end of the weekend

on our final 2 days in NYC we continued with the trend of hanging out, with the occasional venture out.  on Friday, we headed to the American Museum of Natural History.  per Will's request, we headed straight to the 4th floor... and a dinosaur lover's dream!  I must admit it was real neat to see so many fossils of all the different dinosaurs Will talks about. 
Friday evening, Will, Isa and I headed to Carla's apartment for a few hours to hang out with the boys.  Matthew and Jack were so happy to have the kids over to play with.  it was nice being able to catch up and chat with Carla and Tom. 

 nice walk back from the museum

 cousins =)

Saturday (our last day there =(  )we headed on a walk through Central Park.  It was Cold, but we still had a blast... taking pictures, climbing "mountains", walking Ace, holding hands.  So many great memories.  Isa isn't one to hold hands (she is very independent), but on more than 1 occasion she went over and held Mary's hand during our walk.  It was heartwarming.  Will did the same with Uncle Justin.  We feel so thankful to have had this time with them. 
When we returned from our walk... we all wanted some hot chocolate... well... Will had another concoction in mind.  On our walk back, he kept talking about making us all "muddy marsh".  The cutest thing, was that when we returned to the apartment, he grabbed a bowl and some ingredients from the fridge and got 6 spoons for all to share.  Justin and Tobin were GREAT sports eating his "muddy mash" (lukewarm chocolate pediasure with marshmallows).  Mary and I had a small taste.  needless to say... priceless memories were made.  thanks again Mary and Justin for letting our family invade your home, and sharing so much of your time and love with us. 

 

 the infamous "muddy marsh"... soon to be patented and marketed (by Justy of course)

  saying good-bye =(

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

(Macy's Thanksgiving day parade)

This weekend our family ventured out for another Thanksgiving adventure.  We are in NYC celebrating, relaxing, touring, and having fun with family. On Wednesday, we headed to Times Square and visited Toys R Us.  The kids spent HOURS there looking around and finally taking a fun ride on the Ferris Wheel.  After a "family nap time" we all went out for the Macy's day parade balloon inflation viewing.  The balloons were being inflated only 4 blocks away from Mary and Justin's apartment!

Ace hung out with us...

 

and the kids hung out in his crate =)

 Thanksgiving morning we headed out to Carla's downtown office building where we had a prime real estate spot for viewing the parade.  It was AWESOME not having to battle crowds.  We watched from the 5th floor of her building on a balcony.  Some coffee, bagels, and great company!  Isa was so excited to be reunited with her "prince" Jack while Will and Uncle Justin battled as dinosaurs on city rooftops.   Back at Justin and Mary's our Thanksgiving feast was DELICIOUS and followed by another "family nap" thanks to the never failing coma inducing turkey!  We are having an amazing time and we still have 2 more days!  We feel truly blessed for each other, our families, and this special time we are having. 

 this is at the end of Justin and Mary's street!

 watching the parade!

 Carla, Jack, Matthew and Tom

 dinosaur battles =)

  Gabi's FIRST Thanksgiving!

catching up...

Here is a glimpse of things we have been doing over the past 2 weeks.
Last night and today we celebrated Dad's big 60th birthday with a treat to Steak On A Stone and we will be having a movie night tonight.  It was real nice to have an adult, nice dinner together.  

 On Thursday, Chloe stayed with us during the day (she slept most of the time), but we were so happy to hang out with her all day.  That evening, when Kateri and I were catching up, Will told us to look at this birthday creation he had made.  Trying to keep from laughing and talking to him about how this was a wasteful use of food... Kateri insisted we take a picture for posterity, enjoy =)

 

 This past weekend I was so lucky to attend a Scrapbooking suite retreat.  It was so much fun hanging out with other friends and be able to work on Gabi's album.  I was able to complete all the way to 6 months for her.  I am really hoping to be able to go back in March and finish her first year.  Cudos to Tobin who bravely watched all 3 kids that weekend!  I love my hubby!

Gabi has been a little mover over the last couple of weeks first crawling and now furniture cruising.  She LOVES standing and is overjoyed with excitement when you hold her hands and help her "walk". 

Last Thursday the kids had a bowling field trip with Will's school.  This was both Will and Isa's first time bowling!  They had a blast, but I kept thinking that the balls looked heavier than the kids =).

  Will and his teachers Mrs Loper and Miss Koscho.

he's getting the point right?

Tonight at supper after our prayer the following interaction took place:
Will (looks around)- "Thank you so much for dinner."
Me (assuming he's talking to me)- "Your so very welcome baby"
Will- "No, I was thanking Jesus"

 =) hope this makes you smile the way it did us tonight.

p.s.. here is his School Picture we got today =)

fun fall day

One of the things that Tobin and I have thoroughly enjoyed about our new home is the lack of falling leaves.  This, however, has not been shared by the kids... who have anxiously awaited Fall to have their "leaf piles."  So today, with leaf blower and rakes in hand we went out to gather all the leaves (THANKFULLY much less than in our previous home) and make Will and Isa a perfect "leaf pile".  Even though it was a little chilly, the kids didn't seem to mind at all and dove in over and over again!  I love these moments. 

 After coming in and warming up, the evening continued with Family movie night.  We debuted Toy Story 3!  It was great!  Most heartwarming of all was watching the kids interacting and cuddling with Uncle Bim.  What a great day and night!

 Uncle Bim and Will being Dinosaurs of course!