Hello, friends! We sure went missing there for a while, didn't we? Our family was without internet and a working computer from Thanksgiving until just a few weeks ago. WOW. CRAZY, right? :) But we're all set back up now, so I thought I'd finally update our blog!
Our Thanksgiving was wonderful, and Christmas and New Year's were too. We spent Thanksgiving in Gettysburg with my family and my brother's in-laws and had the most delicious dinner! Christmas came early for us, as we drove for two days down to San Antonio to spend a week with Brant's fam. We got to see everyone and were especially excited to meet Annie's baby cousin Cadance. Oh! So fun! We were back in good ol' PA by Christmas Eve Eve, just in time to come down with some serious stomach bugs, which luckily didn't last long. We hosted a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner with my parents. We unfortunately still had some pretty sensitive stomachs, so we didn't get to eat much, but the leftovers were divine! We opened presents that night and had a jolly holiday! Christmas Day was spent relaxing with our amazing friends, who, sadly, had all also gotten sick with the bug, but it was still a lovely, peaceful day. On New Year's Eve, Brant had to work--too bad, since it was also his birthday!--but Annie and I went down to Gettysburg to host a high school friends holiday party at my parents' house. I so wish we could all get together more than we do! Annie made off like a bandit at the white elephant party--and she also got a present from little Miriam and a book from Jeff and Alex!
So here are pictures from Christmastime and thereabouts . . .
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| Annie chillin' with Papa Bear |
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| Memphis and his little friend Cosmo, who lived with us for a few snowy days before we headed to Texas. |
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| Annie did so well on the trip to Texas. We sang, read books, and chit-chatted with cows out the window. |
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| We missed the Welcome to Texas sign, so here is a picture I took once we crossed the state line! I was trying to get Annie to look at the camera. |
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| Texas sky |
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| . . . and she's out. Right before we arrived at Steve and Carolyn's in Fort Worth. Figures. |
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| Going on a walk around Steve and Carolyn's neighborhood! |
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| Baby Cousin Cadance. Seriously, this baby is magical. |
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| Of course, Annie made off with Cadance's baby doll. |
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| walking with Papa |
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| We explored an old fort with Pops! |
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| looking at the tanks with Uncle Glen |
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| and making soft pretzels with Uncle Glen! |
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| holding Cadance |
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| spending every moment she could with Cadance |
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| showing Uncle Steven how to properly suck on two fingers |
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| presents! New Baby! |
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| Yay! We now have our very own Ligretto! |
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| stopping at a hotel in Jackson, Tennessee on the way back to PA--Annie is a little mesmerized by the TV |
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| Christmas Eve dinner with Grandma and Poppy! |
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| all decked out to go bring in presents from the car |
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| Brant got new power tools!! |
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| Annie got a huge stuffed dog from Uncle Thomas and Aunt Caroline. |
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| She named him Christmas. |
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| Christmas morning breakfast! |
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| Brant with cinnamon rolls :) |
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| cool girl with her new sunglasses from Great Gram |
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| Bedtime reading with Spencer and Heather late one Sunday night |
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| snow! |
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| getting a taste |
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| my little snowbunny all set to go back out after yet another snowfall |
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| walking the town |
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| I didn't realize how fast she was running until I took this picture and saw how far away she was! |
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| I just think our yard is pretty in the snow :) |
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| Annie snuck out in the snow with her slippers on. What a goober. |
More recently . . .
We were even lucky enough to get a visit from Pops (aka Brant's dad) a few weeks ago! He drove in from Philly and spent two days with us. Most of the time you could find him sitting on the living room floor with Annie, his most adoring fan. The two of them built some pretty cool car cities out of blocks.
And we started our second round of Kindermusik this month! Annie is already singing a lot of the songs, and Brant and I are learning the new ones, too! What a fun way to pass the winter and see Annie grow.
Let's see . . . what else . . . over the weekend we hosted a party for Brant's fellow American Studies PhD students and their families. We ate a LOT of yummy food and played games well into the night. Nothin' better than that! :)
So now things have settled down quite a bit. We're still doing a lot of work on the house. The rooms upstairs are almost all done--floors sanded and varnished, and I've been putting up new curtains. We found an awesome antique dresser for one of the bedrooms, too. That gets delivered tomorrow! Yay!
We're just staying warm and playing in a lot of snow. The view here in town is perpetually white, now that it pretty much never gets above freezing. Haven't seen grass in a long time. It's beautiful. It's cozy. It's winter!
Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. These are just random recent snapshots of life around the house. Enjoy!
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| Annie in curlers one morning before church |
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| haha! funny face! |
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| early morning snow |
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| oh, Memphis. |
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| who doesn't want to go for a bike ride in the snow when it's 18 degrees outside? |
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| Annie and her friend, Natalie, whom she totally adores, working seriously hard on some play-dough creations |
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| cutie pie in her vintage green jacket sent by GramE! |
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| "No, Mommy! I will button it!" |
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| Block City!! |
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| Annie puts a lot of things in lines now. I'm always finding random things arranged meticulously all throughout the house. |
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| more snow! look at my little oak tree! |
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| the sandbox is almost all covered up! |
