Such a WONDERFUL Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas with my family the weekend before we left for Pennsylvania. So much fun! We played a round of Scrabble while Rich and gram watched the end of the Colts game.

Kalee couldn't wait to open presents, of course!

And the present of the day (well, all of Christmas actually) was Silly Time (a silly band watch), from Grammie. Kalee was THRILLED when she opened the present and jumped up to give Grammie a hug.

Gram carefully opened her presents, so as not to disrupt Daisy. Daisy certainly has the life...I got my momma a new cardigan that I really wanted to keep!We all chipped in and gave my Dad a new set of golf clubs. He was shocked and very excited! :)

And of course, we had our DELICIOUS Lasagne for dinner. It was so good!

We left for Pennsylvania the Wednesday before Christmas. Crystal, Kelly and Charley also drove up and we went straight to Mike and Liisa's so I could snuggle my new nephew!!! Oh, and see Mike, Liisa and Aaron, too! :)

On Thursday, Rich's Uncle Dale took us on a hay ride to pick out our Christmas tree. It was COLD, but Kalee and Charley had an abolute blast on the ride.Our plan was to go pick a nice, small 5 foot tree...but then we found this beautiful 9 ft tree. It was meant to be - it fit perfectly!The kiddo's watching Grammie T pop popcorn on the wood stove...and then we strung it to decorate the tree! That was an experience! When I was little, we spent a Christmas at my Great-Grandma's farm in West Virginia. I don't remember much, but I do remember cutting down a real tree and stringing popcorn for decoration. I wanted Kalee to have some of those memories and we definitely had fun making them! Kalee, loving on Colton.and making snowflake decorations for the tree. This is another memory of mine - I think she enjoyed making the snowflakes! (What I definitely DID NOT realize is how much work goes into making memories...stringing the popcorn was a chore and prepping the snowflakes for glitter was work, too! Oh well, it was worth it!)Our finished tree! It was special, for sure. We all got tired of stringing popcorn and decided that whatever we had completed is what was going to make it on the tree! Good times!Santa Claus, aka Uncle Dale, stopped by on Christmas eve. Kalee thought it was great, but Charley and Aaron weren't so sure!I had gotten matching pajamas for Kalee and Charley - and they were so stinkin' cute! Aaron and Colton's pajamas were similar and sure made for an adorable picture! Opening presents on Christmas day was so enjoyable - I loved watching the kids! Aunt Liisa gave Kalee a super cute ornament with her name on it. Uncle Richie and Daddy (Mikie) setting up Aaron's new train set. I hope it is hours of fun for Aaron and helps Liisa get little breaks! :)Kalee and Aaron in their sweaters from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Stevie. Kalee, trying out her new roller blades! It was so cold, so we took turns going outside with her for a few minutes at a time! I don't think she felt the cold at all...

We didn't have a white Christmas, but it finally made its way to us the night after Christmas. Kalee made a few quick trips outside to play in it, after dark.

Rich's mom lives in his great-grandparents house, which is a 1920s Sears kit home. There is no insulation in the walls and it isn't sealed up too well, in general! The evening and day of the snowstorm the wind was gusting around 50 miles per hour...which meant the snow found it's way through the storm window and the regular window...and floated onto Rich's head throughout the night! He was a little grouchy when he woke up that morning! :)

It was sooooooo cold the day after the snow storm but the girls could not wait to go out and play in the snow. Crystal figured that Charley wouldn't make it 2 minutes out in the wind and she was right!

She was right! Kalee, on the other hand, stayed outside for HOURS! Thank goodness for snow pants and boots! It helped that Daddy and Uncle Mike were outside, too, and that there was a SNOWMOBILE! Kalee thought that was great!

So COLD!!!!!

A pic of the house.

Crystal finally agreed to leave the warmth of the house to take a ride on the snowmobile!

Kalee had a blast playing on the frozen pond. It made mommy a little nervous, but Rich assured me that the ice was at least 7-10 inches thick and that all was ok!

Uncle Kelly had brought up walkie talkies that we used while we were driving up from Georgia. He sent one with Kalee when we went back to the pond and she had a blast updating him with her every move. She was dancing on the ice, rolling on the ice, slipping on the ice, etc...and he got a blow by blow update!

Teresa was going to surprise us all with a dog sledding tour, but the snow messed up her plan! When there is no snow they run the sleds on wheels...but there was too much snow to use the wheels (wouldn't be able to brake) and there wasn't enough snow to run the sleds on ski's. So...we got to meet the dogs, instead!

Kalee thought the dogs were great...and they liked her, too. So much so, that one of them peed on her while she was petting him! EEEEEK! She took it like a champ, though! Again, thank goodness for the waterproof snowsuit!

Such beautiful dogs...

I love being around my sister-in-law's!

Kalee enjoyed being outside MUCH more on this day. The wind was finally gone and she was plenty warm!

The whole gang... It was such a wonderful trip and I am so glad that we got to spend time together. We had lots of discussions trying to convince Mike and Liisa to move south...we'll see what happens!

Halloween fun!

The last few years Kalee has wanted to be a Genie for Halloween. But, being the stellar mom that I am, I always put off shopping for a costume until the week of halloween! This year I was WAY ahead of the game...I think we bought her costume as soon as walmart put it on the shelf! She loved it and looked super cute - as usual!

Kalee's school fall festival was a couple weeks ago - the weather was beautiful and she had a blast with the activities. Best of all, for me, the Hanley's were in town, so Shellie, Cierra and Rachel got to go with us!

Rachel even got in on some of the fun!

I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving! This year has flown by so fast. We are going to PA for Christmas and I am counting down the days...We are going to have a new nephew by the time we get there, and I am looking forward to snuggling a newborn!

Andrew comes for a visit!!!

Steve, Betsy and Andrew came up for a week around the end of August and we had such a great time! The week flew by way too quick for Rich, Kalee and I and we were defintely sad to see them leave. Crystal and Charley came over for a couple days and joined in on the fun. In the pic below the boys had gone out so us girls decided to attack them with a water gun and the hose when they came back. Our plan to get both guys out of the car didn't work out so well, but at least we got Rich!

Until he stole the water gun from Kalee!

Kalee and Andrew - aren't they beautiful?!

Uncle Stevie and daddy had lunch with Kalee at school one afternoon - she was thrilled!

Betsy and Andrew playing in the ball pit - fun times!

We went kayaking one afternoon - and got to ride in a limo bus to the drop off point...Kalee thought that was awesome and would have LOVED to ride around town all afternoon - forget kayaking!Andrew enjoying the river...

Charley and Crystal had a little spill and fell out of their kayak and Charley had 'enough' after that! She was so tired, too, and started nodding off near the end of the trip. She was so adorable - her life jacket was the perfect head support! :)

Charley and Andrew had fun watching...

RC car races! Boys and their toys...Steve put the smack down on his bro! Poor Richie - I think he did finally win a race or 2.

Hopefully this video will play - so sweet!