Five years ago today, this little bundle of energy arrived...



... and life hasn't been the same since! Happy Birthday Allie girl- we love you! Mom, Dad, Claire, Olivia and Levi


Just a funny line: (from I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown)

Lucy to her little brother, Rerun: "Rerun, having an older sister is like having your very own compass to guide you through life."

These words are just echos from Levi's future :)

4-2= a quiet week

I spent the day with my parents yesterday attending the funeral of one of my good friend's dad. Stephenie and I have been friends since we were about 2 or 3 years old. Our familes grew up together, we attended the same church and school. Her mom was the high school math teacher and had all of us kids at one time or another in school. Steph was also one of the attendants in our wedding. Our parents were close in age so having her dad pass away was kind of a shock. It really made me appreciate my own parents and Charlie's. The funeral was one of those bittersweet events where the occasion was sad but it brought together a lot of people I had not seen in many years so I was glad I went. It was an uplifting service, full of laughter and tears and it is comforting to know he will spend eternity in heaven.

So while I spent the day with my padres, I also managed to talk them into keeping Claire and Olivia for a few days. (Reason #562 why I love my parents) Anyway, our house is very quiet this week, even with Allie and Levi here. I don't think Allie quite knows what to do with herself. Charlie said the two of them fell asleep on the couch watching a movie last night :)

I'm kind of backtracking, but I forgot to mention Thanksgiving. We had a great weekend, got to spend some time with Charlie's family. His brother and his family spent five days so it was nice getting to catch up with them. We even took advantage of some shopping on Friday. Charlie's mom offered to take all four of the kids so we could spend an afternoon together. It was a much appreciated gesture! We got a majority of our Christmas shopping done and went out for dinner. A nice evening...

Now I leave you with some new pictures we recently had taken. Our good friend Michelle came out and took some shots of us. She always does a great job! Here are a few of them: