The day after Thanksgiving, the holiday train exhibit at Morris Arboretum opened. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoyed watching Colton in awe of all the trains that passed by. He loved the noise they made as they disappeared in the distance and then reappeared around the corner. We also visited a little greenhouse filled with all types of ferns. Colt touched some of them and enjoyed looking at the big fish in the pond.
We had yet another year of thanks. Thankful for our health, having each other, our family, our jobs, and of course our two loves Val and Colton. Uncle Jimmy came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We hosted it and Bob, Mary, Ava, Luke, and Mr. Kenney joined us. I wish we could have Thanksgiving everyday.
Colton got to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and as you can see, he was ecstatic. He could barely contain his excitement.
Mark and Beth tied the knot on 11-12-11 in Charlotte, NC. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. Pictured above - the happy couple and Stephanie and me.
Our long-time, good friend of the family (Mark) was getting married in Charlotte, NC. I only made the trip to NC. Brian held down the fort with Val & Colton back home. I believe Mark met his soon-to-be-wife (Beth) at the U.S. National Whitewater Center when he was working there. He wanted to make sure all of his out of town guests got to experience it, so he set up a fun morning for us the day of the wedding. It was an incredible day. My brother Dave, our neighbor growing up (Tony), his wife (Angie), and my cousin Josh all went. We went zip lining, we jumped off the side of a tall ledge, we did an incredibly frightening ropes course walking over 70 foot canyons on a rope, and we conquered our fears.
My sorority sister Katie and her husband Andy hosted a get-together at their new home on Saturday. It was long overdue since the original date was supposed to be a BBQ on the evening of the hurricane. Devon & Tim, Kelli & Eric, and Kim, Ryan, & the girls also joined us. We had pulled pork, mac & cheese, and everyone brought a side dish or something good to eat. Andy had the fun idea of everyone bringing a case of interesting beer. At the end of the night we mixed them all up and everyone left with a mixture of beers they probably would have never bought before. Now we can try and see if we like them. The kids had a blast together playing with new friends, new toys, and dancing. Pictured above are the 2nd generation of friends - Kimmie's (Molly & Sophia), Katie's (AJ & Will), and ours (Colton).
Brian and I carved our pumpkins this year as Colton ran around the table. When we were just about done, we had Colton put his hand in to touch the seeds and gunk. He liked putting the pumpkin seeds in his mouth.
