Meeting Cousin Eli

We went to North Carolina to celebrate Christmas with family. But an added bonus was meeting baby Eli for the first time.

Anna Ruth had long referred to him as "My Baby Eli" so she was ecstatic about finally meeting him (as were the rest of us).

Christmas Day on the 20th

Christmas 2015!

We planned to travel to North Carolina to spend Christmas with the Nolens so we had our at home Christmas Day on the 20th. 

stocking treats

Anna Ruth could have quit opening presents after she got this bracelet.
This girl loves jewelry!

The scooter he had been asking and hoping for

A princess castle!
(Notice the necklace)

a need, a want and a book

We have sweet friends who spoil our kids.
Miss Jessie gave Joshua a personalized cowbell and Star Wars walkie-talkies!

Miss Jessie gave Anna Ruth a personalized cowbell and a singing Elsa doll!

Aunt Martha was thoughtful and gave the kids these super soft travel pillows for our long car ride to Durham!

We had a blast celebrating Christmas. It was fun to see the kids excited about giving and receiving gifts. We played with our toys for a couple days and then hit the road.

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving 2015 took us all back to Camp Dawson for the long weekend.

There were record breaking numbers of family members and quantities of food.

A rare moment...when Anna Ruth reached up to take Tanner's hand as we walked back to the house from the barn. She is typically very selective about who she allows to be close to her and Tanner was found fit that day.

Just before the highly competitive family softball game Joshua stole a hug from Coach.

Anna Ruth and I slept in side by side bunch beds. She looks like a teenager playing on her device early in the morning. Dave and Joshua slept in a tent to avoid the snoring of countless men in the bunk house. They had a blast!

hear comes the pitch!

We loved having time to catch up with family we hadn't seen since the last reunion.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

In an effort to order our Christmas cards early and get a steep discount in price, I took the kids to campus one afternoon and bribed them with candy in exchange for cooperation and smiles.  Bribery for the win!

Slowly catching up....

It has been too long. I have been busy and have a lot of catching up to do. I promise to work on to catch up and stay up to date as this is our baby/big kid book for both our kids. So...Halloween 2015...

Joshua, the army ranger.

Anna Ruth, the piggy

 At first Anna Ruth was not sure about wearing a costume, at all (see the sad piggy picture above). But after the first piece of candy was dropped in her bag, she was all about knocking on doors!

The night started off rainy but let up right at trick-or-treat time. We made our way to several friends' homes and had a great time.

Doin' the Robot!

Several years ago we shared this post where Joshua is Rosco the Robot.

This week, Joshua and Anna Ruth showed off their dancing skills.

Enjoy and you're welcome!

Patch da Pumpkin

What is October without a trip to the pumpkin patch?

Our faithful readers know we visit the pumpkin patch most years.  You can revisit those trips here, here, here, and here.

The horse swings were a hit! 

Anna Ruth would have stayed on this all day if she could have. But the last Saturday before Halloween proved to be a busy day at the patch and kids were lined up waiting their turn.

Joshua tried to run in the barrel but got so tickled with his falling that he could hardly walking in it.

Anna Ruth rocketed out of the slide.

 The corn box is always a favorite. Corn ends up in every pocket, sock, shoe and underwear but when else will you ever get to play in huge boxes of corn kernels?

4 feet tall and growing!

a protested 3 feet tall

Riding the "train" was on the top of our to-do list. Anna Ruth was ecstatic about it until it was time to take off. Dave and I waved and encouraged Joshua to hold on to her. She quickly quit screaming and was even smiling when they came back to the station. 

Happy Fall from the Nolens!

Bone Crushers

Joshua loves playing soccer. He was excited to learn that he was on the same team with a friend from last year's team and that in the absence of a coach with any soccer experience, Dave would coach his team. 

Joshua's team is sponsored by the local radiology clinic and so it was only fitting that they call themselves the Bone Crushers.

Celebrating a goal scored

Joshua loves his soccer friends

One game was extra special because 2 church friends were on the opposing team.

goalie

kickoff

Dave and Amelia: 432 month update

Dave and Amelia both turned 432 months this week!  My how time is flying by! 

Dave is working at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library. He is editing an annotated edition of Grant's memoirs and is the reference librarian for the department.  Dave continues to serve on the session at church and recently took on the role of soccer coach for Joshua's soccer team. Dave is a good sleeper and has been known to snore.  Dave's favorite foods include: roasted broccoli, stuffed peppers, and beans and rice. Dave loves to play legos, watch/talk Star Wars and watch music videos on youtube with his kids.

Amelia is working part-time at church, a local hospital and for a campus ministry.  She loves getting to pick the kids of up from school in the afternoon. Amelia is a good sleeper too, in fact has been known to fall asleep during the later kickoff football games (Amelia never snores!).  Amelia loves to cook, spend time with people and watch the food network.  She also loves playing baby dolls, painting little girl toe nails and is trying to learn enough about Star Wars to talk to her son and husband.  

We are grateful for birthdays at our house!