Our First Christmas Tree!

This tree was proudly plucked from our back yard. We were advised to thin our trees out before they start to grow into each other. I figure we have about 4 years worth of Christmas trees out there. The tree was a bit on the large side, I don't think we will ever get it back out the door! I was at work for the blessed event, but Kevin and Elena had lots of help. Alex, Christine, Grandma Audrey, Todd and Dana all helped get the monster standing in our dining room (we probably won't do much dining in this room until after Christmas!)

Thanksgiving!

Elena and Maya loved "helping" with the mashed potatoes. Mary managed to keep their hands out of the bowl...most of the time. The two girls spent most the the dinner prep time chasing each other and playing hide and seek. Oddly enough, they both ate more mashed potatoes than anything else that was served. Next year they will have to help with the vegtable prep!

HALLOWEEN!!!!
Elena loved Halloween, I'd have to say it's her favorite holiday. She still asks to go trick or treating. She sported three costumes this year, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Cheerleader(as you can see), and a unicorn for the big trick-or-treating outing. We made it around the block and then had a full basket. So we headed out to see some friends and Elena fell asleep immediately. She woke up three car rides later, just in time to share her candy with Grandma and the Carlsons!

How we spend our days...

Dad and Elena playing dress up.Mom and Elena's Fall Clean-up. Just found this pic on the computer, Elena and Kevin must have had a fun morning! The fall cleanup. We finally had enough leaves to rake into a pile and play. Now we have more than enough to do this all day. We said goodbye to our dog, Missy, this week. Had another incident with her being short with Elena. So she went to stay with her grandparents until Dave returns from Iraq. Its quiet around here without a pet, I keep hinting at a cat to Kevin, but he hasn't given in yet.