GOBBLE GOBBLE!

So how was Thanksgiving, where did you guys go, and what did you do?

Derek and I ran, I made the food - he helped with the prep. Stupid turkey directions said it would be ready in 50 minutes (we got the boneless breast, not the whole bird) and so we made all the fixins right away... 2.5 hours late and the turkey seems like it is done, no pink and was warm, but the nipple didn't pop. So Derek and I (starving from the race) just ate a lot of the sides... and then took the turkey out..not waiting for it to cool! One thing I would say is that - this breast thing is the way to go... very easy w/ minimal cleanup! No bones to carve around... perfect! Then we went over to Casey and Meghans for pie. Derek stayed until 10, I left at 6 (because I had to work today)... anywho... I would love to see more pics of my niece! love you all!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!

I am not quite sure what you have planned, I know you all will have a nice time. I just wanted to take a moment before the big run, and say how grateful I am to have you all in my life - and to share life's moments with you. We are all truley blessed.

Enjoy the Turkey - and have a fantastic day - sharing these moments with friends and family!

T&D

Ellie's First Thanksgiving!

I know I know... 3 month old's aren't eating solid foods... but are you going to do something special? Does she have a turkey outfit!!! Please update with pictures!

http://www.babiestoday.com/articles/feeding-baby/babys-first-thanksgiving-74/

Weekend

Hey I hope you and Sarah had a nice weekend. I know I did. It was nice seeing mom and dad. Makes me really sad - I didn't know how good it was to have the family be so close... now that I never get to see anyone - it really means a lot... just the little things. So I hope you and Sarah had a nice weekend too. I know mom is trying to get ready for Thanksgiving and she is excited to host it! She has to pick up the turkey today... maybe you can remind her... she didnt pick it up because she was in Arizona, and now she has to buy it and IMMEDIATELY defrost it too!

Anywho - stop by and really enjoy the time w/ mom and dad. I am really sad that I dont get it more often.... but it was my idea to move, so I guess the saying is... dont cry for me Argentina... :`(

Anywho... please update with more pictures of your daughter! Mom showed me a whole bunch from the wedding, Texas, and just cute ones of little Ellie... I really cannot get enough... Everytime you upload more - she is bigger! It is crazy! I love you both, and wanted to wish you all well, I miss you!!!

Gifts - being sent home

Hey guys, I am sending gifts home with mom and dad. Ellie's Christmas gifts from Derek and I, as well as Sarah's birthday present. Due to airline security, I cannot wrap them before hand... so mom said she'll take care of that. I just wanted to give you a heads up that they are on the way.

PS - Your Christmas Present will arrive shortly to your home. (I haven't put in the order yet because I dont want it to arrive soooo early, but just wanted to give you notice!)

MOM AND DAD ARE COMING!!!

Hey I heard that you are watching mom and dad's pup- very nice of you! Sounds like this trip shouldn't be too pricey either! Tommy is lending them a car, a place to stay, and you are sitting the pooch! Pretty cool! Anywho, hope he isn't too much trouble for you to watch! I know with my little guy he won't go to the restroom unless you are with him... and new people distract him from doing his outdoor plumbing. Anywho, just wanted to say that is sweet of you two, and I hope you have a really nice weekend!

ALBUM IS DONE!

Our wedding album has been submitted. I just noticed that they had the date wrong! How unobservant of me! I was so focused on my name - and the pictures - I didn't even check the date! But now it is fixed - and off to the presses... I just have to decide the paper type... matte or varnish. I am not sure of the difference - as I haven't seen them in person - the designer recommends varnish as the Matte can "blow out" anything that is white... as my dress adn a lot of the background is white... Varnish may be the way to go...

Grumier old men

Weird argument about the fence... good luck w/ crab man crabby shack! People can be strange...

Well mom and dad love the anniversary, Christmas gift. Mom got all emotional while reading the gift outloud... started crying- not quite hysterics... but some of the heave ho- sobs. Pretty cool! I am keeping my happy thoughts for warm weather, and have advised mom and dad to dress in layers... though it gets to be 80* by 4-5 PM... it takes all day to warm up to that temperature... and quickly drops about 15* once the sun goes down... so when they are taking off - it will be probably 45-55* and warm up to maybe 65* by the time the air balloon trip is over... it won't be like 80* until the end of the day.... what can I say? Zona is weird too!

Lazy animals!

Derek and I have been busy cleaning and decorating -- for the upcoming holiday season... and in preparation of mom and dad's visit! But this is what our animals have been doing!

Wedding Album

My album is coming along... EXCITING STUFF!

The response from the designer is really awesome - and fast! She was able to make some quick fixes - and so now it is nearing completion - only 6 pages of 40 left... with some minor tweaks... but this is gonna ROCK!

OOOO New pictures!

OMG Ellie looks soo cute! It was soo nice to talk to you yesterday, and catch up! I have the 5x7 picture of Ellie w/ her birth announcement in my cubicle at my desk! So I can look at my pretty niece all day long! That would be an excellent gift idea too! (You can mail me a Christmas pick of all three of you! 5x7 would be nice! *hint, hint*)

YAY!

So what do you have to do to allow Davey full run of the yard?

I cannot wait to see the completed fence project, very exciting! It is a nice quality fence, where you can have some privacy, and enjoy things like BBQs and what not!

Did you read that St Charles is one of the top places in Missouri to raise a family? #2! The #1 place was Lee's Summitt (right outside of KC). So Derek wants to move to St Charles-- or at least that is what he is looking at now... you know how boys are! Then we could be practically neighbors!

Fence is finished

So, the fence was finished last night. I think my calling Lowes and complaining did the trick because they stayed till 5:30pm to get everything up. They still need to come back out at some point though to clean the panels and pick up some of the piles of dirt they made.

I think I'm going to need a new latch for the gate though, the latch that came with the gate kit is confusing and doesn't seem to work well.

We still need to do some things before Davey will have full use of the yard. I'm sure he'll be a really happy puppy when he has his own yard to run around in and tear up.

I'll take some pictures of the new fence the next time I'm home and its not too dark.

Wicked GAS

I think I have figured out the cause of my WICKED GAS - these dried apricots. Seriously, my stomach gets so distended it looks like Tim Allen's tummy in the santa claus! Very painful, and GASX didnt really help either. So, if that was what was up with Ellie - I can see why she was crying so much - that HURT... I am a big girl, and I was whining and complaining most of the night! I have no idea what escaped from me while I slept, but I feel much better now! So, I'd recommend Turkish Apricots because they taste so yummy- but I think I will abstain from them from now on.

Saying Hello

Hadn't checked in for awhile, so I thought I would say hello. Howz the fence coming along? A nice pic of Tristin and Derek, obviously before her haircut.
We're looking forward to babysitting on Friday and then Mom wants to see the new Bond movie on Saturday. Keith Cronin's wedding was a nice event. We took Saturday morning and toured the Johnson Space Center. That was pretty neat. We saw the real mission control center and the building where the astronauts do their simulation training. They had stations where you could practice landing (crashing) the space shuttle. Looking forward to AZ. See you soon.
D

Brrr! Cold in the ZONA too!

Yeah, it was pretty cold last night too! We woke up and it was in the upper 40's. Tonight it will only get to about 63* today - which will be a nice brisk temperature for a jog. Every year we have a cold spell, and then it warms back up to the mid to upper 70's and then it drops again.

Granted it does not get cold enough to snow... but it is still rather chilly! Last night bentley curled up to my mid back- and everytime I'd move he'd inch closer to snuggle. He's a cute little bugger... but sometimes steals the sheets! (He likes to "fluff" them to his liking, before laying down... or rather bunches them up into a mounded ball for him to curl on top of!)

Cold in St Louis

So, from everything everyone has been saying Winter this year is supposed to be intense. Supposedly its La Nina over in the Pacific Ocean this year, which makes for a mild summer (which we had), and a nasty frigid winter. Sarah and I actually had a fire in our fireplace Sunday, which was surprisingly nice. We don't actually have much firewood, so I don't know how often we'll do that though.

What a YARD!

Derek loves your yard and grass... I like the picture of what looks like the neighbors yellow lab - barking at you! The fence you've chosen is really attractive too! Sorry it is taking so long... but it is really starting to look really nice! Soon enough, it will be complete, and Davey will have full run of your yard!

Derek and I are so HAPPY FOR YOU TWO! He actually likes yard work and what not... and wants to get a house with a nice big yard! Out here though, you just get a rock garden, and not grass! So we, are looking more towards the midwest!

fence progress week 1

after 4 days and 2 days of actual work, the fence installers have finished installing all the posts but have only finished 4 actual panels. So, I guess the estimate of everything in 1 day was very wrong.

ADORABLE!

SHE LOOKS SOO CUTE! Her eyes are soo bright and blue! I am glad we got her something that fits! I know we got her a whole range of different sized clothes - so I didn't know what would fit her. So how much does she weigh now?

I am sorry to hear about the fence... but progress is progress... so just 9/10th's more to go!

Fence

Currently, we have about 1/3 of the fence posts in the ground in cement. That is all the installers accomplished today. So after 3 days, 2 different installers, and 3 visits from the regional manager we are about 1/10th of the way to having a completed fence. Hopefully after everything gets installed we'll happy with the results, because I'm not sure of that at this point.

The picture has Ellie wearing the halloween outfit Tristin got her and not being very happy about getting posed for a picture.

Fence

I bet it will be awesome when lowes installs the fence.... are you thinking about getting a doggy door for Davey? or not because Ellie could escape! :) I'd be excited to see what your fenced yard looks like once complete. Be sure to post some pictures.

Ellie flip flops from looking like Sarah to looking like Todd. It is cute. Though you were both a couple of blondies when you were little, right? Looks like Ellie will be the same. Looks like she has her mommy's nose. Which is a good thing.... so she wont have the breathing and allergy issues that her daddy has.

Does she fit in any of the clothes that Derek and I sent? She still looks like she'd be too small for them...

Wow!

Derek and I had ZERO trick or treaters... (other than jax - who jumped up and ate candy from the candy dish! It sucked because they were hot tamales - like mike n ikes- and the carpet has been stained pink... so now D and I need to get a rug doctor to clean the carpets - so our place doesnt look like a complete DUMP when the folks come to visist!

I am also sorry to hear that both you and Ellie were feeling bad. It is a good think Sarah never gets sick- and could take care of you both! I love this picture of Ellie - it looks like she is gonna be a blondie! Are her eyes still baby blue? I know sarah said it could be a few months till they are the final color - I just dont get to see her up close to tell all the subtle differences in her appearance!

Halloween

We had mobs and mobs of trick'r'treaters on Halloween. we had to turn our lights off fairly early because they went through all our candy in 2 hours. Curtis, Sara, and Booch were at our place helping hand out candy.

The rest of the weekend was pretty crummy, I got sick Saturday so I couldn't help Sarah with Ellie who was being pretty fussy all weekend due to her immunizations on Thursday (which gave her a low grade fever). She started to feel better Sunday night which was nice. I am about 98% recovered now from my cold/flu.

Sarah and I voted today! And I worked from home because our new fence was supposed to be installed today. long story short, fence didn't get installed because of the location of the cable box and cable lines. So, I'm waiting to hear back from the installers about the alternate fence layout plan we came up with and when they will be installing it.

ELLIE PUPPY!

OOOO How cute! and Sarah - you are getting soooo skinny! Did you not eat the Chick-Fil-A I sent your way? It looks like you guys are enjoying yourselves at your new home... and it is just soo exciting! Did you have any trick or treaters?

I just wanted to say hello! and I am soo happy to see the updated pictures of my beautiful family! Love you all! T&D.