Halloween

I promised I would post our halloween pics and it appears that I may have deleted them. If i find them lurking in a dark spooky file somewhere I will be sure and share them. For now, this was still one of my favorites.

Fall = Cider Mill Season

Red delicious anyone?
Mmmm....Cider and pumpkin donuts!

Isaac's favorite; Granny Smith

Over the last few years it has become a family tradition to visit a variety of cider mills in the area. There are so many around her and each has it's own unique features. Last week we went to one where we rode on a wagon behind a tractor and picked our own peck of apples to take home. We tried lots of different kinds. We love the cider and donuts, watching the cider being pressed, and taking lots of pictures (I just can't resist).

My Energizer Bunny

These are a few of my favorite recent pictures of Aaron. He is so much fun right now! He is constantly on the go! He loves doing what everyone else is doing, especially if it involves going outside. I really don't think he stops moving as long as he is awake. He is gaining quite the vocabulary and makes us all smile with all his fun sounds and expressions. The picture of him pointing makes me laugh. I think it exhibits everything he is right now. He wants to go see and show us everything and he has plenty to say about it. He is constantly on the go, but will always stop to give a hug or, his favorite, a high five.

School Season

Isaac and Meagan

started school a month ago! The time has flown by. I wanted to post these the week school started, but I have been shocked at how crazy life has been. We are finally starting to get into a sort of routine...I think. Isaac is loving first grade. He has a great teacher and has made a lot of good friends. Last week the scholastic news had a section about hermit crabs. Isaac's teacher let him bring in Tiger and Striped Little Panda to show the class. It was pretty exciting. Isaac says his favorite part of the day is recess. He is becoming a pro at the monkey bars!

Meagan lives for preschool. She loves her friends, her teacher and anything they do at preschool. She has her show and tell planned out for about the next 2 months. She also took the hermit crabs to school this week. I love being a part of the school and watching the way she interacts in a new setting. She really enjoys the craft projects and loves circle time!

Summer Summary in pics

Isaac lost his third tooth this summer, the real sign that he is ready for first grade.

Meagan standing in her usual 5:00pm spot (helping cook dinner) while wearing Daddy's flip flops. Often our routine involves loading our arms full of food "just like Rachel Ray." Meagan will at some point say "let's chop those babies up!" or "Yummo!" afterwhich she will laugh histerically.

Aaron's first skinned knee. He got it running through the puddles at the baseball diamond. He was having so much fun he barely stopped to notice. That has been the theme of his summer; lots of skinned knees and absolutely loving being outside!

Meagan let Aaron borrow her shades. Nothing stays long on his head or face, but he seemed to think he was pretty cool and left them on long enough for me to grab the camera.

Isaac got dressed in his "uniform" to go play basketball. He was working hard at looking tough. After posing he asked me to get the camera and take his picture.

This picture is from our camping trip two weeks ago. We went to Higgins Lake in northeren Michigan. We went with two families from our ward. We had a great time!! We played at the beach, went on a hike, almost fishing and played, played, played to much and slept to little. The kids had so much fun being with their friends around the clock for three days.

This is one of my favorites of Meagan on our hike when we were camping. She spent the last half mile singing "The Ants go Marching" trying to forget that we were looking for an outhouse.

We have had a wonderful summer and made some really fun memories. I have to keep reminding myself of all of the great things we have done so that I don't spend to much time feeling guilty for all of the things I didn't make happen. :) We are all excited for school to start and of course for football season to start too.

We're Going on a Trip!

I don't know about you, but I have the theme song to Little Einstiens in my head. We didn't go on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, but we spent plenty of time in the van or Zoomzy as we affectionately call her. We traveled to Arlington Virginia last week to spend some time with Kasey, Kathryn and Jakson and see some sights in the area. We had a great time at the beach, watching the fireworks, playing a lot and enjoying some great food and fun sights. Thanks for a great time Kasey and Kathryn.

We also came home with a few new "family members" as Isaac calls them. We got two hermit crabs at Bethany Beach in Deleware. Their names are Tiger and Panda. The pictures I am adding Isaac and Meagan took by themselves. They are pretty proud of those crabs.

I had a hard time choosing which beach pictures to share. We had such a great time. Isaac dove into the waves over and over and over again. Meagan and Aaron had a great time in the gigantic sandbox and would have stayed there all day if we had let them. I think we took about 1/2 the beach in sand back with us!

Let's Play Ball!

Here are a few pictures from the opening ceremonies for Isaac's baseball team. Already this season so many fun things have happened.

He got to meet Paws, the Tiger's mascot. He signed Isaac's hat!

Dad is the assitant coach for Isaac's team, the Phillies.

Uncle Kevin got to come to one of Isaac's games.

Isaac was slightly disappointed that for the forth year in a row his team is red. He was easily comforted when he found out everyone on the team got new matching water bottles.

Isaac's favorite position to play is catcher. He also likes to play first base.

His favorite baseball player is Pudge (Ivan Rodriguez).

Jingle Bell Rock

Meagan did a great job in her dance recital! Unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures while she was on stage, but these caught her personality pretty well after she was done. All year long we have been listening to her sing "The Jingle Bell Rock." The theme for their recital was "Seasons of Love." She got to dance next to her friend Annie. They helped each other remeber all the parts.

Meagan loved going to dance class and looked forward to Thursday every week and continues to say "I wish I didn't have a last day of dance."

Meagan say's: "My teacher, she helps us learn. She teaches me ballet."

The Cake

Aaron had a baseball glove and ball for his cake. We sat him down in front of it to dig in, but he wasn't so sure. I tried putting his hands and feet in it and he would start to get squirmy and whiny. Much to his dismay he accidently got his foot in it. Even after trying it he wasn't all that thrilled with the idea. I finally decided to get out a fork, at which point the story began to change. He ended up eating some and seemed to enjoy it once we weren't trying to make him bath in it.

We invited some friends from the ward to share in the fun. Aaron finished the party with a bath, and going to bed while everyone stayed and played.

He is such a fun baby and continues to show us new parts of his little person every day! As for me, I am glad we all made it through the first year alive. :)

Aaron's birthday!

Almost a month later and I am finally back to finish what I started. Here are a few pictures from Aaron's b-day.

We went to the Tiger's game to celebrate the day before his birthday. We all had a great time. It was cute when we got to our seats and sat down, Aaron started clapping and squealing. I was nervous he wouldn't like all the noise, but he joined right in with the best of them. The Tiger's won! It started raining somewhere in probably the fifth inning. After the seventh inning stretch Aaron (or maybe mom) had had enough. We made it to the car in time to hear the winning play on the radio.

One Year Old

Yesterday Aaron had his first birthday! It has been so much fun to think back on the last year and all that he has brought into our home. What a sweet little boy he is!

To be completely honest, my heart was a little heavy as we prepared to celebrate. It is tough at times not having family close by, and this was a particularly rough occassion for me. Part of this stems from the fact that my baby is now one year old and he hasn't spent much time around our family. No one really knows what makes him Aaron. That is my purpose for starting this blog like I have been saying I was going to do for 6 months now. I hope to be able to close the gap a little by sharing a few pictures and such every now and then. As I have finally discovered the process though, I am afraid I could easily become addicted to this blogging stuff! I will try not to overdo it and just give you mostly the highlights. We miss you all and love you tons!