Rollerball

We finally did something blog worthy. The last month was pretty slow for us. We spent a good portion of it being sick, trying not to get other people sick, and trying not to get sick again. In there somewhere we visited Birmingham and Cullman...neither one was very noteworthy unfortunately. Andy had a business trip to Puerto Rico for a couple days. That was nice. For him:)
Other than that we have just been up to all the normal stuff.
Last Saturday we went on a fun little outing. We took the kids out to go bowling. At this alley they have kids bowling that is miniature! It was super cute and Carter loved it. It was too loud for Piper. She did not care for it.

A Merry Merry Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas! Our best present by far was Nana and Papa and Nae-nae's visit!! Two weeks with them flew by. After they left Carter said, "I kind of just want to go home with them"....me too, bud, me too.

Christmas morning:

Christmas breakfast:
(We made our classic breakfast: raspberry soup, butterhorns, and egg casserole...hmmm...so yummy).

After Christmas we drove to Cloudland Canyon, Georgia and stayed in a cabin in the state park there. We took a day trip to Chatanoooga while we were there. The cabin was quaint and rustic with a fireplace. The boys try to build a "fire" with soaking wet wood- it was heavy on the smoke, light on the fire.

We drove from Georgia to Nashville to meet the Carpenters, our friends from Seattle. It was so much fun to see them and catch up. We walked around the Opryland Hotel together and stayed the night in a cheaper hotel.

We are still here!

We are still here, you wouldn't know if from my blogging though. Our computer crashed and then I got busy with Christmas preparations and here we are...
Let's see, what did you miss?
Car: We finally bought a second car. Yay!
Piper walks: she looks way to tiny but she motors!
Thanksgiving: We had a wonderful time visiting long time friends in Nashville.
My birthday: I turned 25. I'm in my mid-twenties. Yikes! Our friends from Nashville came down and watched the kids for most of the day so that Andy and I could go out. First date in 3 months! Woohoo! I also got a Phil and Ted's double stroller. It's amazing.
Piper's birthday: She is one now! My friend Emilie made a tutu for her, which she wore for her party. She looked so cute. She demolished her cake; dug in with both both hands and snorted it. It was that good.

Right now we are anxiously awaiting my parents and sister's arrival on Sunday. They will be here for two weeks! We are all so excited.

Here we are cutting down our Christmas tree:
(I do not know what to do about this kid's smile. I honestly think he doesn't know how to smile. I have tried giving him lessons, but as you can see it has done little good.)

Eating birthday cake:

My beautiful little one year old:

Bonus Material

Here is some extras for ya'll. Pictures of our apartment and also a video of Piper:

Pumpkin Patch

I don't know what it is about pictures in a pumpkin patch. Maybe it is the crisp that makes the baby's noses all red and shiny, or maybe it is the beauty of the fall colors, or maybe its just my cute kids....but going to a pumpkin patch always makes for the cutest pictures! I love it!

This afternoon we went to a great farm with our friends the Robinsons. There was so much fun stuff for the kids: animals, corn box (like a sand box only with corn), slides, swings, and lots of pumpkins! It was so much fun!

Here are my beautiful babies:

This picture doesn't really capture the beauty of the area. The trees are gorgeous. It is like a sea of orange, red and yellow. This is also a picture of a cotton field. I had never seem one before.

We got a big pumpkin for carving, a pumpkin for making pies and two little pumpkins for the kids. They were both quite tickled with the "baby pumpkins". Rosie insisted on holding hers and licking it.

A few videos

Adventures

We have done some exploring in the last couple weeks. We went to the Space and Rocket Center here in Huntsville. It was pretty cool. Carter really liked. We can see the rockets from the freeway as we drive by and every time he says, "There we are..." and has to rehash the whole outing. I think that it was a hit.

We went on a short train ride with the North Alabama Railroad. It was a very old train. Carter was a little disappointed that it didn't go "really really fast".

Then yesterday went to to Harmony Safari Zoo. It was really fun. It is a drive through zoo where you can feed the animals from your car. Carter got a huge kick out of it. Piper Rose on the other hand hated it. Hated it. She was terrified after turning around and seeing a very wet, bugged eyed emu staring at her only three inches from her face. She spent the whole trip with her head on my chest and would not be moved.

This is what the scenery looks like around here. It is very very green. The leaves on the trees are starting to change colors now. It is going to be gorgeous.