Merry Christmas!

The big day finally came! I've posted a bunch of pictures in a series of about 5 posts -- so be sure to scroll down to see all our fun!

Hayley was relieved to find out that we WERE telling her the truth -- Santa has NO time to actually go beyond the family room. (You see, Hayley is just a little TERRIFIED of Santa...) All season we've told her he drops the presents, eats the cookies and leaves. She was very happy that he gobbled up both cookies we left.

Cole was thrilled to find that Wii's do come if you just wish it! John, however, has not had the same luck with his trust fund wish. Keep hope alive, buddy.

So, the food's been eaten, the gifts opened, and now it's time to relax....right? HAHA! Hope you had a wonderful holiday as well!


Checking out the loot in the stocking...

Here's how to make a camera-shy 7 year old smile for you...See? Easy!

More sibling love....

Couldn't resist posting this one -- what a crazy girl!
Enjoy your holiday.

Christmas Eve...

Hayley LOVES her new SmartCycle from Gram and Grandad!

The traditional opening of the new PJs on Christmas eve!

Gettin ready!

Reading Twas the Night Before Christmas with Dad.

Here we are opening gifts on Christmas Eve Eve!

Clothes for our first Barbie.

Sleepy girls -- hey look ma cousin Claire and I have the same hairdo!

Trying to wake up...

Grandad always remembers Sammy! Woof!

The countdown begins...

We enjoyed a pre-Christmas celebration with Gram, Grandad, Peter, Suzanne and Claire. Here we are watching the Grinch on our first "Christmas Eve".

Visiting the Train Garden...

Our final pre-Christmas event was a trip to the local train garden at the fire station.

Sorry. No one outstanding in their field around here...

Well - since our last post, we're in full holiday swing. We cut our own tree again this year - pictures below. We've decked out the house, watched numerous Christmas specials and heard our fill of Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer already -- and still 2 weeks to go!!!

On another note -- congrats to Stuart, Marcy and Lily who welcomed baby Jack on Friday! Lily is such a well behaved child -- we're looking forward to getting to say "I told you so" when birth order personalities kick in and Jack is the wild child! Aren't we nice? What can we say, we're just looking for someone to contend with Hayley's restaurant behavior -- a difficult act to top!

On with the pics...


Bundled up for tree cutting...


This should be some sort of "my crazy mother did this to me" skit.



The search is on...

Aha... John is so excited to have found the perfect tree, he has passed out.

In fields where they lay keeping their...sheep?

Hayley's on star duty this year.

Bad Santa. ;)

Lucky number 7...

Can you believe...It's been 7 years??? Not much else to say.

Good turkey day visiting with Gram, Grandad, Claire, Peter and Suzanne. Fun (or so the children say) birthday party at the perennial favorite - ChuckECheese. Good birthday too.

See the pics below!


This is Cole's favorite part of Thanksgiving -- making the cranberry sauce for mom.


Playing some Cosmic Catch with Dad, Gram, Grandad and Aunt Suzanne.


Getting in some cousin time...

Grandad puts the children to work raking leaves...

Jeremy, Adam and Cole at the par-tay...

The whole gang...


Don't you just love these little intermissions...I have no idea what this little act was all about...

The actual night -- no cake again this year. Mint ice cream with gummi bears mixed in...YUK.

Happy Birthday Nana!

A quick mid-week post here to wish Nana a very happy birthday this Friday!!!


Here's Hayley -- with party hair!

More shots of the party hair.

Happy birthday Nana!

Boo...

You're not really interested in READING about this past week, so let's get straight to the pictures. There are lots of them!


What do Hayleys and Tiggers have in common? They both love to bounce. That's Hayley's favorite part of gymnastics. Here she is getting ready for class.


This is October 29th. Everyday is Halloween here.


Why did our children unanimously decide to have a cat on the pumpkin this year? We're going to say this is a Nittany Lion instead.

Hayley's class on Halloween.

Lining up for the parade.

Still in line...

Cole's class party. The sugarfest has begun!

Cole is ALWAYS the class clown...

The whole gang.

Harry Potter and the tree...

Showing off her branches.

By the pumpkin on the way out...

The annual shot with the whole gang. Just two hours later, we had enough candy to last us until Halloween '08....