Grandpa Turns 95

Thanks to my great hubby and friend Donna (who took care of the girls), I was able to fly home to Minnesota with Caleb in mid-March to celebrate my Grandpa's 95th birthday.  Not everybody gets to celebrate such a milestone!  My parents, my sister Kaylee, and all three of her kids met us at the airport.  This was Caleb's first time meeting my Grandpa, sister and her hubby, and two of their kids.

  

 

 I surprised Grandpa at his apartment on the morning of his actual birthday.  I kept my trip home a secret, and called him on the phone about 10 min. before we showed up on his doorstep (he thought I was calling from MS).  As we were talking, I knocked on the door and he excused himself from the phone to see who was visiting.  Little did he know it was Caleb and I!  I love his expression in this pic as he holds Caleb for the first time.

 Our family threw Grandpa a birthday party at the retirement home where he lives.  This is us at the party.

A rather rare shot of my immediate family!

Feeding Time at the Zoo

Just Another Day at Our House...

Anna dresses up for Farm Day at preschool.

 An evening fire with Smores!

Roley Poley Caleb travels fast!

These two save their extra energy for bedtime.

This picture was taken when Caleb first started sitting up, but now he's an expert.And popped his two bottom teeth this week, too!

 And don't forget Steve... he got to ski at Taos, NM a few weeks ago!  Guess this doesn't happen every day, despite the title of my post.

Holiday Hoopla

THANKSGIVING
We had a nice, laid-back Thanksgiving - just the 5 of us - this year.  We got up, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, headed over to a sweet family's house from church to eat a big turkey lunch, then came home and just enjoyed being together!

The week before Thanksgiving, the girls' preschool had a short program with a handful of songs.  Claire was right in front and was shy, but didn't cry!  Anna was in back and sang along to all the songs.

My two Indian girls at the Thanksgiving meal afterwards.

Don't forget my little turkey in the stroller!

ON TO CHRISTMAS...

My traditional shot of the little one and the new stocking.

Searching for the perfect tree at a nearby tree farm.

Making the first batch of cookies for the season.  Both girls love to help!

Grammy and Grandpa P. came for 4 days the first week of December.

Santa Cow makes a visit at Chick-fil-A - our favorite restaurant!

Squeezy Cheeks

A Festive Fall

This year's pumpkin carving only included scooping out the goo and the seeds (we ran out of time to do a carving, sad I know). BUT the girls sure did enjoy scooping the seeds back and forth from bowl to bowl.

The girls at our church Fall Festival with their friend Tate the astronaut.

With much encouragement from Mommy, AJ had a second costume and went to school dressed as the Tooth Fairy.

Didn't have a costume for Caleb - but he could pass as Casper the Friendly Ghost in this hooded sweater.

At Lazy Acres Pumpkin Patch in Chunky, MS.

The tractor in the background adds to the scenery!

Making biscuit critter snakes.  Both girls helped. You can see Claire's snake in the lower right corner (hee hee).  We have been getting some cute kid-friendly recipes from Anna's preschool magazine subscription.

More of the Wedding

Here are a few more shots from Meghan & Corey's wedding in late September.

The new Mr. and Mrs. (in the middle - not talkin' about us, we're pros - ha!)

Caleb meets Papa Fuchs for the first time...

...and Auntie Sara, Uncle Andy, and the Lee cousins (only Caitlin pictured here)...

...and Uncle Steve.

Love this one of Steve and Claire.

Me and my handsome date.