Christmas with Corey and Carissa

Twins once again

Trying to get a good photo of these two is next to impossible!

Christmas '08

These happy faces make all the stress of the holidays melt away!

Favorite Gifts

Our annual "favorite gifts" photo!!

the joy of "Rock Band"

Drummer boy

Ian's holiday band concert was delightful as always! He does such a good job and looked so cute! And best of all...38 minutes from start to finish!!!! Now that's what I call a GREAT program!

Cousins...

Thankful on Thanksgiving...

...for my four little monsters!

Yes, it's true...

I VOLUNTARILY chose to marry this man...

A typical scene...and Samantha's reaction...

A future as a balloon making clown?

Election '08

I'm glad it's finally over...I hate the commercials badmouthing each candidate, the fact that there is nothing else on TV, the arguments with my husband =), etc. But I have to say, as I watched the coverage last night and this morning, I was overcome with emotion. Not so much because Obama won...I did vote for him and think he is the best choice...but more because of the awesomeness of the lessons for my children. Awesomeness as in huge!! Number one...the power of democracy and the power of each person's right and duty as a US citizen to vote...no matter who they're voting for. Number two..and most importantly...the fact that FINALLY this country has looked past skin color and chosen a man for his beliefs and not what he looks like. I like what I'm seeing, people, and I like what this says to my kids. I think it's as powerful, if not more, than anything I can preach to them. I have hope that things are looking up...

A musical family? Hmmmm, not sure about that...

Halloween...

Pumpkins, parties, and trick-or-treating.... ahhh, good times!!

Photo by BK

Fall Fun!

You may be noticing that Samantha is the only one who has pictures on the blog recently...well, that is because all three boys throw BIG baby fits when I try to take their pictures. Hopefully, I'll be able to remember what they looked like at these ages because there aren't many photos!

Braces...

To add on to my last post...braces have now been added...

Poor Samantha

Because lucky little Samantha got my eyes and her dad's teeth, this is what we see most evenings. A patch over her "good" eye to strengthen the "bad" one and her head gear which attaches to her mouth full of orthodontia to help her underbite. Poor Samantha...this picture makes me so sad...

Ian and Samantha say "Halloween Fun!", Mac says "Pure Torture"

Wine Time 2008

This is the only picture we have of our fun filled wine tasting weekend in Indy because we were soooo busy having fun!! We had so many laughs and made lots of memories with Ellen! Can't wait till next year!

Sweater by Grandma

A beautiful sweater for my beautiful girly!

The big 6-0!

What an awesome b/day celebration

for one of my most favorite people in the world!

We hope you had fun, Dad! We love you!

Three of my FAVORITE ladies!!!

Prettiness around the yard

Nicholas

What can you say about this kid?! He makes us laugh and he makes us crazy! Life is never boring when Nick is around...

Getting ready...

...to go "spying" on her brothers!!

Strange things...

With three boys in the house we often see strange things...such as a large box walking down the street...

More flag football!

Fun in the hammock

Mitchell

When Chad and I first met, Mitchell had just turned 11. He seemed so grown up then! Now he's 15 and a half and REALLY seems grown up! He's Chad's number one "helper" and works just as hard as he does. He's an awesome guy and we love him!

the Grabill Fair!!!

Oh, the fair...the parade with friends, face painting, the spelling bee, and lots of food! Good times...can't wait till next year!