Halloween

I know - Halloween past about 1 month ago ... but I am beating my record in getting these pictures posted. In the past it has taken me 5 months ... this time only 3.5 weeks!



We had a great time knocking on doors. This is the 1st year that K&C figured out how to do everything. We went with our good friends - the Jones. They have 2 children boy/girl perfect ages for K&C to enjoy the evening with. They really loaded up on the candy and Mom & Dad had a great time helping them "unload". Thanks for a fun evening Jones Family!

Dora Smora

Apparently my children watch a little too much Dora the Explorer.

TOUCH A TRUCK

This is seriously the COOLEST activity for a little boy. Once a year the Junior League of Richmond hosts a fundraiser called “Touch A Truck”. Kids get to come and touch and climb in all sorts of different trucks – from fire trucks, ambulances, haulers, big machinery, earthmovers, semi-trucks, buses, you name it. This was a perfect event for Carson. He was shaking with excitement. Sometimes he would hold his breath because he was so in awe of the trucks in front of him. Truly a dream come true for this kid! Kamryn on the hand, not so interested. Here are some pictures from the event – worth every penny!





Oh the JOY on Kamryn’s face ...

how NOT to give a compliment

So I have been swimming laps every day since September. This is to replace my lack of running due to my broken foot. Yesterday, Lifeguard Loren (yes this is a man) says to me, “Swimming is working for you. I think you are starting to loose weight.” (Yeah thanks Loren … I haven’t really.) He continues, “You are starting to look better in your face.”

We Love To Bowl!

AUGUST

You really can’t top our Family Vacay in August. We drove down to Palm Beach, FL and met up with Grammie & Papa. We had an awesome time swimming, swimming, swimming and more swimming. With the occasional time spent sunbathing and playing in the sand of course. We also hit the zoo while we were there – which happens to be one of K&C’s all time favorite activities. They will tell anyone that asks what a great time they had with Grammie & Papa and what the ocean tastes like … “YUCK!” I think we had the only child at the resort that dry-heaved every time ocean water got into his mouth! We had PERFECT weather the entire week - sandwiched between 2 large hurricanes. Just looking at these pictures makes me want to go back.

JULY

During the month of July our twins learned how to bowl. My parents took them bowling-which they immediately feel in love with. It is really funny to watch them bowl because they usually take a bow after every turn. They are quite proud of themselves.

Ryan & I also spent some time in Utah – he for 2 weeks to participate in a dental externship with his friend Dr. Gerald Berg. Then we swapped and he flew back to VA and I left a few days later (without the kids!) to attend my Grandpa’s 80th birthday. I got to squish all of my neices and nephews - SO FUN! We both had a great time on our trips visiting with family and friends. It was great to take a break from VA life and renew.

EL-KO's World ...

Welcome to El-Ko's World aka Elmo's World!

Attitude

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance. giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company . . . a church . . . a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past . . . we cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude . . . I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you . . . we are in charge of our attitudes."

- Chuck Swindell

JUNE

The month of June began with a wonderful visit from Ryan’s brother Matt & his family. Matt & Family were in the process of moving to Paris, France. Their visit was WAY too short for our liking - but we still had a great time. Matt, Kristen and our adorable niece Courtney and nephews Robbie & Ryan are in France now and loving it. You can read more about their adventures by clicking on the link to their blog.

We hope we will be able to go visit them in France and have personal tour guides to show us around.

A few days after Matt & Kristen left, I got to trade in my awesome running shoes for this ... Being my clumsy self, I tripped over the kitchen chair and broke my foot. Up until that moment, I had never broken a bone before, so this has certainly been a new level of pain for me. Well the doctor told me 6 weeks and I’d be back to normal. I was so bummed because I had just bought my brand-new cherry red double jogger. I’d have to take a 6-week break and not run every morning with the twins. What was supposed to take only 6 weeks to heal has actually taken 5 months (and counting). Yup, the foot is still broken and I am still unable to run. Luckily for me though, I have done a fair bit of swimming in my day. So after MUCH negotiation (perhaps begging on my part) and a reward of 2 gummy worms a day, I take Kamryn & Carson to the child-watch at the YMCA every morning so I can go swim laps. My doctor now tells me (with a big smile on his face), “We will have this thing healed by Christmas!” Huh? 6 weeks? Whatever. Try 6 months. We will seriously need to have a big party here the day I get to dust off my running shoes and setup my double jogger. (I just hope my almost 30 lbs./each twins aren’t too heavy for me to push!)

5 days after breaking my foot, we took Kamryn down to VCU to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. My mother came up to watch Carson and they had a great day playing. Kamryn on the other hand did not have such a happy day. We had been through this same surgery with Carson a few months earlier. Due to his age and inability to talk, it was a very difficult time – a 22-day nightmare to be exact. Kamryn’s tonsils were not as big as Carson’s so we decided to wait on her surgery until she was a tad older. It was a successful surgery – a million times better then Carson’s. And she was back to her normal self in 10 days. I think it was a bit traumatic for her though, since she can still recall much of her surgery and how bad her throat hurt. But the summer has been free of strep throat runs to the pediatrician and I couldn’t be happier!