Deja Vu

I think we'll have to get this picture every year until he's 6 feet tall!

The Ole Tree

With some of the family stuff going on and Andy being extremely busy at work, we were running WAY behind this year on our Christmas decor.  We finally got our tree up and going this weekend! 

Did you know that Reindeer are in fact not mythical creatures? Yeah, me neither.

This is the one!

The finished product.

I seriously cannot believe it is December...much less the end of December. Between chasing toddlers, working 3 days a week and generally trying not to lose my mind, I just barely got my Christmas cards out the door today.  Next year, I vow to be ahead of schedule! 

Happy Holidays one and all! 

Vegas in Pictures

Although the end of the trip was pretty sad and difficult with the loss of my aunt, we still ended up having some great fun with our Swiss friends that met us there for two nights.  It was beyond amazing reuniting with our friends (Braden & Anna, Lisa & Martin, and Josh) that we hadn't seen in ages.  Just the sight of Anna and Lisa had me in tears on the spot.  I have really missed having daily contact with those ladies.  So here we go, Vegas: In Pictures.

The flight -- we learned many valuable lessons about travel...such as, we won't be doing it again with toddlers -- EVER!

Martin, Andy, Braden - Drinks at the Venetian before our amazing meal at Sushi Samba.

Hads got to come out shopping at the Forum with me, Lisa & Anna.

H&J with cousin Olivia (9 yrs old)

Family shot at Caesar's Palace

At Harrah's Jack Daniels Bar...had so much fun with these girls!

Hadley learning a thing or two about style from auntie Lis.

Dying to make this an annual trip!  Thank you for the wonderful times girls, until next time!

Joanie

Joan Ellen Miller {May 25, 1951 - November 30, 2011}

At the beginning of December, Andy and I and the kids (plus my mom) took a trip to Vegas for a combined family visit and a tax seminar.  We had a wonderful trip and visit with my aunt, uncle, three cousins and their husbands/wives/children.  It turned out we hadn't all been together in over nine years (at the same time anyway), so it was very long over due.  We had such an amazing trip, except that we had one very special member of the family missing....aunt Joanie.  Joanie had come down with some health issues at the last minute and had to cancel coming on the trip with us.  On one evening of the trip, the entire family was gathered around the dinner table and saying how we missed Joan and wishing there was something we could do to help.   The next morning, we found out that Joan had passed away peacefully in her sleep and it turned out it had been right when we were all together talking.

Losing such a sweet, smart, spunky soul at the young age of only sixty has hit us all pretty hard.  I know Joanie was always an avid reader of this blog...so it pains me extra to even be writing this. 

Above all things, Joan loved animals.  She had the biggest heart for her pets and the last time I spoke to her was about Dublin and how glad she was he'd found a happy home.  She is survived by her 18 year old cat, Gracie, who misses her dearly.  She loved watching all her nieces and nephews grow up.  She loved President Obama and followed all the polictics religiously.  She owned an encyclopedia collection about every President that ever lived, and owned about every classic book ever written.  She loved shows about nature.  I think the best way to remember tiny little Joan is to picture her watching National Geographic surrounded by books and with her cat on her lap.

My favorite way to remember her is smoking cigars with all the boys at my cousin Brian's wedding.  She was dressed to the nines and all 4 foot 9 of her was sassing with all the young cute guys.  Her personality always packed a punch, and everyone that knew her loved her.

I wanted to just put this out there into the blogosphere in hopes that she knows I am thinking of her often...of how much I loved her, how much I appreciated her as an aunt and how much fun I had with her growing up. I know things in the end for her weren't perfect, she was very lonely...but I know she's resting peacefully now with all her cats and dogs up in heaven. I just hope that now that she's there, she knows how much she was loved, how much she is missed and how very special she was to us all.



Love you, Joanie.  I will always think of you with a smile.

Halloween

I am so bummed....I didn't take a single good picture on Halloween to fully capture how darn cute the kids were and how much fun they had trick or treating.  Hadley led the pack of about 15 kids on the charge through the neighborhood...She scored handfulls of candy and is obsessed with dumping the bucket out over and over to check out her loot.  Jameson sort of got the short end of the stick and I made him hang out in the stroller 1) because it was freezing and dark and 2) because there were so many kids I was worried I was going to lose him.  Next year, buddy, next year!

Hadley the Dinosaur.

 Jameson the disgruntled Tickle Monster...complaining to the union about not getting to trick or treat properly :)

he may be grumpy, but he sure is cute!