o'christmas tree

today joel, lauren and i got our christmas tree. it was a perfect day for putting up a tree. the snow was coming down and everything was covered in white. it really helped to put us in a christmasie mood. we were excited to see lauren's reaction when we brought this huge tree into the house and began decorating it. unfortunately, due to taking only a 10 minute nap today she was a bit on the grumpy side (isn't that always the case when you have something special planned). so our warm, wonderful family activity didn't quite go as we had hoped it would. but it was still fun, and our living room looks and smells so nice with our beautiful tree!

thanksgiving

we had a great thanksgiving this year at my parents' house. we celebrated with my mom and dad, two brothers, four of my aunts and uncles, and my cousin tim, his wife amber and their daughter, katie. a small gathering actually considering our family get together's usually consist of 40+ people. the food was great, my all-time favorite meal, and we had a nice time relaxing, talking politics (unavoidable, but we're all pretty much on the same page) and just hanging out. this truly is a wonderful time of year!

my mom and one of her four sisters, mitzi.

lauren and katie had lots of fun playing together.

no family gathering would be complete without a puppet show from cody and pedro.

and he always has a supportive and encouraging audience with the family, even though they've all seen his performances numerous times.

and here is a picture of my brother, preston, giving lauren some attention. after all he is one of her favorite people!

dinner with friends

last saturday night joel, lauren and i went to my cousin tim's house for dinner. his wife, amber, made us a delicious salmon dinner and lauren had a great time playing with their 14 month old daughter, katie, who is SO cute! we had a great time, and i am so grateful to have such a wonderful extended family!

tim and his lovely wife amber with sleeping katie.

i was unsuccessful at getting a good picture of the two of them together. so individual shots will have to do. katie just started walking a few weeks ago, but is doing a great job.

lauren and her "pappy", a shot that's never hard to get. i know what our new year's resolution will be!

lauren did try to give katie some kisses, but katie wasn't too sure she wanted any.

our new jersey trip

last friday joel, lauren and i drove out to new jersey to spend a week with my sister, her husband and their four kids. it was a long drive out there, but we were fortunate not to hit any bad weather. and for the most part we got though the major cities (mainly chicago) without too much trouble. phew! lauren had so much fun with her cousins. they are so sweet and patient with her considering they are a bit older than she is. micah is 10, toby is 6, elle is 4 and remi is 6 months. she also was thrilled to play with new toys and elle introduced her to the world of princesses. one highlight was our trip to the camden aquarium. (unfortunately i forgot my camera). but it was really neat. there were so many amazing sea creatures to see and we even got to pet sharks and sting rays. lauren loved it! even though joel was working all week, he got to have a little fun too. he consumed his first philly cheese steak sandwich. it probably will be his last, i guess it takes a while to get used to them. joel and i also watched the godfather for the first time. it kind of added to the experience just being in the area where it all took place. so it was a wonderful trip and we miss the megaws so much! thanks for a great week!

remi and jen.

toby and joel.

two "princesses" looking at books.

lauren and elle.

still reading!

remi and lauren.

elle, remi and lauren.

all the cousins - elle, toby, remi micah and lauren.