Ladies Man!

While we were eating dinner at the Christmas party, I looked over to see Trevor surrounded by some young girls in our ward. It was pretty hilarious! They had placed a Santa hat on him and were laughing and talking to him.

Trying to get him to look at me for a picture.

Santa!

At our ward Christmas party last weekend, Santa made an appearance. Brennan was excited to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Trevor, however, was just a little confused and curious (below).

Brennan 's a cheese!

Telling Santa he wants a slinky for Christmas. Ever since our friend in D.C. had a slinky, Brennan has wanted one. We told him "once" he should ask Santa for one and he remembered. A few days before the ward party we told Brennan that Santa would be there. He brightened up and said, "I'm going to tell Santa I want a Slinky!" I love his memory and am sometimes surprised by all the things he remembers.

Merry Christmas!

Decorating for Christmas

We started the night by lighting the first fire of the year (first fire ever in our new home). Brennan was pretty excited to see Daddy use the matches. After the fire was lit we had to blockade the fireplace so Trevor wouldn't go near it. There's something about moving fiery flames to draw one near.

We set our Christmas tree up the Sunday after Thanksgiving (yes, the day we got home from our week in NC and D.C.). We realized our little artificial tree looks pretty pathetic with our 10 foot ceilings. We also realized how vulnerable our tree looks with Trevor crawling around.
After everything was set up it looked great. We may actually keep this little tree for the next 3 years. Trevor is also not that interested in pulling our tree down. In fact, he really hasn't paid much attention to it during the last week. Just in the last few days he's started pointing to the little lights.

Washington D.C.

On our way to and from the Outer Banks we stopped in D.C. and stayed with my best friend from high school. It was such a nice chance to break up our trip and enjoy good company. On the way home we actually stopped in the city and enjoyed some of the sites. The last time Logan and I were in D.C. was when I was 9 weeks pregnant with Brennan.
We finally found a parking spot and headed towards the Natural History Museum. We figured Brennan would love all the animals inside. It's a good thing there are so many children's book with animals (armadillo, beaver, wolf, hippo, etc). Brennan knew many of the animals there.

Just inside the museum. Brennan did really well the whole time. He wanted to jump off of everything - but what else is new?

(Brennan was in the stroller and Trevor had fallen asleep)

Maren and I. I kept telling her D.C. would be such a fun area to live in. She loves it! There's so much history and fun things to see/do. Not to mention people always wanting to come and visit.

The Martin Luther King Memorial opened about 4 weeks prior to our visit. It was still very crowded with people stopping by to check it out. We loved it. There was such a beautiful sunset as we were getting ready to leave. It's a pretty awesome design. MLK's statue was carved from a large stone cut out of the wall behind (picture below).

The Dance family.

Trevor wanted to grab Logan's camera! He was such a good boy the whole time (after he woke up).

The Richards.

The wall of quotes.

Thanksgiving and 5k Run

This year for Thanksgiving my sister, her husband, my friend Amy, and I ran a 5k. We were the Outer Banks and it was WINDY!!! I have never run in such wind. It wasn't really coming at us in one direction - it was all around us. It made for a fun and interesting morning though. We all did great and were all happy with our times. What a great way to start a Thanksgiving day.

After the race pictures

This year Trevor had a little Turkey spirit! My sister made this shirt and we were happy it fit Trevor this year for the holiday. He sure is a little cutie.

Trevor is getting so big these days. He climbs on everything and loves to stand up on things. He also loves sucking on his upper lip - like this picture. Silly boy.

"Mom, it's that lady who smothers me with kisses!" He sure loves his Aunt Jana.

Parker was a huge help holding Trevor while we cooked and got ready for the meal.

Trevor ate his lunch before the big feast. He was actually napping when we ate our Thanksgiving dinner. It ended up being perfect timing so we could enjoy the meal and he could enjoy a peaceful nap :)

Outer Banks, SC

This year for Thanksgiving we went to the Outer Banks with my sister and her family - and 7 other families. We rented a LARGE beach house with 14 bedrooms for the entire week. The week was a much needed and very enjoyed vacation!!! We were able to hang out at our own pace and enjoy the ocean/beach every day.
The water really wasn't that bad with some wet suits on. We enjoyed some sit-on-top kayaks for paddling fun :) Logan went out everyday to paddle, but I only went out the last day. It was kind of complicated to both get out there with a baby napping and a 3 year old to watch. It was beautiful weather everyday! Some days started out windy or rainy, but they all turned into fabulous days.

After our 3.6 mile walk on the beach out to the a pier. We laughed because it was much longer than we anticipated.
Trevor loved the walk and kicked his feet and talked the whole way. Brennan on the other hand didn't quite make it. Who can blame him? It had been a long days drive in the car the day before and a crazy first night with a party house!

Trevor in our beautiful business class suite. We loved having a large room for both of our boys to sleep in the same room with us.

Hartford 1/2 Marathon, etc.

 Random shot of the runners. I kept my eyes peeled but I never did get a picture of either of the girls running!

Finishers! Jana and Heather

 The cheerleaders! Heather trained well for her first half marathon and met her goal, coming in just over 2 hours. Jana was hot on her heels just a few minutes behind. Brennan, Trevor and I enjoyed the sights of Hartford and then waited at the 12 mile marker to cheer them on!

 Bushnell Park and the State Capitol Building, with a fountain topped by a stag (or "hart" for Hartford).

 The Memorial Arch, or "Soldiers and Sailors Memorial" built in the 1880's to remember the 4,000 soldiers from Hartford who fought (and 400 who died) in the Civil War.

 Buffalo Zach's Cafe in some small town whose name I forgot. We stopped here to get gas on the way home and I ran into a family at the town's only gas station who was collecting money to pay medical bills for their daughter who has SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). I had to stop and talk to them, and donate what little cash was in my wallet, because I cared for many patients with SMA as part of my pediatrics rotation at the U of Wisconsin which is nationally recognized for its expertise in caring for SMA. Such a horrible disease! 

 Shelves for our new basement "pantry."

 Some random photos - cleaning up the leaves. Brennan was quite helpful actually, helping to hold the bags while we stuffed them full.

 Daddy's new car (a 1995 Geo Prizm) to get me to work when it's too rainy or snowy to ride my bike (and for my February pediatrics rotation at U of Rochester which is no trivial 15 miles away).

Our Japanese Maple in full fall color glory! We got this for free from a neighbor who pots the seedlings as they come up from her trees. I made some admiring comments about her maples which are the biggest ones I had ever seen - large enough that they no longer hide her house!