Joyeux Noel 2017

James was old enough to help us decorate the Christmas tree this year. He didn't like that we kept taking all the fun things and putting them on the tree. We have added so many ornaments to our collection that we had a hard time finding places for them all. 

Other preparations for Christmas included making several batches of cookies, driving to Pennsylvania to ride the Strasburg Railroad Santa Train, and checking out the lights at the D.C. Temple. The boys loved all of it, especially the Santa Train, Bennet was dancing with glee as the train pulled into the station and James kept pointing at the train and repeating "Train!" until we were allowed to get on. 

Christmas morning was filled with joy as we opened our presents. James needed no help opening his presents and his favorite word of the morning was "open!" 

Before it was too late, we made our annual trip to the National Botanical Gardens to see the Christmas trains exhibit. They change the theme every year and all of it is made out of plants. 

Baby Boy #4

Baby boy #4 is due to arrive April 23rd. We seem to be specializing in rowdy rambunctious boys. 

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving 2017. We hosted this year and invited Uncle Brent's family and Aunt Emily (Mommy's Sister) to come feast with us. It was the first time we extended our new table out as far as it could go and, because we had taken out the wall in the kitchen, we were able to seat 15 people around it. The food was delicious and everyone ate till they were stuffed.

James and his cousin Matthew were so excited to have a friend to sit next to. They had lots of fun passing food back and forth to each other.









After cleaning up dinner and taking some time to digest, we had all the kids come back to the table to decorate Gingerbread houses. Everyone enjoyed themselves and ate a lot of candy in the process.

James is 2 years old

Though we affectionately call him James the destructor, we love him and wish him a happy birthday. The boys and I took him to Frying Pan Farm to "moo" at the cows and "baa" at the sheep. We had a great time.

Since he loves ice cream more than anything,
we made him a messy ice cream cake with hot fudge sauce and a brownie base.

Evan's first tag

Though we hope he doesn't grow up to become a hooligan, Evan had a lot of fun helping Aunt Emily with her tag on the art wall in front of the Kennedy Center.

Candy

Along with cooler weather and nice colors, fall brings a lot of fun activities each year.  We once again were able to enjoy many of our favorites.

After all the parties and trick or treating leading up to Halloween, Evan and Bennet were over it and only stayed out trick or treating for about 30 minutes. James, however, refused to come in with his brothers and made Paul take him out until he had filled up his bucket twice.

We have a lot of trees in our neighborhood and on a nice fall day it is fun to rake them into a big pile and let the kids jump in.

Home Again

After a long car ride home to Virginia we finished off the summer with some DIY. There was a wall in our kitchen that we didn't like so we cut some holes and made a big mess.

Then, after watching some youtube videos and getting advice from Grandpa Saunders, we got to work putting it back together. It took us 3 weeks, but we now have new lights in the kitchen and more space without that useless wall.








The solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. was a total solar eclipse visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States, passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. We weren't close enough to be in the path of totality but we were close enough to see it mostly covered. We went with our friends to the Dulles Air and Space museum where they were handing out special eclipse glasses and watch the moon pass over the sun.

First day of 2nd grade

And just like that the summer was over and it was time to send the kids back to school.