We Are Ready for Our Close Up

We have not ever had a true family photo shoot and it was about time.  We used a friend's referral and could not have been happier.  Well, the photographer was awesome, but we had some cranky pants at our photo shoot.  I guess we could've been happier....  At any rate; she did a great job with cranky kids and all and got some adorable shots.  Here are just a few of our favorites.

Turkey Day

Turkey Day for us is always one filled with tasty food and fun family.  This year was a little smaller than planned.  Since Holly arrived early; she was unable to make the long car ride down (and truthfully, I wasn't sure she should be around kiddos yet with her new immune system).  Anyway, so ... that left us and Gma and Gpa Cannode.  Thank goodness my little chef wanted to help with the meal!  He was quite the pumpkin pie maker!

We were blessed with warmer weather again, which meant some time for baseball.  Thankfully, Pat is a great pitcher!  The boys were hitting it out of the park!

With just a few of us eating, we determined a large turkey didn't make sense.  Instead, we chose to make our first drunken chicken and some ham.  It was delicious!  I can't wait to make another one! No one even missed the turkey!

After eating all that goodness, it was time for our holiday walk in the park.  The kids are getting really good on the walks and don't even get tired anymore!  Very proud of my healthy guys.  On our walk, we were able to find a few furry friends.  In fact, we saw a heard of 6 white tail deer!  As you can see by how close we were... these deer are pretty friendly.

Yup, our Thanksgiving was missing a few important family members (ones we wished were there from ND and ones that were a mere hour away), but overall... it was a very successful holiday!  We are so thankful for family and especially thankful for our new niece and that both Holly and April and healthy and happy!

First Snow

We got a pretty good cold snap for about a week.  After a week indoors... mommy and kids were ready to snap at a moments notice.  We even got excited about shoveling as it was something to do outdoors.

We were excited to see the weather warm up and still have snow on the ground.  Time to get outdoors and time for our first sledding day!  Kris pulled the kids through the neighborhood until it was time to throw a few snowballs.  We made it to the sledding hill in no time.

We have pulled the kids in a sled, but they had not yet gone sledding down any hills.  We had a good one nearby and gave it a shot.  I think it was perfect for their skill level.

I've never seen such happy, snowy faces in my life.  These kids Love to go sledding! I look forward to many more days this winter.

Holly in November

Normally we would talk Holly when it comes to Christmas, but that is not that the case this time.  Holly Marie Cannode is the Star of this blog.  Holly was due on Dec 10th and decided she couldn't wait.  She arrived a tad early and was born on Monday, Nov 10th and weighed in at 4 lbs and 14 oz and 18 inches.  And... was ... Perfect!

It was a bit of a difficult day for both April and Holly.  We were very worried with her arrival being so early and April had some difficulties.  Without delving into the details... I will end with the exciting news that both are healthy and home enjoying time cuddling with each other.  But, not before Holly requested the use of the hospital tanning salon.  A Diva already; requesting to be a bronze beauty... oh boy, David and April... you are in trouble during those teenage years.  "What Holly wants... Holly gets".

Kris and I visited our new niece in the hospital on her 2nd day of life.  She was so tiny and so beautiful at the same time. The boys couldn't come in with us due to her being so tiny and April still recuperating. They were very understanding and hung out with Gma and Gpa while we visited Holly.

On her way home, they couldn't use their car seat, they needed a preemie car seat.  Look how tiny she was and it was in a 'Preemie Car seat".  Wow. We are just glad she is home being rocked by her mama and all are doing well.

Holly eats well and is growing like a weed.  She will soon be out of her preemie car seat and into a regular one.  She is so tiny yet has such long legs, piano fingers and definitely has significant plans for this world.  You can just see it in her eyes.  We love her and enjoy every minute we spend with her.  Can't wait to watch Kasey and Karsten running around the yard with her a few years from now.

Kasey and Karsten couldn't visit her in the hospital, but we visited their home shortly after.  Kasey's comment was"'oh - her ears are so tiny".  Really? just her ears? Karsten liked 'petting her like a dog' ~ I think he honestly just liked how soft her hair was. Both comments made us laugh.  I just love how kids see the world.  In the end, both kids said Holly was so pretty and that they loved her.  Will be fun watching these cousins grow up together.

Yup, this girl is PERFECT!  Can't wait until we can watch her while her parents go on a date!  Any time, guys.... anytime!

Happy Cybertron Halloween

What else would we be this Halloween other than Bumblebee and Optimus Prime!  It has been a Transformer kind of year.  We could not have been more happy to find these costumes.

Even mommy and daddy got in on the fun.  Amy was Cleopatra and Kris was her boyfriend, Marc Anthony.

It was another lovely evening to trick or treat... ok, it was truthfully a little windy and cold, but we stuck it out in hopes of tasty candy.

We did things a little backwards this year.  After Halloween, we cut up the pumpkins we received from Grandma Sandy and Papa Bill.  The boys had fun and were thrilled with the outcome of their pumpkins.  Daddy did a great job cutting exactly on the lines drawn by the boys.