Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Hoping your year has been as blessed and as full of love as ours has been!

Happy New Year!
Greg, Jen and Noah

Santa's Candle

Last night we went over to Auntie and Bob's house (since trying to get them to come here just wasn't working out with schedules the past couple of weeks) - they said they had a surprise for Noah. =) Actually it was Bob who had the surprise for Noah this time - Auntie brings Noah surprises all the time. ;)

It was this:

An ornament of santa holding a candle. You hang it on the tree, plug it in, and when you blow out his candle, ALL the lights on the tree go off or on. Noah loves it. Needless to say, the lights on our tree frequently go off and on.... off and on.... off and on.... =)

Here's a video:

Trick or Treat!

This Halloween was SO MUCH FUN!!!!

First of all, it was such a BEAUTIFUL night to be out trick-or-treating. Second of all, we went out with a few friends and their kids and did the "Safe Trick or Treating" in downtown Monument. All the little companies (and a few of the residents who live in the heart of downtown) decorated their porches/entryways and passed out candy. We thought Noah might be a little hesitant and clingy and not really "get" what was going on - boy were we wrong! That kid of ours caught on QUICK, wasn't scared at all, and was making US keep up with HIM to get to the next door. =)

After walking a million miles, we all headed back to our friends house for dinner and to pass out candy. Noah got into that too. Everytime their doorbell would ring, his eyes would light up and he'd smile and run for the door to help pass out candy. =)

It was SUCH a fun night. Did we mention that already? ;)

Batman!

Ready to go!!

Gave up his mask rather quickly - revealing his true identity. =)

Celebrating the Big 3-0

We had fun celebrating Jen's birthday this weekend - yes, again. ;) Greg threw her a fabulous party here at the house and we had SO much fun hanging out, eating, opening gifts and enjoying the company of a bunch of our sweet friends and family.


Both of the facilities Jen works at celebrated her birthday at two seperate times and did it as a surprise. They really spoiled her rotten. =) She brought home some of the leftover cupcakes..... someone (who is now putting words together and knows most things by name) who saw them and instantly knew what they were yelled, "cupcake!!!!!!" So she just HAD to give him one since he knew what it was. He LOVED it. ;)

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We always do it, and this year was no exception - we went to the pumpkin farm last weekend! We went a little bit later in the month than we have before, and there weren't a bazillion pumpkins out in the field, but it was still fun nonetheless. =)

An "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Birthday Surprise!!

The reason for the crazy title is because Greg TOTALLY shocked/surprised Jen and planned the most extravagant birthday ever - 3 weeks early!!

We just got back. =)

It started with a card that basically told her the 3 of them were going someplace tropical for 8 days, to pack accordingly and don't ask any questions. Then she was given the gift of new luggage (since the airlines have beaten ours all to heck the last 7 years).

So all packed up and ready to go, waiting outside passing the time for a few, all of the sudden, Jen's Mom, brother and sister-in-law pulled up. They said they were "taking us to the airport," but it turns out, Greg had arranged for them to join us!!!! Total shocker and another fun surprise!!!! THEN, as we were at our layover in Atlanta, who shows up at the airport to join us? Surprise!!!! Jen's Gran!!!! She was thrilled!!!!

So off we all go, destination unknown to Jen. =)

Turns out, we were going to a beach house close to Destin in Florida. Pictures don't do it justice - it was incredibly amazing. The whitest and most softest sand we'd ever seen, the most beautiful clear-blue water and we were pretty much secluded for the whole 8 days. Sheer heaven. Best week ever!

We saw a shark, many dolphins, lots of jellyfish (3 out of the 7 of us got stung!), stingrays, fish and crabs (which Brian and Greg caught - and we had that for dinner one night!)

We took 600 pics, believe it or not, so trying to pick which ones to post on here was a hard task! BUT, if you are friends with us on Facebook, we posted a ton more. You'll have to check them out! =)

Here's pics from our dream week:
























Amazing, huh? =) Greg was thrilled that he was able to pull off the surprise and that the secret didn't get exposed - especially since SO many people knew for over a year!

And as a side note, Noah did more than exceptional on the plane - he got lots of good comments, more wings, made friends and played with some kids. Jen was totally stressing about the plane rides - apparently for nothing. ;)

What a wonderful week and birthday surprise!!!! Best. Birthday. Ever. =)