Turkey Time

Per our usual Thanksgiving Day tradition, we feasted with both sides of the family. We started the day with the Kisers. There were new faces for Meredith to meet, including her Aunt Meredith!
Baby Meredith got lots of love and Will enjoyed playing with his cousins and all of their fun toys.

For the dessert table at both homes, I tried my hand at cookie-dough pops, and trust me, they did not disappoint! Not only were they easy, but they looked so pretty, too. Click here for the how-to.

We spent the afternoon with the Kemmerer/Nethery family. Once again, Nana and Mom outdid themselves with the meal.

Aren't we a bunch of turkeys?!

All in all it was another year of fabulous feasting and fellowship. We are so very thankful for our loved ones!

Greensboro Weekend Recap

When Veteran's Day provided us with three-day weekend, we jumped at the chance to make a quick trip back home. Meredith enjoyed her playmat for the first time while I packed. To think, I almost forgot how much luggage a baby requires...sheesh!
Our first stop was a visit with Gigi, who is still recuperating from foot surgery. Meredith soaked up some cuddles.

And Will enjoyed the circus. This miniature bigtop has a whole cast of performers that move when the music plays. Just the kind of thing to supply endless fascination at grandma's house.

Next stop (for the gals) was the beauty parlor. Dawn has been cutting our hair for years, so it was fun to catch up with the ladies. Meredith is sure to be taking her turn in the chair pretty soon with the locks she sporting.

We spent the afternoon at the Greensboro Natural Science Center. We mainly went to check out the Titanic exhibit. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed, but we saw some amazing artifacts recovered from the wreckage, like stacks of unbroken china and perfume in glass vials that is still potent. Each of us was given a ticket with passenger information and at the end of the exhibit you could see if you survived. I thought I was doomed as a third class passenger, but my lady and her two children survived. Aaron's second-class guy, not so much!

After the Titanic exhibit we wandered out to the zoo area. Will loved the animals... especially the tigers, and apparently the feeling was mutual. Visitors can get amazingly close and the tigers were not shy by any means. Of the brother and sister pair, the female was especially fascinated by Will and started following him right up against the glass. Seemed cool until we noticed a portion of glass boarded up because a kid had thrown a rock and broke one side of it...so, what would a 400 pound tiger be capable of?! Peace out!

Almost the whole gang observing the wolves...

and Will, excited to see the turkey that will soon become Thanksgiving dinner.

Inside, Aaron and I demonstrated what stellar parents we are. ;)

As we were leaving we looked around at the new construction they are doing as they expand the museum. Aaron and I started reminiscing about our first kiss 12 years ago that had been on a park bench where we estimated this new parking lot now stands...hence the photo. Will picking his nose makes this so romantic right?!

But wait, our estimate was a little off. There it is! Just off the end of the lot, at the edge of the trees (to the left of my shoulder). Kinda glad it wasn't paved over!

The next day we began with hotcakes at Nana and Papa's. Meredith was a fan.

Then, Meredith met Great Grandma and Grandpa for the first time, while we celebrated Grandpa Kiser.

It was a good way to bring our fun weekend to an end, wishing happy birthday to a great man!

Boots and Sword

Nowadays, these are his two favorite things. From the moment he gets up, until he says his bedtime prayers, he's got his boots on his feet and his sword in his hand! Sweet boy, even zonked out in the living room chair the other day clutching the thing.
And at least he likes to share with sister. (I had to explain that boots are not allowed on the baby blanket, otherwise they would most certainly have joined the party, too!)

And here he is in action... pretending to be Peter Pan fighting Captain Hook. Such a little boy! I just love him.

First Bottle...

Mission accomplished!

Happy Halloween!

This year's festivities began with pumpkin carving, and this year Will was old enough to assist.
He had a great time scooping out the seeds...

taking off the lid...

and approving our design.

Next, we tried on our costumes! This little guy was so proud to be Peter Pan! It's his new favorite Disney movie lately... our household is grateful for the break from "Puppies!" (101 Dalmations).

And what good is Peter Pan without his pint-size sidekick... Tinkerbell!

This is pretty much the only shot I managed to get of them together. Tink was becoming a little out of sorts.

Because this was his first Halloween going door to door, we had a dress rehearsal over the weekend while my family was visiting. For the live action, check out the video at the bottom of this post.

I just love the little feather in his cap!

This sweet tooth was ready to bring on the candy!

Our jack-o'-lantern was glowing bright despite the dark and stormy Halloween night!

We were hoping this little fairy could sprinkle a little pixie dust to make it stop raining.

We had several families over for Halloweenies (hotdogs) and cupcakes before trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, the kids probably made it to all of 5 houses before everyone was soaking wet and freezing cold. So, they trudged back to our place to play instead. Kind of a bummer of a night, but between our candy stash and the few treats they collected, everyone appeared to end up with a sugar high.

Here's the only group shot I managed to wrangle from Mandy's iphone. Aaron lost his balance while squatting down for the picture and Tinkerbell attempted her first flight (he didn't drop her... but startled me enough so that I only captured a picture of our ottoman). Oh well, there's always next year!

A Special Visit

Back in October, our dear friends from our time in Mississippi, Amanda and Isaac, came to visit us for a week while their man of the house was deployed. It had been waaay too long since we had last seen each other, almost a year and a half, and we were so thrilled they made the trip all the way from Utah to see us. While we missed seeing Joshua, we thoroughly enjoyed our time together!
We were excited to introduce them to our new addition, and we eagerly anticipate the arrival of their baby boy in December. Amanda and I had the best time catching up... I love how we can talk about everything from being moms and AF wives to faith, politics, and totally random stuff in between. She is such a good friend. Oh, how I miss living in the same place!

The first day of their visit we went to a local farm to enjoy a hayride and corn maze. We thought they would have pumpkins, too... but alas, the ones you see here were pretty much it.

The lack of pumpkins didn't ruin our fun, though. The boys had the best time on the hayride...

and running around like crazy in the corn maze. They were troopers, as it took a good while for us to find our way out! It was fun to watch them interact, since the last time we were together Isaac wasn't walking, and Will was just toddling around.

Both of these boys loved the tractor and getting to sit in the driver's seat was a big thrill.

The rest of the week was pretty laid back, what with a newborn and all. Meredith enjoyed some extra snuggles from Amanda... and felt a few kicks from her future boyfriend!

The boys played and played. I think they each enjoyed having a buddy around, even though we had ample opportunities to teach lessons on sharing. They did a pretty good job taking turns "driving" the car... and at one point even decided it was big enough for both of them! :)

Bathtime is way more fun when you get to splash around with a pal.

And meals are better when shared with friends.

And Meredith didn't feel a bit left out. Everyone joined in for tummy time!

The week, and our fun, came to an end all too soon.

Until next time... hopefully, we'll be travelling out West soon!