Christmas in the Capital

We enjoyed a morning downtown earlier this week, taking in our nations capital.  It always amazes me that we're only 20 minutes away.

 It was a little bright

 The birds - beyond thrilling.

 Doesn't look like the person taking this pic knew how to look through our lens ;).

 Botanical Gardens (AMAZING)  - seeing the trains for the first time.

 Thomas.  Will didn't quite know what to do with himself.

 brother love.

 Checking out Mt. Vernon, the trains...

 and Monticello.

 Impressive.

 Caden loved "everything" about this day.

 By the White House...that's my boys.

 running on the mall.

 Stopping by the National Christmas tree (struggling a bit this year).

 We got to wave at the Obama's.

Such a fun morning!

my baby's TWO!

 I feel like I say this for every birthday, but I really can't believe my baby is two.  Maybe it's because he doesn't sound like a two year old to me (he has a speech delay - it's looking like we'll be starting speech therapy in January), or maybe it's because he's my third and life just goes faster.  Regardless, we are so so thankful for the precious, precious gift that he is to our family.  He truly brings so much joy and laughter to ALL of us.  He has no problem keeping up with his older brothers, he loves to laugh with (and at) them, and although he can't yet put many words together, he's extremely expressive in other ways.  We love you little man!!

We celebrated with family, Elmo style.

Dinner time.

Elmo welcomed everyone, and helped pass out goody bags.

haaappy birthday to you!

Blowing candles.

Eating Elmo's eye.

Presents!

Mon night (his actual birthday), we celebrated a bit more  - presents from mom and dad and Grandpa Jack and Grandma Kathy.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa - I LOOOVE my pillow.

I'm two.

Tree Trek

Hoping to start a new tradition, we headed out to a local tree farm the first weekend of December with a bunch of our favorite people.  We were ready for the cold - tons of hot chocolate, layer upon layer of clothing.

Out of the car and ready to go

This dude just wanted to run

We found a tree (and cut it 3 feet off the ground)

Afterwards we picnicked by the cars.

Sweaty head and frowny (just because we asked him to smile) face ;).

Going with these fun, crazy friends made it a perfect day.

Happy buds.

Thanksgiving

Not sure when I'll ever catch up here!  To start, here's a bit of what our home looked like as we led up to Thanksgiving.

Our 2011 Thanksgiving tree

Andrew is thankful for:
Grandma and Grandpa, books, parents, candy, roller coasters, pizza movie night, God's love

Caden is thankful for:
Baby Will, his toy spiderman, Nathan, Castro our fish, my flashlight so I won't be scared, my bed

Will is thankful for (Andrew's guesses) his paci and puppy

Mom is thankful for coffee, daddy, 3 healthy beautiful precious boys, a job for Grandpa Jack

Dad is thankful for:
My church, my wife and three boys, boy adventures

We are all thankful for:
God's love, our house, our family, going to Disneyland in January, sweet Addy dog, Jesus, the YCF community

 

 Andrew was in his first school play

Delivering one of his lines as Governor Bradford

Welcoming Samoset to the Thanksgiving feast

His precious class

Sweet day.

Afterwards, we enjoyed an authentic Thanksgiving feast with his class.

Will liked it too.

Working on the Thanksgiving tree is one of Caden's favorite Fall activities.

Helping make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving day

Will currently has a "thing" for doing dishes.

Sadly, I didn't have our camera with us on Thanksgiving day, but hopefully I'll get some from family and add them here soon.  Hannah (Dave's beautiful, wonderful sister) and I started the day by doing the 10k Turkey Chase - the weather was PERFECT, and we're already making plans for next year ;).  Then it was straight to church for our Thanksgiving service.  After a restful afternoon, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the OC's, "usual suspects", Dave's aunt Nancy and her granddaughter Natalia who flew in from Mexico City, and Uncle Dave and Shawn from Charlottesville.  So so much to be thankful for!

November

How have I not posted any of our November pictures?  There aren't many - more to come soon...hopefully ;).

Will discovered the joy of playing in leaves on this warm early November afternoon. 

We were about to take Grandma Kathy to the airport, but had to give the leaf pile a go. 

Happy boys 

We LOVE Grandma Kathy

 One of the streets I get to take in on my morning neighborhood run....when I can manage to squeeze it in.

Will face.  He took a tumble down the stairs last week, and may have broken his nose.  We have an appointment with an ENT this next week.

 I had the privilege of hosting a wedding shower for a dear friend - an afternoon tea.  

 My camera died, so I didn't get many pictures.

 One of their sweet friends catered the food, which left me with just the flowers and tea - so fun.

The boys enjoyed an adventure to the groom's house, where they got to try out some power tools.

Here we are....coming soon to a Christmas card near you ;). Snapfish had a deal last week - they're actually sitting on my table.  Check.

 

 A super fun night out with these dear friends...

at "The Source" - an incredibly yummy asian fusion restaurant located in the Newseum.

Which reminds me!  I never posted pictures from Dave's birthday - which was October 30th.  We enjoyed having family over after church to celebrate Dave and Chris.  And then a later evening run to Churchkey with two dear couples.  Such a fun night.

So thankful for this man - my love, my best friend, the one who makes me laugh every day, who serves me and our boys so selflessly. 

 One of my favorite days to celebrate.