Washington, D.C.

 
With Lily just 2 weeks old, Anthony had to leave us for a business trip in the states.  At least he had a few extra hours to see some very patriotic sites!  (The bottom right picture he messaged for the kids:  President Shontz.  They replied, "We'd vote for you Daddy!")

Lily's Baby Blessing

 

Since my parents weren't able to make the trip for Lily's birth, we decided to have Anthony bless her in our home and add them via Skype.  Grandma Marlene was visiting and it was wonderful to share the blessing with both her and my parents (thanks to modern technology!).
A few years ago, my mom found my baby blessing dress from 33 years ago, so we chose that one for Lily instead of re-using Brooke's.  As I was putting it on Lily, Andrew said to me, "Mom, be careful; it may disintegrate!" 

A Day in London

With Anthony home on paternity leave, this lot enjoyed a fun day in the city:  Tower of London, Tower Bridge and a quick trip back to the Museum of Natural History (because what kid can resist those dinosaur bones...again!?)

Lily, 1 Week Old

 

 

Walk

A walk along the river, with lightsabers (for the bears of course).

Baby Lily

Snow Day!

Thanks to everyone that joined the igloo building crew! Brooke was a tough superintendent (pointing out all the cracks in the structure and insisting on decorative touches such as lining the walls with berries), but in the end it managed to pass inspection and even kept Andrew and Anthony relatively warm throughout the night.

iPhone Photos

I love that I can capture more of the everyday with my new phone:
Commentary, from left to right:
Matthew pushing Brooke on the swing on a Saturday park trip/bike ride (always a gentleman); all my clean ducks in a row; Brooke dolled up at church (with sock curls) writing very important messages on the chalkboard; Will's Christmas cracker crown; Andrew's daily climb on the school run; the boys; Will's best mate Jake ("Yakie") coming to play; our favorite tree from the Fall season (contained every color, passed on the school run); playing at the mall; the Fall spiderwebs on Chancellor Ave; Andrew climbing again (the trees and the fences are constants but he seems to try anything these days); funny faces; "Cheeeese"; hand and face impressions (still at the mall); one of Will's constant phrases: "Missy, wanna pay?"; my Thursday Crafternoon-ing friends (love these girls!).

Three Christmas Dates

 

 

Bowling with Matthew, Cinema with Andrew (Arthur Christmas), and Theater with Brooke (Sleeping Beauty Panto).  The best Christmas presents I've ever received: a one-on-one date with each of my kiddies. Thanks Santa! 

Happy Christmas!!

 Christmas Decorations

 

School Nativity Plays

 

Making Gingerbread Houses

 

Visiting Father Christmas

  Ward Christmas Party and Good Friends 

 

 Christmas Eve Fondue Dinner

 

Santa Came!!

 

Christmas Morning

 

Skyping Family

Before and After

Christmas Card

 

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy 2012!

Celebrated from the comfort of our own couch, with all the kids nestled in their beds

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 Anthony did an amazing job barbequing our turkey this year (our first of many after tasting it!!), which left me more time for harvest decorating.  We had a wonderful time hosting our dear American friends, but somehow neglected to take any photos of us all together.  Thank you Haymore's and Schwartz's; it was a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yellow Piano!

We thought we'd revive our old piano by giving it a makeover. Here are the before and after shots.

Work in progress. With four workers, the job should go four times faster, right? With these three little helpers it actually took much longer, but was certainly four times more fun. 

The finished masterpiece!

Happy Halloween!

We did Halloween big this year combining it with Andrew and Brooke's 6th Birthday party. 
Pumpkin and skeleton crafts, spooky photo booth, pass the parcel, pumpkin pinata, candy corn Jell-O and a Halloween dance party;  it was a blast!  But by far the best entertainment was Anthony in his mummy costume!  Between this party, our ward trunk-or-treat, then Monday's trick-or-treating we got the most out of it possible!

Brooke and her mummy on the orange carpet

Santorini, Greece

 

Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary to us!

1st anniversary: surprise trip to Carmel, 5th anniversary: surprise trip to Sonoma.  I should have been ready for something for our 10th, but Anthony managed to completely surprise me again.  When a girlfriend asked me to take her to the airport on Friday morning I thought nothing of it, until we arrived and there was my Anthony standing on the curb with our bags packed for a weekend away!

We spent 3 days on Santorini: eating amazing food, relaxing by the pool and taking a private sailboat around the island (thanks to Captain Mike).  The views and sunsets were amazing, and the trip was perfect.

Will, 2 years old

 
 Will's 2nd birthday somehow came and went in a flash.  We did open presents and even light a candle on some fancy cupcakes, but somehow this is the only cute picture I could find to document his day.
Will seems to be happiest with his cars at the moment:  "pay caars" is his daily request.  He carries around Woody, Buzz and the baddie (Zurg) all day (and night) and his favorite thing to watch is Little Einsteins.  He is starting to have a preference what he wears, loves to dance and is still amazing at jumping on the trampoline and kicking a soccer ball.  He is such a fun kid to have around and is becoming more like everyone's buddy than our little baby boy.  Happy Birthday Will-man!    

Imperial War Museum, Duxford

 
With Ashley out of town for the weekend, Anthony took the kids to the manliest museum he could find: the Imperial War Museum near Cambridge