's pineapple in the backyard.

The kids had so much fun at the beach. They played in the sand all day. It was so warm!


Our Family loves the beach and we could not have asked for a better day!

Ethan and Jake could have sat and watch the boat's in St. Augustine all day.



Scott and Cindy were awesome. They had us all over for dinner, they played with the kids and it was so much fun getting to know them. That was the one place the kids kept asking to go back after we got home.

Not one of my favorites, but Jeremiah was excited to take the kids to the Okefanokee Swamp. I could not believe how close we were to the alligators.


I love this picture of jill, she is so beautiful and doesn't even know it. Little Ella was so sick our entire week there.

Jill took us on a ferry over to Cumberland Island. It was a little chilly, but the kids got to run around and and we all sorts of animals. There were wild horses everywhere.


St. Augustine. This is such a cool place. Everything is so old.



Scott and Cindy's. Wherever we go Ethan seems to find a train. This was his favorite part of the whole trip.

Ethan was invading Miss Ella's space. He was tired and she was sick.....very bad combination!

St. Augustine, it was a warm beautiful day and lots of cool stuff to see.