Sandra Visits

We had our first overnight visitor in the new house. Sandra came from Bermuda for a week to help us unpack and get organized. Her help was greatly appreciated. She organized the basement with all the kids toys and would probably be upset if she saw what it looks like now...the kids LOVE the basement. I'm sure she went home needing a vacation from her vacation! We all miss her tremendously.

Our New House

The last post for 2009 is a picture of our new house. We have been here for almost 4 weeks and absolutely love it. The boys have adjusted amazingly well. Colin enjoying his new John Deere Green room - yes, GREEN!! Carson likes the extra space to run from his brother. Bowman has actually had the hardest time adjusting. He is scratching the carpets, follows us everywhere and sleeps on the bed which he never used to do before. He's made friends with the neighbors dog and hopefully he starts to cheer up soon. John has been busy with painting and stripping wallpaper. Hopefully by spring we'll be able to park the cars in the garage if all the boxes are gone. We still don't have pictures on the wall, but it's work in progress and we are just so happy to be here. We are looking forward to all the future memories in our new house, but will never forget the memories in our old house.

Christmas 2009

This Christmas season was very hectic, but enjoyed by all. We packed up the house for most of the month of December and our move in date was Dec 30th. We spent Christmas at our old house and it was nice to have one last Christmas there. Colin and Carson enjoyed the presents Santa brought. Colin's Raven's jersey was probably his favorite gift and he loved the gumball machine that our dear friends the Krauszer's gave us. It has proven to be the worst gift in my book... Thanks Krauszer! Carson probably liked the boxes the best and of course his new power wheels since Colin does not like to share his jeep. My mom got me the coolest gift... she was able to print my blog into a book for the last 2 years, so now I have to keep up with it so she can do it again next year! MY favorite gift by far was spending time with my wonderful family.

GHS Gang

We finally were able to get the Glenelg girls together, although we missed Taryn. We went to dinner with all the kids and we were able to catch up. Kara will be having her 3rd baby this summer, Noelle has moved to NC and will be getting married in the fall, Seri is in her new place and we got to meet her new boyfriend and Taryn has moved to SC with husband Ben.

Snow Storm

The past few years, we have gotten very little to no snow, but we were hit hard one Saturday with about 22 inches of snow. It was so beautiful and we were all able to enjoy it because it fell on a weekend. The only downfall was that the whole family was sick (you can't tell in the pictures though!). Carson had been to the ER for dehydration and didn't eat for almost a week. John had something nasty and Colin had a small bug... Luckily, I didn't get it. Somebody had to take care of the family!! Anyway, lots of shoveling, hot chocholate and some sleding. Carson was NOT a big fan of the snow, but I think it had to do with him being sick.

ICE

Wow, it's been awhile since I updated anything. I'm going to try and catch up and finish 2009. We took an Eyre bus (sometime in December) to the National Harbor to see ICE. We had to all wear these special lovely blue jackets because it was so cold. It was quite amazing to see all the ice sculptures and the kids loved it because they had an ice slide for them to go down. The bus then took us to see the White House Christmas tree and it was beautiful. By the end of the trip, the kids were exhausted. It was a long, but fun Friday night.

Christmas Tree 2009

Our 2nd annual trip to Pine Valley Farm to cut down our Christmas Tree was a big success. We decided to do it a little early this year as we have a very busy December and will be moving the week after Christmas. Colin was excited to carry the saw and help Daddy with whatever he needed and Carson was scared of the trees until he figured out he could touch them and the branches would move. The tree is up and decorated and we are all excited for the holiday season.

Carson's First Haircut

We took Carson for his first haircut to the local barber shop. No cartoon cuts this time around. $9 beats $18... Colin, John and Carson all got their haircut. I'm sure I've mentioned before that Colin absolutely loves getting his haircut and I'm thinking his brother might be the same way. He sat like a big boy in the chair and didn't cry at all. We were somewhat shocked at how well he did. Carson went from looking like a cute little baby to looking like the cutest little boy.

SOLD

We sold our our house in September and it came with so many mixed emotions. We are sad to leave the house that both our kids were born into and we are extremely sad to leave such a wonderful neighborhood and the best neighbors we could have asked for. We have had a lot of great memories here in the last 7 years.

On another note, we finally found our dream house after many months of looking and I was starting to get worried as our rent back is only until February. Our new house is about 5 miles away from where we currently are and has a great yard for the kids and Bowman and the house has some much needed space we were looking for. We may be in before Christmas if everything goes well. We are very excited about the move!

Halloween 2009

Mr. Skeleton (aka Colin) and Mr. Tiger (aka Carson) enjoyed the Halloween festivities. Colin had a Halloween party at his school and then we had a Halloween get together with family and neighbors at our house. There is way too much candy and chocolate in our house. I'm glad I went to the dentist before Halloween!

What were we thinking?!

I can't believe I forgot to post about our trip to Clemson in October. We decided to rent a RV with the Krauszer's. 4 kids, 4 adults in a small, cramped RV...Luckily we have some great friends in Clemson and we were able to stay with them for 2 out of the 3 nights, but we did rough it one night in the RV. It was nice for tailgating as it rained the day of the football game. We all had a great time, but poor little Carson got sick the last day.

Picture People

We decided to be brave and go to The Picture People for Carson's one year pictures. We usually have the worst luck there and always walk away with a bad experience. Getting the boys pictures is no easy task. This time we were able to bribe Colin with a Carousel ride and Carson was on his normal good behavior. The trip ended up being painless and we were excited to see that Carson's 3 month pictures were displayed in the store. Our famous little Carson!!

Happy 1st Birthday Carson!

My sweet little boy turned ONE this week! Wow, where has the year gone? I should probably knock on wood before saying this, but Carson is such a good little boy. He's so happy and laid back and still smiles when his brother is constantly bothering him. I keep telling Colin to watch out for paybacks. Carson weighs 28 pounds and is 95% for height. He LOVES to eat and we have to cut him off from food because he doesn't know when to stop. He's not walking yet, but he can definitely get around!! He's babbling cute little words and he is a joy to be around. We are so proud of our little boys. Happy Birthday Carson.

We had his birthday party at Clark Elioaks Farm with family and friends. Hayride, pumpkin picking, petting zoo, and pony rides. It was a great day to celebrate Carson's birthday.

Bermuda 2009

We are back from Bermuda! It's been a crazy month. Our trip to Bermuda was unforgettable. We went for my cousin Jodie's wedding who got married at Elbow Beach. It was a beautiful wedding and it was great seeing the Bermuda family. The weather was absolutely fantastic the whole week we were there. We all bunked up at the Southampton Princess which was fantastic and we enjoyed our days at the beach and pool and touring the island. Just imagine traveling around for a week with a min of 6+ adults and 4 kids. It was quite an adventure to say the least and there are so many stories to tell. Colin and Carson enjoyed their daily naps on the lounge chairs and splashing in the ocean and playing in the sand. Thank You Sandra and Cameron for everything and thank you to the Ueltschy's for watching the boys when we went to the wedding.

Precious!

The Guy's Visit

Our good friends The Guy's spent the evening with us on their way home to Florida. Reagan and Josh became quick friends with Colin and Carson and we can't wait to see them again next month in Clemson.

OBX 2009

Our trip to the Outer Banks this year was memorable despite the rainy weather we had. It's always great to get together with family and have the kids spend time with their cousins. We hope to plan the trip again for next year and hope for better weather.