Merry Christmas Everyone!

Festive Holiday Fun

Kim does a great job of packing in tons of Holiday fun during the month of December.  Many memories are in our own home and involve being cozy and goofing off.  There are special holiday ornaments, cooking and art projects, Christmas-themed pajamas, visits with Santa (both girls are still very afraid).  My favorite this year is Lucy's "Silent Night" advent book, where every night we read it and open another little window on the cover.  She is so excited to finish it and to welcome Christmas day and the birth of our Savior. The first picture below is of the girls Christmas ornaments that we got at the Christkindlmarket downtown. Every year we get them an ornament that has significance for that year. Lucy received ballet shoes since she recently developed a passion for this activity and Lila's was a bird as her nickname remains "Birdie."

Baby Daria

One of the real treats of our Thanksgiving weekend was seeing my new niece Daria Vander Griend.  Not only is she adorable and beautiful, but Lucy was enthralled and a big helper. We are so excited for my brother and his family for their new addition and honored they would brave the roads to come and spend Thanksgiving with us.

Still Not a Fan of Santa

We recently went on an excursion to downtown Chicago and timed our return trip to catch the special CTA Holiday Train.  I'm not sure what it is about Santa but both girls were terrified of him.  These pictures tell it all.  Thanks to Mary for the pictures. 

Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!

Thanksgiving Day Parade

While the Turkey was in the oven, we took the train downtown to the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade.  This kids had fun with all the dancers, animals, firetrucks, and giant blow-up characters.  We then headed home to a wonderful feast with 10 adults and 6 kids.  It was a very memorable day. 

Ice Skating George

Last year Lucy expressed interest in learning how to ice skate.  Thus we did what most parents do and signed her up for lessons at our local park district.  It didn't quite go as planned - she was much more tentative on the ice than we anticipated.  However, we discovered that she was much more brave wearing her Curious George Halloween costume on the ice as it was padded and warm.  Now she goes as George to all her lessons, and she is loving it.  It's nice when solutions are this simple.      

When They're Quiet for Too Long

All parents of young kids know that feeling: "my kid has been too quiet for too long."  Here Kim caught Lucy playing doctor on her "sore" leg.

Halloween

Our Halloween was filled with numerous fun activities.  There were farmers' markets, parades, family get-togethers with yummy chili, and of course candy.  This year I talked Lucy into being a monkey so that she and I could go as Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat.  Lila bird was a little pig, and Kim was Super Mommy.  Kim is always a super mommy so in reality she just dressed as a super hero with a blond wig. 

Here's the little one's around a huge pumpkin at the farmer's market.  Milo was the most excited fireman I've ever seen. 

The whole fam trick-or-treating. 

My Curious George.  The yellow costume said "one size fits most" - I'm a bit bigger than "most."

Kristin and Eric and Family even made a firetruck for Milo.  He received many comments throughout the day. 

More Pumpkin Farms...

One of our favorite farms is County Line Orchards in Indiana.  It has the whole package - apple picking, pumpkins, donuts, cider, and plenty of fun for the kids.  It was also fun that we had my nephews Lucas and Asher for the weekend. 

Here is the gang.  We met our neighbors the Dauphinees and their two daughters as well.

Some of the best apples where those that no one could reach.  Asher was willing to help.

On the Hayride to the apple picking.

They even had a cornucopia for pictures. 

My adorable little pumpkin.

Prostate Cancer Run

An important date in our Fall calendar was the SEA Blue Prostate Cancer 5K Run.  Given that Kim's dad is a survivor and I have a particular interest in prostate cancer research, we decided there was no better motivation to get running and get in shape.  We were all amazed at the generosity of our friends and family who donated on our behalf - between the three of use we raised $1580.  These funds will go towards Chicago organizations to help those men struggling with prostate cancer, the effects of treatment, as well as increased early detection screening.

We saw a number of families with T-shirts "in memory of" and were tremendously grateful to God for how he has guided and blessed our family through Steve's diagnosis and treatment.  Praise God he is cancer free! 

Thanks for all who supported!

Fall is Here!

Now that Summer is over, our family takes a 200% dive into fall and specifically pumpkin farms.  Kim seems to get so much joy about dolling the girls up in orange and black and soaking in the fall.  The leaves changing, pumpkins, donuts, apples, cider, gourds - you name it - we're into it.  Here is one visit to a favorite farm, Goebbert's near Kim's parents house. This one even included an exotic petting zoo.  Titi (Kristin) and Milo participated as well.    

Nice to see Lila finally getting some hair...

Can't Move on From Summer Just Yet

I admit it's hard to move into fall after such a fun summer.  My last entry (I promise) is of all our good times at the local Oak Park pools.  By the end of the summer Lucy was brave enough to swim on her own and loved playing; Lila of course loved to splash as well.  We also enjoyed spending time on a hot day with our family, including "P" and "M" Pederson, Kristin and Eric and the lovable Milo.