Happy Holidays!

We had a great Christmas in our new house but are excited to take off to visit family in Rochester over the next week! Enjoy the pictures...and Happy New Year!

xmas eve

xmas 2008

Zachary's school Holiday Party

Z's xmas party

silly boys

backyard sledding

wondering where the babies are???

brush brush brush

j + z = double trouble

weekend pictures

December 6 - tree hunt

December 6 - pj party

mission accomplished

So, it has been a long journey...but Zach and Santa are now buddies. It started over Thanksgiving weekend when Zach was with Papa and Oma and saw Santa at the mall....he wanted NOTHING to do with him and was in tears when he came within 50 feet! In fact, they had to head the opposite direction so they wouldn't get any closer! ha! Then this past week we went to the mall again (go figure) and Zach told me he didn't want to see Santa so we didn't. Yesterday, Zach and I were running an errand and accidently entered a store where Santa was sitting....he didn't want to get too close but was willing to wave from a distance. I think this gave him confidence because as we were tree shopping this morning again we ran into Santa....and this morning he gave Santa a high five and told him he wanted a guitar and elmo tickets! =) Well, tonight we had a PJ party with Santa and Zach sat right up on his lap and talked, sang jingle bells...and told him - "see ya soon" =)!!! Merry Christmas!!

thanksgiving weekend

November 30 - Thanksgiving Weekend

so very thankful

hair cuts

The boys had their first official haircuts today and did very well. Lucas was entertained by a couple of toys and Jake enjoyed his first lollipop in order to keep him still. We didn't have enough hands to bring the camera along (and we forgot it) but enjoy these "after" shots. They look so grown up and so darn handsome!

ROUGH few days

It started with Lucas on Saturday morning...by Sunday afternoon it had spread to Jake....Sunday night was Eric and then by Monday afternoon it was Zach and I. We are all on the mends but Jake was at the doctor this morning ...he topped it all off with an ear infection! Hey...somehow we are all still smiling!

school days

Zachary Thomas started school back in August and is loving every minute of it! It is a 2 year-old program and is for an hour and a half two days a week. His teachers names are Mrs. Berner and Mrs. Hine and he has a lot of great buddies (9 kids in his class). One day a week is art (one on one with the teacher)...they work on scissor skills, pasting, painting, etc. and then the other day is story time and music. It is great because he gets one on one attention and also the group interaction. =)

Halloween 2008

October 31 - @ school

October 31

we are ready

brotherly love?

week of celebrations

Opa and Yaya came into town on Thursday and the celebrating began. Eric and I went out to dinner and a movie to celebrate 4 HAPPY years of marriage! It was great to be ALONE and to know the kids were being well taken care of. Thanks Opa and Yaya!! =) Friday the celebrating continued with Yaya's birthday - we were so happy we could be together to make the day special!! Saturday, Eric and I headed to Columbus for the Buckeye game (part of my 30th bday present) - we enjoyed our time together but I was sad the Buckeyes couldn't pull it off. Anyway - we are so thankful for our "babysitters" - the boys loved their time together!! Enjoy the photos!

October 26

Michigan weekend

We traveled up to Brighton, MI last weekend to spend some time with Eric's Grandmother Falls, GG (great grandma)Falls for Z,J,and L. It was a beautiful drive and a fun weekend - we were thrilled to see so many people!! Aunt Hariette took us to dinner on Saturday night and her and Zach really bonded (so glad we got a photo of the two of them for Zach to enjoy!). Sunday we met GG Falls over at Uncle Tim & Aunt Patty's and got to hang out with Kelli & Jamie and even see TJ and Laurie for a bit. They cooked us up a delicious lunch and the boys were loving all the attention from the family.

We love this picture of Eric and Grandma - we were so happy to visit with her and have her spend some time with the boys!! Hopefully we didn't tire her out too much!
This picture was taken at GG Fall's place in her now infamous red chair. This chair provided a lot of entertainment for the kids as Zach took the twins for "rides" with the automatic recline controller.


Uncle Tim took Zach out on the dock to feed the Swans - it was a perfect fall morning. It was the cutest thing....Zach would take a bite of the bread and then throw a piece in the water...


Another highlight - jammin' on the piano with Kelli!

We had to attempt some photos....it truly is a beautiful place and a pretty time of year.


The boys loved crawling around on the plush grass...Lucas had everyone entertained by his butt-scooting talent - by the end of the afternoon he had a grass-stained bottom! =)

Michigan 10.18

incline

It was such a great day we headed downtown to check out the Duquesne Incline.

The ride up...





view from the top...

local Fall festival

Our cousin Ben and his girlfriend Ashley came to visit over the weekend so we decided to check out a nearby Octoberfest. It wasn't what we expected but there were a lot of fun activities for Zach to enjoy.



Zach enjoyed feeding the animals with Ashley....



family photo....minus the twins...


Funny story here. The first time the fireman set up the flames Eric knocked them all down before Zach had a chance.....luckily they were nice enough to give Zach a chance too.


Zach just loves these inflatable things....

three amigos