Christmas Fun

We had a really good Christmas... different than normal as we really missed our "normal" Washington Christmas traditions a lot. We missed Christmas Eve at Aunt Lisa's for the birthday bash, we missed having Christmas Eve and morning with Nana and Papa around for all their fun and laughs and we missed hanging out on Christmas Day with our extended family. We made the best of it here in RI though, had a great church service on Christmas Eve and then we were invited over to Mark's boss's house and had a really good time, felt very welcomed and the kids did really well in the midst of a very large and expensive "Christmas Village" that was set up around the entire living room... imagine Caleb in a china shop!

Christmas morning the boys were so fun... they loved everything and our puppy Shelby was on hand every moment to steal the wrapping paper and terrorize it! We went to the movies in the afternoon, Caleb wanted to see the "raining gumballs movie" (Bedtime stories) and it was a hoot!

Love to all and know that we sure missed you all this year!

Snow Day

We had a lot of fun playing outside in our snow this afternoon.. talk about a lot of snow! They do a great job of clearing the roads here... so far anyway. We are pretty glad we have a 4WD SUV though.. makes it worth paying the high gas prices this summer.

There will be a day

This is a great song for today and what a joy in knowing that Lorin is with Jesus... no more pain and no more suffering.

When a 4 year old dresses himself....

This morning Noah was upstairs getting himself dressed for school, we had talked about what he would wear today and he went up and picked it all out and got himself dressed, what a big boy he is becoming... little did I know Caleb was also up there putting together and outfit, accompanied by his new snow boots we just got yesterday... too funny~! Gotta love a kids fashion sense huh! Did I mention that it is around 34 degrees here today and breezy... sad to say I made him change.

She's a Barbie Girl!

I tease the boys all the time that I am going to get them a Barbie for Christmas just so I will have someone to play Barbie's with... they always say, No way mom, those are for girls... and then along came my Shelby girl! She is a Barbie girl after my own heart... so what if their hair gets a little matted and feet and hands a little chewed up right! Ha ha! I love it!!

Cliffwalk... or as Mark calls it "the Catwalk"

It was a beautiful day here on Sunday so after church we decided to do the cliffwalk here (everytime we drive by it, Mark calls it the catwalk... he is such a goofball!)... Mark and I did the walk when we were here in March without kids looking for a place to live, but we knew they boys and Shelby would love it... what a beautiful view... it goes all along the ocean and is about 3.5 miles total.. I think we walked about 2 1/2. Shelby sure got a lot of oohs and aahs along the way... people sure love a puppy and she is so stinkin cute... irresistable.... :) The first picture is a generic one that shows the walk...

We are loving Fall in New England!

Fall in New England

We had the best trip this weekend up through Maine and New Hampshire... I LOVED all the colors, it was the most beautiful fall leaves I have ever seen! Here are a few pictures... we had a great time!

Bronco Family

So on Football days around here we are all forced to adorn ourselves with Bronco gear... we just happened to have an old Jersey from when the boys were little... guess who gets to wear that one!

Our Fun Weekend

We had a blast this weekend, went to Disney on Ice on Saturday ( I will post those pictures tomorrow) and then today Mark and Noah wanted to go golfing so Caleb and I went along and rented a golf cart and drove along... it was so fun... after we did a little shopping and they had all these costumes for pets at Target... how could I resist this little Ladybug one for Shelby!

Puppy Update

Shelby is doing so good... seriously she has been the perfect addition to our family... even Mark is totally in love with her... she had a little fever the other day when we took her for her puppy shots and Mark kept texting me from Chicago where he was on travel to find out how she was doing... it was too cute... At her vet appt this week she was up to 4.8 lbs... and as far as house breaking, she is doing awesome! I take her with us when I drop Noah off at school in the morning and when he hops out of the car she cries as we drive away... she loves these boys already and we all love her! I want to get her some clothes and talked about getting her a jacket for the winter... it gets really cold here and of course smarty pants Noah said... mom, she has fur :)

Back to School!

Today was a great day... can't believe I have a 1st Grader! He had such a great day and we are really happy with his teacher! I think it is going to be a great school year! Both boys wanted pictures in their new clothes (even though only one of them actually in school, had to be fair! ) they are too cute in their new shirts and shoes (I didnt even notice it was a Dragon type thing on his shirt till I saw these pictures... I saw the eagle and the athletic wording... missed the stinkin dragon!won't be wearing that one again!) The other pics were them hamming it up the other day :)

So much fun!

We love this puppy.. .she is just so much fun, she is so playful, loves running and running after the boys in the yard and then wears herself out and crashes on my lap while I am working... she is just so sweet and is doing an amazing job of housebreaking, even barking at me two different times yesterday when she needed to go out! It is like having another baby around though, we have to make sure there are no tiny toys on the floor b/c Shelby finds them every time, especially legos! Oh how she loves teething on legos!

Day at the Beach

One of our favorite things about the east coast is the beach... we love living so close and spend as much time there as we can... the kids just love being in the water and although the sand is a huge mess... we always have the best time... Mark and I kid around that we need to go to the beach when we are in the middle of an argument... something about the ocean... all stress is forgotten, there is no anger, no moodieness, just God's amazing creation! The boys have learned how to boogey board and are getting really good at it... the first session of swim lessons has really helped out and they are getting better and better in the water. We already have them signed up for the next session of lessons... they will be fish before we know it!

Our New Baby Girl

Well... we have had two great days with our new puppy so far... she is so much fun and only a couple tiny accidents in the house.. she loves to run and run and run with the boys until she can't run anymore. This is going to be a fun adventure for sure!