Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Chris had off the Friday before Christmas. Raymond had his anesthesia consultation at Hershey in the morning (for his procedure on the 6th). Since Daddy was home, we decided to find something fun to do. I remembered that I picked up free bowling passes at the library so we decided to try it. It turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone!

Raymond even got in on the fun! The only problem was after we said, "One, Two, Three, Roll!" he wanted to run down the lane after the ball. He got the hang of it and made it through five frames. Then he got tired and sat in the stroller and played with his radio.

Lily watched and thought Isabella was funny when she did her "happy-bowling" dances.

STRIKE!!!

(Isabella's, not mine)

Daddy got a strike too!

On Saturday we waited for Grammy. Isabella was excited to tell her it was Christmas Eve. She was also excited to give Grammy her Christmas presents. So we exchanged a day early.

Raymond loves his new Elmo.

Later in the evening Pappy came with Winston. We put cookies and carrots out and went to bed so Santa would come : )

(Sadie looks like an alien in this picture)

Isabella was up first so we let her open her gifts alone. First, she had to put on a fancy dress.

Santa brought Isabella two American Girl Cookbooks. I bought them at Borders almost two years ago. Isabella has always enjoyed helping me cook and bake, so I knew she would like these. I was saving them until she was a little older and would appreciate them more (plus they were on clearance for $3 each).

Isabella also got Sugar, an American Girl dog. She loves her. Sugar has been keeping Isabella's other American Girl dogs company that she got from Aunt Mary.

Next, Raymond woke up. It was his turn to see what Santa brought.

Sadie tried to stay out of the way.
Winston did not : )

Pappy was on trash duty. Lots of wrapping paper!

Then Miss Lily woke up and was ready to go!

Lily really liked her Minnie Mouse pillow.

It actually worked out nice having the kids open their presents as they woke up. It wasn't so chaotic since everyone wasn't ripping everything apart at the same time. After gifts we ate breakfast and Pappy left. I started dinner and the kids enjoyed playing with their new gifts. Later in the evening, we tested out one of Daddy gifts from Isabella. A cotton-candy maker.

Lily watched with Grammy and wanted to know why she wasn't helping.

Yum!

On Monday we went to Aunt Theresa and Uncle Roy's house. One of Isabella's favorite places! Chris' cousin Mike was home and we haven't seen him in awhile. The kids were excited!

There are lots of neat things to get into at their house!

Lots of neat things to look at!

And lots of time to be silly!

When we got home everyone was ready to snuggle.

Well, everyone except Lily. She wanted to play!

That's what we've been doing ever since Christmas. Lots of playing!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

Let's Catch Up!

Hello Everyone!

It's been awhile since I've last posted something. Our computer was infected with a virus and we didn't have a working computer. My step-father was thankfully able to fix it.

We have had a lot of things going on over these past few weeks. I'll start by telling you about Raymond's procedure. Raymond had his bronchoscopy and echocardiogram done at Hershey about 2 weeks ago. When they put Raymond under he stopped breathing. To make a very long story short we could have lost the little guy. It was scary and we are so thankful that he pulled through it and is still smiling!

My dad has umpired high school baseball for 31 years. He recently had a game close to our house so we went to see him in action. It was Isabella's first baseball game (technically it was Raymond and Lily's first game too). You might be surprised to find out that Isabella's favorite part was the concession stand. She loves soft pretzels with mustard! If you see Isabella, ask her about the lady's finger nails at the concession stand. It's much funnier coming from her!

Isabella's school is officially over. She was sad at first but now she seems okay with the idea. She still sees all her friends almost every week. All the mom's decided to get together every Thursday at the park so the kids can see each other throughout the summer. To celebrate the end of the school year, Isabella's preschool had a picnic. It turned out to be a really nice day (despite the news report of pending rain) and all the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Chris took Raymond to his oncology appointment so I could go to the picnic with Isabella and Lily.

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us for the Memorial Day weekend. This was the first time that Grandpa got to meet Lily. He was very excited and she greeted him with a BIG smile.

We have a family membership to the Reading Museum and thought it would be a fun place to take Grandma and Grandpa.

The Art Room

Isabella and I made this drum in the Native American section of the museum

Outside the museum are beautiful gardens. We walked around and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.

I told Isabella to imitate the tree.

Since it was such a nice day, we saw a lot of wedding parties having pictures taken and a lot of kids getting pictures taken before prom. Isabella saw this group of girls and couldn't take her eyes off of them. She sweetly asked if they would take a picture with them. The girls were flattered and graciously said yes.

It's not very often we're all in a picture together!

Isabella and Daddy were finding all sorts of neat things!
Isabella was very excited to show me the snake she and Daddy found.


On Sunday we went to Longs Park for a family picnic. Isabella got to spend some time with her best friend Mel!

Grandpa can't get enough of his grandkids!

My cousin Angie, Mel and Lily

***
Than on Monday (Memorial Day) Pappy came for a visit...

and brought Winston...

Raymond was ecstatic...

Winston was curious...

and not used to the tubes.


***

We've been trying to spend as much time outside as possible. It's hard with Raymond because the heat really effects him. Swimming is always fun!



Raymond got a break from his oxygen tubing.

Isabella has been taking very good care of her garden.

Isabella and I molded and painted four stepping stones for out front (even though you can't see the paint in the picture).

We've been discovering new things!

There's more for me to tell you so stay connected and check back soon! I'll be posting more over the next few days. In the meantime, here are a few miscellaneous pictures for you.

My sweet little thumb sucker! I think it's so cute!!!

Daddy's not the only one who likes fish!

They love doing EVERYTHING together!

Until Next Time,

Lots of Love!