Ice Skating

The girls have been asking to go ice skating for sooooo long, we finally decided to just do it! Here's what Melissa was doing the whole time....clinging to the wall for dear life.

Rachel got a little braver and went away from the safety of the wall, though the double bladed skates may have assisted in that. My camera was not meant to take action indoor shots, so here's the best you get of them in action. Finally, Sara probably had the most fun of all. She would take a break to warm up by the fire for a minute or two, then be ready to go again. I think she wore out her dad!!

Graham Cracker Houses

Once again we gathered as a family to make a big, sugary mess...the graham cracker houses! We had Grandma here to help us, too. Everyone had so much fun. Jeny, here's how much fun it can be when your husband actually makes a house!

Somehow we missed getting a picture of Melissa at work, but here's her house.
And here's Ashley's work.

Rachel and her M&M creation!

Sara was working hard! Here's her final product, too.

And my BH&G inspired house.

We love Grandma!

Bailey

You all know we are incurable dog fanatics. Our 10 year-old golden retriever mix, Molly, died about two weeks ago, so of course we had to get another dog. This is Bailey. She is a designer breed called a Labernese--a mix of lab and Bernese mountain dog. The girls have been having so much fun with her, and so have we!

Is this the cutest??? They love each other.

Halloween 2009

This year our church had a Trunk or Treat, so we got lots of candy for very little work! In fact, we didn't even go Trick or Treating because the girls got all they needed and more at the church. Here's Rachel as a witch.

Sara as a grumpy pumpkin (wasn't she crying in last year's picture, too?). She actually had a lot of fun getting candy. She yelled Trick or Treat louder than any of my kids.
Ashley was the Elf queen Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. She hs read two of the three in the trilogy. She likes to give me a challenge when it comes to making costumes!!!

Melissa was a cat. Talk about an easy costume! Loved that.

Pumpkin Carving

There's always lots to post during the holidays! I love it. The girls spent a LOT of time on their pumpkins this year. They look pretty great! Here is Ashley's haunted house...

Rachel's sleeping cat...
Melissa's awake cat...

And Sara's "happy" pumpkin! What a fun night!!

Licensed to Practice

We got this in the mail recently and I thought it was exciting. Jason now has an unrestricted license to practice medicine in Pennsylvania!