Holiday Season

Sorry it has been so long . . . We have been busy enjoying the holiday season. Since Thanksgiving we have been to Silver Dollar City with Papa and Grandma Willis. That has been the highlight of the season so far. Carly loved the huge Christmas tree on the square. She is also really interested in trains at the moment, so the train ride was a big hit, along with the singing. She even got Papa to ride the frogs with her. That was a true Kodak moment!

Carly is much more interested in everything Christmas this year. She loves the Christmas tree, despite the fact that I tell her not to touch it at least ten times a day. One day she was very clever. She picked up Elmo, looked right at me, and started to make Elmo's hand touch the tree. It was so hard not to laugh, because it was so obvious that she was testing the limits and putting me on the spot.

We were also able to visit the Magic Tree (http://www.magic-tree.org/) in south Columbia, a very unique attraction.

This week Jon started his vacation and celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday. Unfortunately, there wasn't much celebrating. Over the last three days we have endured a nasty stomach bug with nasty symptoms. I think we have it beat, but we are all ready to feel well and more festive.

Thanksgiving 2009

What a better way to start than with a picture of Aunt Kim recovering from "Black Friday."

We made it home from Las Vegas and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. We have a lot to be thankful for this year! You can see some of the people we are thankful for in the pictures I have posted. It was our turn to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. We had Thanksgiving with my Dad's family on Saturday and almost everyone was there, we were only missing two people! It was a beautiful day and the kids spent most of the afternoon outside.

We spent Thanksgiving day with my Mom's family. Actually, most of the family spent Thursday and Friday night together in a condo at the lake. My aunt, two cousins, sister-in-law, and myself were crazy enough to go shopping on Friday. We started at the outlet mall at midnight. We were at Walmart by 4:30 am, Target around 6 am, and back to the condo by 7:30 am - right about the time the little girls were starting to wake up. What an adventure! I tried to take a nap during the day on Friday, but wasn't successful. Jon finally put Carly in the truck to get her to take a nap and he only had to drive to the end of the driveway before she was asleep. As you can see, Carly had way too much fun playing with my cousin's daughters, Abi and Ava. We all had a great time - it's not very often that we all get to have a sleepover.

Home from Branson and Headed to Vegas!

Last week we were able to spend some time with Jon's family. On Sunday Carly and I rode down to Branson with Chris and Becky. Jon had training on Monday morning so he came down Monday afternoon. Carly was in love with Chris the whole trip. If she said his name once, she said it a thousand times just in the car on the way. Every time he left her sight she said, "Where Chris go?" She was also very attached to Becky and kept the two of them busy. She followed them wherever they went.


We saw Santa at Bass Pro on the landing, but Carly wasn't quite sure about him.





I have an idea for a Christmas present for Jon . . .

Since Silver Dollar City was not open Mon-Wed, we got to do a couple of things we had never tried before. We rode the Ducks with Chris and Becky one afternoon and Carly got to go on her first boat ride. The highlight of the trip had to be the Branson Scenic Railway. We went on the 9 am train and it was beautiful. Carly has been very interested in trains lately, so it was a timely outing. The train holds 300 people and we only had 17 on our trip. So, needless to say, we had plenty of room to roam on the 40-mile excursion. In fact, it was perfect. We had an entire dome car to ourselves and Carly got to run, dance, and wave all she wanted.

Tonight Jon and I are pretty excited. We are headed to Las Vegas tomorrow. He has a conference and I am tagging along. Our parents are splitting the time with Carly and I think everyone is looking forward to it. When we return I am sure she will be extra spoiled rotten and I will have a challenging couple of days getting her back in to her normal routine. That will be just in time for Thanksgiving and things will change again :) Oh well, that's the fun of having a young family - we love it!

Happy Halloween!

Carly loved Halloween and got the hang of things rather quickly. As soon as she realized people were going to give her "cookies" to put in her "punkin" she was ready. We stuck to a few stops that were organized trick-or-treating. We started about 3:30 at a retirement home that had games and candy for the kids. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, the residents or the kids. Then, we headed to HyVee where they had a Halloween walk with lots of treats. The best part of the evening was our last stop. The Columbia College residence halls handed out candy. So, we got to go back for a visit and check out all of the changes that have been made since we lived there. Carly had a great time going up and down all of the steps and drinking out of the water fountains. Jon even took a picture of Carly and I outside of one of my old rooms. Being on campus and walking in the residence halls definitely brought back a lot of memories for the both of us.

A Week Off

Jon was on vacation last week so we were able to get in some great family time. Our original plan had been to get in the car and head out for a road trip, deciding our destination as we went. However, life happened, and our plans changed. We had some things to take care of in the beginning of the week so we stayed around home. Later in the week were able to spend some time in Branson and then a night at my parents' house.

Here is a picture from one night after a bath - the back rub line.


During this trip to Silver Dollar City, Carly was not scared of the two rides she was tall enough to ride. We rode each one a few times.

Old Friends & New Friends

Some old college friends of ours visited this weekend. We were able to catch up and hang out. Jeanette and Gabby are sisters and we all went to Columbia College. Jeanette and I were also roommates the year after I graduated. Carly was able to make a great new friend, Ryan (Jeanette's little boy). He is a year older than Carly and they played very well together. As you can see, they played hard.

Pictures

As most of you have probably heard, Carly's latest infatuation is Elmo. She often wakes up in the morning asking "Where Elmo go," and is frantic until he is found. Elmo marks the first time Carly put three words together, he is a milestone! I have given in to the excitement and fed it with Elmo panties, a sweatshirt, pajamas, and even a Halloween costume. Sesame Street can soothe her in an instant, it is amazing. (We DVR it every day.)



Yet, Elmo has not decreased her addiction to Daddy.


Or sweets . . . Althought this picture isn't convincing, she has gotten better with silverware.

I just stuck these pictures in because I think she looks more and more like a big girl every day.

FG Fall Festival

Every year we anticipate the Fair Grove Fall Festival and working in the "Tater Shack." This year did not disappoint - it was a huge success! One thousand pounds of potatoes were curled, fried, and served in about a day and a half. Yes, the men and women responsible for the Tater Shack work very hard and are exhausted by Sunday evening. However, everyone involved enjoys the abundant laughter, joking, and occasional fire. As usual, lots of the laughs were at someone's (Carl's) expense, but all in good fun.

The finished product was delicious and Carly enjoyed dipping them in ketchup, one of her favorite food groups. Grandma found her a tiara and lots of food that was dipping-friendly. She even got to eat whipped cream for breakfast.

I was also fortunate to bump in to a handful of my fellow '98 graduates. It's always nice to catch up and find out how everyone is doing.

Weekend Trip

My Uncle Floyd, my dad's brother, got married this weekend. The festivities were in St. Louis and it was a fabulous night. His new bride's name is Karen Rae, which is quite a coincidence because my mom's name is also Karen Rae. So, right away we knew she would be a wonderful addition to the family. We didn't get a snapshot of the bride and groom, and not many of our pictures turned out clear. Here are a couple we thought we'd share. Jon is going to try to get a short video of Carly dancing at the reception ready for me to post. She always enjoys the dance floor and the lights!


She needed a quick break, right in the middle of the dance floor.

We also had a couple of hours to spend at the zoo. The penguin and the hippo exhibits are our current favorites.

Movie in the Park

Friday night I packed a picnic and we went downtown to Flat Branch Park to watch The Jungle Book. The Parks and Rec Department has shown a series of movies outdoors and we wanted to catch the last one of the season. We had a really great time. Carly enjoyed the picnic and was in awe of all the other kids. She loves to people watch and there was a nice crowd to observe. It was great because she didn't have to sit still through the whole thing. She was able to play on the blanket and move freely between Jon and me. I can't wait to do it again next year!

End of August

We finished out August with some fun. Here are a couple of highlights . . .

One Monday, when Jon had part of the day off, we decided to check out Going Bonkers. It took Carly a few minutes to get warmed up, but then she had a blast. Going Bonkers is an indoor play area with an arcade and concessions. They have a separate area for kids under three and that is where we hung out. There was a slide and many obstacles to climb over-through-around, and you get the general idea. Needless to say, she took a really nice nap when we got home. It was great!

This past weekend we spent camping at Hermitage. Carly has really enjoyed camping this summer and we are excited that she did so well. This time the sleeping situation was much better. The first time we went this summer she got so upset the first night when we tried to put her to bed that she got sick. This time we made a point to spend a little more time in the camper playing before bed so she could used to being inside. It was a success! We had her to bed and asleep by 9:15 with no tantrum and we didn't hear a peep out of her until 8 am the next morning. I'm not sure how we got that lucky, but we'll take it. My parents came for the afternoon on Saturday. They played with Carly and stayed for dinner. After dinner they took Carly for the night and Jon and I got to enjoy the evening alone. It was a great weekend and we hope to go at least one more time this fall.

Hope everyone's summer is winding down pleasantly. Let's hope for a long, mild fall!