A visit from some of our favorite people!

Charlie's 1st school program 12-19-11

Charlie's 1st of many sleepovers in Vermillion

Charlie and I spent the weekend in Vermillion with my brother Tim's family. We had a great time - tons of laughter, being goofy, too many treats, and very little sleeping (everything a sleepover is suppose to be)! At 10:45 we went to check on the kids and it looked like Iz and CT fell asleep in mid conversation. On Sunday we watched the girls at the first ballet recital and hit the DQ for a special treat.

Thanks for letting us stay with you guys!! We had a wonderful time and can't wait for the next sleepover.

Very proud parents with their beautiful ballerinas aka reindeer

Holding their flowers that Charlie gave them after their performance

Extremely proud Auntie! If you ask me, I will always try to be there!

I appreciated Faye letting me help get the girls ready - raising boys is much different from girls!

Faye had her hands full but handled it with finesse

Playing the Xbox with Uncle Tim

My Soph a doph! Love you babe!

The goofballs in pjs but NOT ready for sleep!

"I'm thankful for all of you guys!"

My quote above is from my one and only nephew, Malaki Michael. When asked at dinner on Thanksgiving what he was thankful for, this 4 year old said "I'm thankful for all of you guys!" and we feel the same MAK!

We drove to Rapid the day before Thanksgiving and spent the weekend with the fam. We had an awesome time, both Tim and I getting time to ourselves. Tim can't go to Rapid without stopping at the Firehouse for a beer, so he and brother in law Chris spent Friday night there. The ladies got Saturday morning together shopping. Charlie couldn't leave Mak's side and they even dressed themselves the same on Friday! We are thankful for our uneventful travel, our health, and most of all each other! This year I am so incredibly thankful for my dad's successful cochlear implant surgery. He is hearing things that he has never heard before and enjoying his conversations with his grandchildren!

Thank you to all of you that made our Thanksgiving enjoyable and unforgettable! We love you all and we are very thankful you are apart of our lives!

Charlie's new favorite toy at Papa and Grandma's - Lincoln Logs

Max and Gran doing some heavy lifting

The boys' first trip to Dinosaur park - Charlie's heaven

It was pretty scary for Papa and me - the park is on a steep hill and very dangerous

Uncle Chris, Mak and Charlie climbing on the stegosaurus

On to a safer park - Papa and Kyra on the slide

Uncle Chris w/ the lil boys

Max sacked out on Papa after playing w/ cousins all day

Chris and Mary

Tim with his sister Tina

Story of the weekend, Gran broke her toe! Last time I was home my nephew broke his arm and now my mom breaks her toe. Watch out everyone at Christmas! :)

This is the grandkids having sympathy for their Grandma so they were all wrapping up a body part too.

Parade of Lights! It has been years since I have been able to attend this parade. It was freezing but we all had a great time

Charlie in the middle of a yawn getting sick of waiting for the lights

the 4 grandsons huddled together

My girls! Love you til the end!

As usual the boys fought over Papa and he can't say no so he held both of them until his arms fell asleep. Best Papa I know!

Most of our group exhausted but enjoyed all the lights

My Sophia! She holds a special spot in my heart (and she knows it!).

My brother Tim and his family weren't able to make the trip home for turkey day so we met them in Sioux Falls on our way to MN. We were so glad to see each other and it definitely wasn't the same at home. We missed them terribly and hope to celebrate Christmas with them!

Uncle Tim with Izzy

Early Thanksgiving Dinner

The weekend before Thanksgiving we had a delicious ham dinner with Tim's family here. The day doesn't matter, just as long as you get together to celebrate what you are thankful for! It was a great afternoon for all of us. Max was so tired by 4:30 that he fell asleep sitting up on the couch and rolled off to the floor :) Thanks to all that made the day wonderful for us!

The silly kiddos that I spent most of the day with - they know how to make you smile!

Our picture making table

Nama and Charlie sharing secrets. We appreciated Linda "boysitting" for us while Tim and I went out for our 6 yr anniversary the night before!

Auntie Heather with exhausted Maximus

Aunt Heather w/ Avery

Jam Packed Saturday!

Best Friends for Life!

We headed to the cities on Saturday to visit some family and best friends. We started our visit at Nama's house where we saw Aunt Becky, Nama, Grma Millie, and cousins Karlie, Claire, and Avery. The kids had a great time playing on Nama's porch and eating giant apples that Grma Millie brought them.

We ended the day going to see great friends, Tate, Jess, Evan, and Madeline at their house. We were lucky that Tim's other best friend, Chuck, and his wife, Sheena, were in town as well. It was a great afternoon of small talk, feeding babies and lil boys (beers for the HUGE boys), and playing at the park.

We are blessed to have all of these people in our lives!!

LIL Maddie is sporting her new hat that my mom made her! She is so precious!

Tim's buddies Chuck and Tate with Maddie and Evan

Tim with his crew

All of the kiddos so far. We are all excited to see the kids as friends when they grow up.

All 3 of the boys were soooo hands on with the babies. They wanted to sing to them, give them toys, and cover them up. Great to watch but a bit scary at times :)

Uncle Chuck tickling Charlie

Tim with his sons and Tate with his

All of Nama's 6 grandchildren and all of Grma Millie's great grandchildren

Nama with Claire and Avery

Lil Avery chillin in the middle of the chaos

A very happy Nama!