Opening stocking stuffers Christmas morning....
The presents....thank you to all our family who sent gifts....the kids loved each and every one of their presents!
Three weeks plus three children equals three cases of strep throat. Throw two double ear infections within three weeks for the third child.....and that lucky child gets a pass to have his third set of tubes (in three years) put in next week.
What a birthday week! Alec turned 6 on Wednesday, November 23rd. Birthday child gets to choose the menu for the day, so we started with cinnamon rolls for breakfast, hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch, and ravioli for dinner. A special playdate with his friend David rounded out his day.
Thanks Aunt Carla for the cool nerf gun!
Special birthday dinner plate.....
and thank you Aunt Sheila for the Catwoman addition to the Batman house.
Alec's requested dessert was brownies, since the birthday cake was saved for his party.....and now a pause for Thanksgiving......
resume for a birthday party on Saturday! Lots of friends, food, and fun rounded out the evening!
Birthday theme was Gormiti, which are action figures from Italy. The cake was the Island of Gorm, which has a volcano on it, so the messier, the better!
Birthday friends.....
and special visitors.....the youngest being 3 1/2 weeks old! Thank you Shullenbarger family, for making the trip from Maryland!
Darrell's creative pizzas were a hit among children and adults!
We are very thankful for a double garage that can host a wild tag game to burn energy out of the early elementary aged crowd!
A little flashback six years.....my how things have changed!
Fall festival at our church....Alec was Batman, Ann-Marie was Pippi Longstocking, and Evan declared himself too old to dress up, so he volunteered to be in the dunk tank to raise money for missions.
Do you notice who is first in line to dunk Evan? (above)
Of course, the pumpkin carving was a hit....
our guest, Glori, enjoyed herself also, and hammed it up for the picture.
We love going to the zoo in the Fall, and we have had an unusually nice stretch of weather......we actually haven't been to the Pittsburgh zoo for over a year. We were pleasantly surprised by several changes made to the zoo.
The rays are always a hit, as well as the meerkats....
and below is what Ann-Marie is looking at face-to-face.
We hope you and your family are also enjoying the beautiful Fall days!
This will be the last post about our Missouri/Colorado trip....I am getting behind and need to get some fall photos up! I tried to show all we did in Colorado, but it's hard because we packed in a lot. Above, the Air Force Academy Chapel....
playing in a penny arcade in Manitou Springs.....
discovering the Narnia Wardrobe at Focus on the Family.....
strolling around Cripple Creek, Colorado.....
holding up the Balanced Rock at Garden of the Gods....
touring the Olympic training center.....
taking the tour OVER the Cheyenne Mountains Zoo....
hiking up to Helen Hunt Falls.....
exploring hands-on activities at Starsmore Discovery Center......
not quite making it all the way to the top of Pikes Peak, but close......
and a little side trip and a shout out to a small but wonderful pumpkin farm in Iowa! 
