Thankful for

My loving, patient husband

My beautiful, sweet girls

Delicious food. (Thanks Mom!)

Family nearby to share it with

My darling nephew

And his wonderful family

My grandparents that are still with us and those that I miss dearly

Family that we don't see nearly enough

My amazing friends (both around the corner and all across the country)

All the photographers in my life who are so willing to share their talents!

My Christmas decorated home

And last (but certainly not least), this little guy or gal that we are looking forward to bringing home this summer (EDD 27 Jun).

Happy Halloween!

Princess Ladybug. Up until a couple weeks ago she was going to be Princess Cinderella. But, after watching the "owl" movie at the theater a couple weekends ago we went browsing through the PV shops. Shortly after I told Kelsea we were not buying ANYTHING, she came across this dress at the toy store and asked if we could please buy this so she could match her sister for Halloween. SOLD! (I am such a sucker for the girls matching!)

My little ladybugs

Mama trying to convince Lorelei to wear her hat (she preferred the bucket instead).

Daddy with his ladybugs.

Dizzy the Giggling Monster (and his parents)

Peek-a-boo, where's Lorelei? Hmmm...maybe that's why she preferred the bucket to the hat?

The comparison shot. I look at the picture of Kelsea, and think wow she really hasn't changed. Those eyes and that smile are just the same as when she was one. Makes me wonder if I'll say the same thing about Lorelei in three years!

Kelsea loving Ben

First picture of all cousins together!

Not really sure what to make of his first Halloween.

Grandma Laurie chasing ladybugs out of her yard before we head out and get way too much candy!

And after all that fun, someone PASSED OUT on the way home

Good fun at the Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday the family (and I mean the entire family) headed to the pumpkin patch in Long Beach for some family fun.

Kelsea was very excited to see that this place offered much more than pumpkins! Despite all the excitement I still managed to get her to take some pics with her sister before she ran off to the rides.

And we even got one of the entire family!

And of course a darling picture of the Love Family. I was amazed at how much Ben had grown since I last saw him and looking more and more like his beautiful Mama (but a handsome version of course)!

The petting zoo was a huge hit with Lorelei. Unfortunately I have not figured out how to take normal looking pictures inside a tent!

A boat ride, just what every pumpkin patch needs?

Twirling in circles (truly only fun for kids)

Peek-a-boo (never mind that's suppose to be an arm hole)

Lorelei and Dada

"What does Lorelei say?" Pointing to herself "lah-lie" (our way of trying to get her to smile for the camera).

Lorelei hanging out (momentarily) with Grandpa but at least long enough to get one picture!

Lorelei picking out a pumpkin or two

I think this one's just a little too heavy....

I think this one will make a great climbing pumpkin Mom!

Kelsea's highlight of the entire day--face painting

Such love those two have for eachother!

And after all that fun, we left the patch pumpkinless-LOL!

But we did end the evening with dinner at Mimi's (kids eat free in Oct-yea!) which also happened to be right across the street! I love how those things work out!

Another First

Kelsea's first soccer game was Sunday. She was so excited, she wore her uniform all weekend long. I even caught her dancing in her shin guards and underwear. Here's some snippets of the game:

The girls getting some pre-game coaching. I love that the practices are built into the game time. 15 minute practice. 6 minute quarters. The perfect amount of time to keep the kids attention.

Kelsea practicing dribbling and shooting before the game. I am very excited that one of the father's on Kelsea's team is a professional photographer-score! Can't wait to see his photos!

Kelsea's 4 adorable teammates (Amanda, Ruby, Kate & Kylie).

Lined up and ready to play

The cheering squad (minus Grandma)

Kelsea was glowing with happiness at the end of the game. This extra glow might be due scoring her first soccer GOAL! She dribbled the ball down half the field and kicked it right into the goal! She was so proud of herself (and her Mama and Dada might have been a little proud too). I think she's going to be a soccer player... :-)