Gingerbread houses!

So these are the house from 2008, look how much difference a year makes!


One of our many traditions for Christmas, the kids houses are getting so sophisticated! It was a nice break in a winter otherwise filled with a lot of illness so far! Here's to a healthier holiday from now on!!

Decorate some, eat some....

Thanks Oma, for making such lovely cookies to decorate! It's what the kids did while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner, and by "kids" just note the pictures!


Aunt Alicia and Sarah with some finished product





This wasn't for amateurs!

Trick or Treat '09

A man and his bag of candy....




Ahhh, scary swamp lady!! We hosted a "Spooky Swamp Juice" stand this year, complete with a "Guess the body parts" jar game! For all of my costume nastiness, the thing that seemed to bother Matthew the most was the mole on my chin! He was very relieved when I took it off!

Isn't this a beautiful picture of Sarah! She opted to stay home and hand out candy this year, quite the hostess!


And then there was Sarah's "barfkin", we're so proud!

Benner's Annual Party!

It's always a good time!

Yes, that's Octomom and "websurfer"!

Sycamore School Halloween

I love the fact that they're still able to have a halloween party at their school, so many schools have done away with the fun! The entire lower school had a parade, it was great!





Yes, the woman in the baby costume is indeed the headmaster of the school!

Fall is falling upon us!

A day at Stonycreek farm, the weather was beautiful!





Sarah decided you're never too old for a jumping bubble! I love the action photo's!



It seemed fun until we mentioned that they were being expelled from the rear end of a catepillar... then they didn't want to do it anymore!

It's a game of "love"

Sarah has been taking tennis lessons, and we're all really impressed! She is really enjoying the sport, and thinks she might want to pursue it! Matthew has been taking a few pointers as well

A year with Shumai...

Shumai had her 1st birthday on August 18th! What an up and down year it was. We loved her the best we knew how, but in the end we decided she just wasn't the dog for us! Between her tummy troubles and cat-like personality, we sent her to be with her new "forever family". I included a picture of her in her new home with her new best friend "Hank the Tank"! She will really be missed, but we plan on trying again with a different puppy in the spring!

We love the pool!

And the hot tub! Back and forth between the hot tub and the pool all day long!




Matthew became the big swimmer this summer, like a little fish! The pirate ship saw a lot of action too!

Summer Fun!

The kids were on a roll this summer with the "string game"! Introduced to it by the Cordova's, the object is to take rolls of yarn and tie up the entire yard! Hours of entertainment, thanks Cordova's!