Christmas Party 2015

After returning from our St. Louis trip, we hosted our annual friends Holiday Party that Saturday.  Every year there are more kids added to the bunch and it's always a great time.  We do a gift exchange and draw names among the kids (14) and this year we had an Around the World theme for the food.  Everyone had a country.  Italy, Mexico, Canada, Greece, Vietnam, Germany, and the Middle East were represented.

Here is our attempt at a photo of all the kids.  Yep, Graham was the fun one.

Decorating cookies:

Opening gifts:

The following day we headed to the mall with the intention of sitting on Santa's lap, but the line was too long so we had lunch and walked around a bit instead.  Parker was not too disappointed because they had ice cream with lunch!

Professional Photos - Fall 2015

Once again, we hired Kristen Koppers to take some photographs of us.  We'll call these Graham at 18 months and Parker at 4 years old.  We were kind of prepared for Mr. Graham to be uncooperative and it was pretty bad.  If he didn't have the pacifier in his mouth, he was crying.  That makes it difficult to get shots of the whole family smiling!  Parker was loving every minute though and Kristen got some great photos.

St. Louis - Dec 2015

We took a road trip to St. Louis and had lots of things to celebrate...first and foremost was the arrival of our new niece, Nora Anne Clayton!  This sweet little girl was born on December 4 and we blew into town on December 10.  We were also celebrating my Mom's retirement from Brentwood Dental Group, where she had worked for most of her professional life.  Finally, we had our family Christmas celebration.

We left after lunchtime again and drove to Richmond, IN where we spent the night in a hotel.  The kids did pretty good and we knew not to expect them to stay alseep while we checked in and got settled.  After some excitement and bed jumping, we finally all settled down and had a good night's rest.  The next morning we had breakfast, took a little swim, and then hit the road again.

On Friday, Jack got to play hooky from Kindergarten and we went to Creve Coeur park to throw rocks in the lake, check out the waterfall and do a little exploring, and play on the playground.  That evening, we headed out to the Claytons for our retirement celebration.  Jason smoked some prime rib and it was a delicious meal.

Cutest little doll

Graham LOVED watching their train and just sat contentedly with his hands in his lap

On Saturday afternoon, we watched Jack's indoor soccer game and then Greg and I met up with friends for dinner.

part of Jack's cheering section

On Sunday, we hosted a brunch for all the extended family so we could see Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins while in town.  That night, we went back to the Claytons for our Christmas.

On Monday, Jason took Greg fishing so we took Parker, Charlie, and Graham to a bounce house place, called Pump It Up.  Video courtesy of Grandma:

We had one last dinner together on Monday night and then hit the road on Tuesday, stopping in Cleveland to spend the night.  

Parker sure does love her cousins.  Charlie and Parker play so well together and just completely click, it is so great to watch.  Jack was so sweet with Graham, playing him lots of special attention and knowing just what would make the little guy happy.

The time with Grandma and Grandpa is priceless.  My favorite picture from the trip is of Parker taking a nap with Grandma...

Thanksgiving 2015

We headed to Pittsburgh to spend Thanksgiving with the Johnson Family this year, which is always a great time.

We picked up the kids from school right after lunchtime and hit the road.  This put us in Pittsburgh in time for dinner Wednesday night.  

Here is Otis all ready to go, on his new bed for the car

The weather was very mild, so in addition to all the yummy food Gennie cooked for us, we got to spend a lot of time hangout outside.  Of course, the kids had a blast and Graham was in heaven with all the attention & new toys to explore.

On Friday night we went out to dinner and then Gennie and I took the girls to Sarris Candies on the way home.  They have amazing holiday decorations and we had an ice cream treat.

We were all sad to leave (especially Parker who insisted she wanted to stay there with her cousins), but look forward to our next visit when the Johnsons come to Rochester right after Christmas!

Random Weekend Fun

Just a cute video of Graham in the car showing us his vast knowledge of body parts:

This was right after his second haircut and he handled it like a pro.  Graham still needed to sit on Mommy's lap, but no crying at all!

After that we had a short visit at a playground (it was very windy and chilly) and then headed to the mall to watch Santa arrive for the season!  

They handed out antler hats and we waited outside for Santa to pull up in his big, white limo.  Then we went inside for a little parade around the mall, led by a marching band and Santa (of course).  

Parker made some donuts the next day, using a little kit that Sandy had gotten her for her birthday.  As you can imagine, both Parker and Graham gobbled them up.

Halloween 2015

The Halloween festivities started the weekend before with a visit from our good friend Joe from NYC.  We took him to the place that all city folk want to visit...pumpkin patch!  Although we did not actually get our pumpkins there, we enjoyed the hot apple cider, donuts, petting zoo, and spooky hayride.

I decided to do a new decoration this year and Parker helped me make ghosts to hang in our tree.  These are pictures of us outside hanging them up.  Parker loaded up the ghosts in their trick-or-treat pumpkins to carry them outside.  Then she commanded Graham to hang out under the ladder with her.

For Halloween, Parker wanted to be Tinkerbell so we took the opportunity to have Graham be Peter Pan.  I bought Parker's outfit, but made the pom poms for her shoes.  Grandma made the hat and belt for Graham's outfit.  This was the best picture I got...

We were attending a 1st birthday party for Miss Mary Nudds, so this was taken right when we get there...Graham still kind of waking up from the nap we disturbed him from (note the bed head).  The party was so much fun and the kids got to play outside all evening because the weather was very mild.  

We went trick or treating in the Nudds neighborhood with the whole crew so it was fun and crazy.  Graham got the hang of it all very quickly and decided he no longer wanted to hold Mommy or Daddy's hands...such a big shot.  He loved riding in the wagon that one of our friends had brought.

hitching a ride with James Shand

Tinkerbell running through the night