Leonidas

January 3, 2013

We added another heart beat to our family.

Welcome:

Leonidas Arturas 

 So tiny, he would fit into one of Brian's shoes.

 Doesn't he look like a stuffed animal?

 Seriously, how do you not LOVE this face?

Made with love

Christmas Jammies!

Made with love by Grandma Harmon.

SWEEEET!

A star is born

Cassidy performs as a Grandchild in

The 12 Days of Christmas

Even Mommy got in on the action.  She was 1 of the 9 ladies dancing.

And she did cartwheels on stage.

Kind of amazing.

What a great experience.

And just the beginning of a new love for performing.

SPS Nutcracker, 2012

There are angel's among us...and this is one of the prettiest.

Kayla got to dance with the SPS Ballet this year.

She was, as you can guess, an angel.

Sweet as can be!

Brogan turns 5

November 13, 2012

Let's Celebrate! 

 This boy is about ALLLLL things Mario related.

 Having friends join in on the fun only makes the day sweeter.

At 5 Brogan loves: legos, Super Mario, doing anything with his dad, cuddles with his mom,

teasing his sisters, playing on the iPad, telling stories, eating apple sauce, and making

everyone laugh.  He is happy and creative...and a very good friend.

We love you Boy-O!

New England Winters

 Zoey and Brogan show off a snow pile

Uncle Bryce attempts to dig his Highlander out of our driveway.

We won't be using this BBQ for a while.

This is how we do WINTER in New England.  At least, TYPICALLY.  

Lovely.

Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween, Brogan suggested that the boys in our family dress as the men from "Duck Dynasty."  

Jase and Si

Willie, Jase and Si

 Cassidy went as "Alice" (Thanks Grandma, for making the apron)

 Kayla was a cat.  Grandma also made this costume...about 27 years ago for Mom!

 PHOTO BOMB!

 Alice!

Visiting relatives

Kayla, Abby, and Cassidy

 Beautiful Girls. Beautiful Faces.

 Grandma and the girls

 Grandpa and the Ladies.

So thankful for Family!

Children's Science Museum

Grandpa and Gradma Harmon came to visit and brought cousin Abby with them!

We spend many days at the park and exploring New Hampshire.

On of the highlights was the Children's Science Museum 

in Dover, NH.

 Brogan, in front of the Submarine, where he spent most of his time.

 Cassidy, at the music wall that is activated by touch.

 Kayla, also playing the wall...see the sound waves on the screen behind her?

The big blue crab and the whole gang of cousins.

So much fun!

Carter Hill with the lil' boys

Nothing says "FALL" quite like an apple orchard in New England...complete with a pumpkin patch...cider donuts (Amazing!)..and the changing leaves. Beautiful!

I would like to add that my favorite part of this photo is Brogan's "Chick Magnet" shirt from Easter 2011. He'll hit a growth spurt soon...we think.

Picnicking with friends....

As summer comes to an end, we celebrated the last few days of freedom with our friends,

the Sutkus family. Dom, Cody, and Blake (and their parents) came over for dinner after church.

We have so much fun with these boys!

First Day of school 2012

Not sure who is more excited about the first day of school. The girls. Or the mom. I think it's the girls, but it's pretty close.

PS.....isn't it a touch crazy that they are 2 years apart but almost the exact same size? Cassidy is lamenting the fact that her younger sister will eventually be the taller little sister. I totally understand.

KK turns 8!

This is a big year for our sweet Missy KK! With all the craziness of school starting (on the 5th, the day after her birthday), we did some celebrating early. We plan to celebrate even more this Friday...and more again on Saturday. So there will be some picture updating soon. BUT, it was important that we acknowledge this important day in our young one's life. She is such a blessing to this family. We are looking forward to all the big things that will happen in her life over the next few years. Celebrating KK today...and every day! We love you!

Cassidy Turns Ten!

Cassidy turned ten years old on August 25th!  She invited some friends over for an afternoon of swimming at the SPS boat docks. (Brogan joins the line-up and then says "I'm not jumping in there!")

Swimming was followed by dinner and then birthday cake in our new home.

 Happy Birthday Cassidy! We sure do love you!

Camp Chateaugay 2012

The girls are fortunate and blessed to attend Camp Chateaugay in Upstate New York, just 5 miles from our lake house. They get to go because their Grandpa Schroyer gives up some time every morning and evening to be the camp doctor. Thank you, Grandpa! This is Cassidy's 3rd year and Kayla's first. They go for THREE WEEKS! And they have more fun there than they ever would at home. The pictures speak for themselves (lifted from the camp website):

Cassidy, as a seasoned veteran of camp, was greeted by shouts of, "It's Cassidy! Cassidy is here!". She quickly grabbed her belongings, set everything up, and was off. She didn't even say, "Goodbye". In fact, Brian helped her settle in, and by the end (only 5 minutes) Cass had her arms folded across her chest, foot tapping, and pointing to the door, "You can go now, Dad.". Bitter sweet. Mostly, we just feel good knowing that she is SO happy and SO comfortable.

KK's introduction to camp was a little more traditional. We helped her get settled, and sitting in the bed next to her, we met Annie...who may very well be KK's "separated at birth" double. We learned that it was Annie's 2nd year at camp and she had already been there for the first session of camp....we asked her what her favorite activities were and she replied, "Arts and Crafts, Cooking, Gymnastics..." to which Kayla responded, "You are my new best friend". The 2 of them hit it off from the very first moment. Annie was wearing high pink socks with white dots on them and a camp shirt that was WAY too big for her. After a few seconds Kayla said, "You know what that outfit needs? A BELT!". The girls quickly found Annie's head lamp, secured it around her waist and declared it a smashing success. We are confident that this friendship is charmed. We only got a quick hug good-bye before KK and Annie rushed off to catch frogs and go to lunch together.

The girls have been at camp for almost a week (on Sunday). 2 more weeks to go. And while they are there, we are at home, packing. packing. packing. When they come home, we will be in our NEW home. And, just in case life gets too busy (likely), I'll probably post again once we are in the new home (move date: August 13th). Here's to a wonderful and super busy summer!

4th of July with Family and Friends

This year the girls (Shannon, Aunt Shantel, Cassidy, Kayla and Zoey) all went to Canobie Lake Park.... with THIS group of handsome boys (and their mom, Shantel...NOT "Aunt"):

Cody, Blake and Dom

Of course, the first oder of business is to consult the map and determine where to start.

We started with a roller coaster and just kept on going from there. We went to the water lagoon to cool off, rode all the water rides, and stood in only a few lines for more than a few minutes.

Traditionally, we end our day at an amusement park with a ride like this:

KK and Cody were ride partners

Cassidy and Dom were also ride partners

The bumper cars is always a favorite. Our group pretty much filled the cars.

We were SUPER excited that Zoey and Aunt Shantel also joined us. Zoey was a HUGE fan of all the rides. It was HOT, but, sadly clouds rolled in and the fireworks planned for that evening were postponed until the following night. Still...it was an EXCELLENT day! Perhaps a new tradition has been born?!