Colorado photos

These pictures did go on my Christmas card, but since I already sent them all, I decided to post them.

 

 

Christmas photo shoot

I took these pictures right before Thanksgiving on a whim, but I didn't post them because I wasn't sure if I wanted to use them in our Christmas card.

They look so alike in this picture.

Happy Birthday to Me

Friday was my birthday, and I lucky one it was. Friday the 13th always bodes well for me. Mark fed me breakfast in bed, which was delicious. Unfortunately, Matthew wasn't so thrilled at the prospect. I could hear him downstairs in the kitchen yelling, "Mama, come downstairs." Mark had his thesis defense that afternoon, so I dropped him off at the U and then took the kids over to Aaron's house. I got to attend Mark's defense, which was fun. He passed with flying colors, and now we are finished with school! We picked up the kids from Aaron's house and then went downtown to see the lights on Temple Square. We didn't stay too long because it was pretty cold, but the kids enjoyed it. On our way back to the car, we stopped and bought hot chocolate, which was a big mistake. It was way too hot for Matthew, and he begged for some the whole time. Oh well. We ended the night with pizza and a Christmas movie (though the pic below is from a different night.) To complete the night, Hannah learned her first word: "Dada." What are the chances that both Matthew and Hannah would learn to say "Dada" on my birthday, two years apart?

Quick explanation on my second picture. Matthew has been fascinated by the concept of being in the dark. So the other day I made a little fort out of an end table. When Hannah woke up from up her nap, Matthew wanted her to play in the dark, too. The two of them had a blast.

Watching a Christmas movie with Daddy

Playing "In the Dark"

Mark and Matthew at Temple Square

Hannah and I at Temple Square

OH-IO

Watching Ohio State beat Michigan

Our Ohio State fan in the making

Decorating the tree

On Friday after Mark's siblings left, we cranked up the Christmas carols and decorated our tree. Matthew was super interested as I took the ornaments out of their boxes, but once he found the school bus ornament from when Mark was a child, he lost interest in anything else. Hannah was fascinated by the tree, and especially the Christmas lights. No matter where we set her in the room, she would make straight for the strand of lights dangling between the tree and the outlet. It will be a fun month trying to keep her away from those lights.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend started of well. Mark unexpectedly got a half day off work, so he was able to help me clean the house. Michael called with some random questions, and happened to mention that they were coming that night, which I did not realize. So we had a heads up and were able to finish cleaning and enjoy their company. Also, arriving on Wednesday night allowed us to do a Robison family tradition - the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot. We jogged up to the park - and yes, I participated even though I am not in any of the photos - and did a race around the park's quarter-mile loop. After the loop in the park, Mark took the kids in the stroller and everyone did a 6 mile run, while I went home and relaxed.

Our Thanksgiving went well. We should have bought our turkey a few days earlier to let it thaw longer. We were a little late getting the turkey in the oven, so we had to push back dinner. But everything went well. My brother Aaron and his family came over to dinner, as well as my grandparents. I successfully managed to delegate out the dinner assignments, so I didn't have to do anything for dinner. With such a large group, we moved our dining table into the front room. To give more room, we put our sofa, sofa chair and coffee table into the dining room. It was fun to sit on the couch in the dining room and chat with whomever was in the kitchen. I'll have to do that again for Christmas.

Mark's siblings stayed through Friday. They did a bit of Black Friday shopping and helped us put our Christmas tree up and the lights up on the house. In all it was a great Thanksgiving. Now it's time for Christmas!

Mark's first time jogging with both kids

Ready to start the Turkey Trot

Michael and Anna at the finish line

Hannah and Matthew

Matthew running with his aunts and uncles

Mark with the turkey

Anna, Michael, John, Grandpa Pingel, 

Grandma Pingel, Aaron and Melissa

Grandpa Pingel, Grandma Pingel, Aaron, Melissa, Ayden, 

Matthew, me, Hannah, Mark, Anna and Michael

Matthew, Anna, John, Michael, Hannah and Mark

Halloween Photo Shoot

For my Halloween decorations, I put up old Halloween photos in the kitchen. Unfortunately, this year I didn't take very many photos, and the few I did weren't in very good lighting. I've been meaning to dress the kids up again just for photos, and I finally got around to it last week. The kids had so much fun doing a photo shoot, we did a Christmas one the next day, but I might save those for our Christmas card.

On the move

Hannah started crawling last Tuesday. Just in time for Grandpa Robison's visit. I was watching the video of Matthew learning to crawl, and Hannah's crawl isn't nearly as elegant. However, she isn't crying. I think it's funny that both videos feature my cell phone as the lure. Also, I love the look she gives Mark every time he moves my cell phone. And the fact that you can tell when she notices the camera.

Matthew and Hannah with Grandpa Robison

Hannah's first time crawling.

Pretty Pretty Princess

I decided Hannah looked so cute on Sunday that she needed a photo shoot.

Las Vegas

 After leaving the Safari Park, we stayed the night in Las Vegas. We arrived out our slightly sketchy hotel to find a gigantic cockroach size bug in our room. From now on, I think I will fork over a little more money for a decent room. We went to dinner with Alvaro, a friend of Mark's family. This was actually only Mark's second time meeting him, and I had never met him. But Mark's family talks about him all the time, so I knew we had to see him since we were in town. he took us to a restaurant named Brio Tuscan Grill, and the food was delicious. Quite a bit nicer than we usually do with the kids. The kids were exhausted, so we decided to just drive down the strip on our way back to our hotel instead of stopping. The next morning, we stopped at the Bellagio before hitting the road. The fountains don't start until noon, so we didn't get to see them. But we walked around outside a bit, saw the Eiffel Tower, and then went through the Bellagio's gorgeous observatory. All in all, it was a perfect vacation for us.

 Hannah and Alvaro

Dinner with Alvaro

Mark and Hannah

In front of the Bellagio

In the Bellagio Conservatory