A visit from Aunt Joan

Waaaaaaaaaay back in October we spent the evening at Aunt Deb's house to visit with Aunt Joan and her Georgia family. So much fun to hang out with those adorable accents!

Shawna getting some Bella snuggles

Only at our family gathering do you get served humus in a dog food bowl and pretzels in an antique chamber pot - oh how I wish that last sentence was a little less true

Pie time with Aunt Deb

Table dancing

Happy to see family

Yes that is Papa at the swings with Ash and Natty. And yes that is Papa wearing a princess crown. Again, only at our family gatherings.

Cousins!!!

Nana and sister Joan having a little cry fest as they say their good byes 

Sisters

Keely found another table to climb

A glimpse of the madness that ensues when these cousins get together 

Imagine my surprise when I walked through Aunt Deb's bedroom and saw this picture - a shot I captured nearly 13 years ago on the same exact day I met Jake; July 17, 2001. 'The Pavilion' at what used to be known as The Campbell Ranch.

Keely's happy to hang with Poppie

Ash and Natty happily helping Casey with his mushroom harvest 

Papa's pretty excited about Keely's PJs: I Love Papa

Amberger serving Double Duty

Mummy Dearest 

Natty loves her some Bella

Smooch!

Celebrating LOVE with my lovely loves

How they feel about me making them hold still for pics on Valentine's Day......

Good work, Grandma!

So Keely just cruised into the kitchen, pointed at the banana's and said "Uh-nana!!".  

Good work, Kathy! It seems Keely was paying attention earlier today when you were teaching her!

It's always exciting when your kiddos add another word to their vocabularies! 

Well most words. There are a few I wish they didn't know....like that time with Natty and her brownie...

To date Keely's list of words includes: Dada, Mama, Tissy, Papa, Grandpa, dog and banana. 

7 mastered, 1.1 million to go.

Pumpkin picking

Back in October we spent a few hours at the pumpkin patch looking for The Great Pumpkin.

I'm not sure we found it, but we sure had fun looking.

Always love an old John Deere

Best seat on the farm

Taking a sec to cuddle with Aunt Shawna

The monkey on Jake's back

More Aunt Shawna cuddles

Selfie to prove Mama was there, too

A trip down the slide

Almost a group shot - Even though you can't see her, Keely is there
PS This pic was taken by First Lady Michele Obama's brother - how's that for dropping names?

Natty found her diamond in the rough

Flying Midget

Go Natty

Our little Keely Pumpkin 

Gotta make myself one of these next year - the pumpkin tower, not the minis

Snow day 4

Our final day with the snow before the big meltdown and we were FINALLY able to make a snowman! Ashley and Natalie had been waiting DAYS for that moment. Natalie promptly named him Harold and he stood tall and proud until the rain storm last night. Today only his butt-part was left while his carrot nose, sun glass eyes, scarf, hat and s'more-stick cooker arms lay lifeless in the grass.
He was a good snowman.

Ash licking on an icicle 

Natty taking 1 last run down the driveway

Snowman time!

Looking good, Harold 

Love her imagination 

My lame attempt at a snow angel 

We decided to take a little walk down the hill

Snow girls

Such an incredible view

Springs trying to poke through - lets hope the 100+ daffodil and tulip bulbs we planted last fall survived Snowmagedon 2014

Swing time!

Word on the street is Natty is perfectly capable of pumping her own legs, and yet she still suckers us into pushing her

Wee!

Snow play makes for a tired Midget

First time off the hill in nearly 4 days

A few pics from day 3 I forgot to share....

Making snow angels 

Figuring out their sledding route

Jake taking a trip on the skis 

Plow! Plow! Plow!

An attempt at a snowball fight

Our perfect little red house on the hill

So serene 

Keely enjoying herself