Winter fun - pre-holidays

We started off the holiday season by visiting one of my favorites, Wolfe's Neck Farm, for an event called the Winter Tree where we were treated to a story and then made edible ornaments to hang on trees just like the characters in the book. Our friends the Kramers came along, and it was great to see them to do such a fun activity after not seeing them for a long time!

Leah and Payson decorating our edible ornaments.

After a short hike, hanging them on the tree!

The following day we had our first of what were to be many snowfalls this winter. It wasn't very cold, so we took Payson and Zoe outside to try to get some Christmas card photos. What a blast!

Looking for Santa?


Catching snowflakes.

Payson really got into decorating the tree this year, and wasn't interested in destroying anything, which was a pleasant suprise for us. In fact, she loved the tree so much we left it up until the weekend after Christmas.

I know I posted some shots on Payson's birthday, but here's another one of her playing with her cool new monster bowling set, compliments of Auntie Alicia.

We got Payson all gussied up to go see Santa, which she was excited about... until we actually got up close to him. Then she was terrified! But afterwards she told us, "I was a little scared of Santa. He gave me a book." We are hoping she won't be permanently traumatized. This is the shot that made this year's Christmas card! Kudos to Matt!

The days before and after Christmas we got to enjoy Gorham's open gym - pretty much a large space for little ones to run around filled with mats, tubes, balls, etc. It was awesome! We had a great time, and the Smiths joined us both days, and the Haniskos one day. It was great to see them all and for the little ones (big ones too) to let off some steam in a big gym.

Getting bundled up for outside fun! Poor Zoe, what a trooper.

Someday I'll be caught up... more later!

Catching up - the remainder of Fall

Hey folks, it's time for some super blogging. I am going to attempt to catch you all up on our lives over the past couple months. And I am no longer making any promises about how frequently I can blog. Life's just too busy!

So, in my attempt to "super blog," (aka super fast with limited details, humor, or anecdotes) my details are going to be sparse. I know most of you just check out the blog for the pictures, anyways, and there are lots of those to share.

Below are some pictures from around early November through Thanksgiving weekend. Things sure don't look like this around here anymore! We've had a ton of snow lately, with over a foot just coming yesterday.

People say having a kiddo changes your life. Bingo! Our Friday nights look something like this nowadays. It's pretty darn entertaining. As a sidenote, those cowboy boots were Matt's dads, Matt's and his sister's, and now Payson's!

A fun trip to Wolfe's Neck Farm with Braydon & Jami.

Yep, we definitely live in Maine!

A fall day with the Smiths...

We took a walk around the neighboorhood, complete with lots of...

puddle jumping! So much fun!

Payson still loves to help us cook. She's always stationed at the counter helping us do something, or munching away. And getting dirty, for sure!

Alison joined us one evening while Ed & Stacy took their dog, Milo, to the vet. The girls had an absolute blast in the bath - Payson still talks about it!

Thanksgiving eve. As many of you know, we hosted 15 people on Thanksgiving! It was chaotic, but fun. We spent the better part of the day before T-day cooking - here's my favorite pie and a turkey I made for the day. Each feather has everyone's name and says, for example, "Sarah's thankful for..." and then each person wrote in their answer. It was great! Wrapping that much yarn was not so great, but at least we can use it every year.

The Smiths were some of our guests on Thanksgiving. Their dog, Milo, had a suspected ACL tear in his knee so they couldn't travel. They came over early to help us out, and the girls quickly got to work entertaining us!

Payson "smiling" with our turkey.


Our living room transformed into a dining room.

Thanksgiving weekend, we started getting in the holiday spirit. Payson made some great wrapping paper this year!

I hope to be back to continue my updates soon, but I'm not making any promises! Enjoy Obama's inauguration tomorrow! Woohoo!