Thanksgiving in Ashburn

This year we spent Thanksgiving floating between our two families up in Ashburn. As tiring as it can be, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lance was spending Thanksgiving with his dad and Abbey. They had a good time with friends on Thanksgiving day and then traveled up to Northern Virginia to spend some time with Abbey's family. We missed him, but were happy he had fun with his family.

The Chens were visiting from Texas and staying with the Scholz, which made this year's Thanksgiving extra special.

Cousin time at the Scholz's house:

Older cousins are the best!

Thanksgiving Day we started at the Scholz to celebrate with the Glass/Chen family. As always, Mom and Jen outdid themselves with the food. 

Cousin table!

Jude really loves his cousin Bryce. They get along really well and Bryce is so good to play with Jude.

Sitting at the big kid table! This little girl is growing up too fast.

Photo bomb!

We didn't get much down-time between one feast and the other. Shortly after eating at the Scholz, we were on our way to the Allred/Schiraldi house for a second meal.

Jude and Mason are trouble when they're together! Thick as thieves and twice as crazy!

The gravy chef:

Cousin table!

Corin was there, too! It's always nice to have her.

 Missed you, Lance, Chad and Darnell!

After dinner, we put on "The Polar Express" for the kids. This was the first time Cole had seen it and he didn't move the entire 90 minutes the movie was playing. He was already crazy about the book and refused last year to let me put it away with the rest of the Christmas stuff. This movie has now become his obsession.

How can you tell you partied hard? You can sleep through this:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Pictures 2015

This year we had our annual family pictures taken by Brian Wotring, a family friend we met while we were students here at UVa. Brian and Stacey live about an hour away, but traveled up to Charlottesville just for us. Thanks, guys!

The pictures turned out great! The kids did a decent job cooperating and Brian was amazing at getting the kids to look (a nearly impossible feat!)

Afterwards, we all went to Cook-Out for dinner and to catch up. It was great to see this fun family! We miss you guys!

(Lance was our photographer)

Love it!

Thanks for the fun night and the wonderful pictures!

November--leaves and rainbows

November was a great month! The weather was perfect and with all the holiday festivities to look forward to, there was never a dull moment.

Lance continues to be in love with his snakes. He finally got his promised snake from last Christmas, a tiny blaze blotched king snake that Lance has dubbed "Blaze". She's super cute and feisty! It took her a bit to get used to us, but Lance has done a good job getting her used to being held and now she handles like a pro.

No one can compare to Molty in Lance's heart, however. This kid loves his snake.

November is the month of leaves at our house. In an attempt to stay on top of the avalanche of leaves that will inevitably completely cover the yard, I spent at least one day a week collecting the leaves that had fallen. I'm not sure it really helped in the end, but the kids should enjoyed having a fresh pile of leaves to jump in.

These kids love it when Daddy is home at bedtime! He's the best at reading stories and they can't get enough.

They're reading "The Little Engine that Could". This book and "The Polar Express" are Cole's favorite books and the ones we read before bed about 75% of the time. Jude is usually a good sport and will listen, too.

Cole loves picking up the boys from the bus stop because he gets to see the bus come by. I don't know what it is about buses and trains with this kid, but he loves them.

Good big brother!

One day there was a gorgeous double rainbow at the stop while we waited for the boys:

I'm not sure I've ever seen one so bright. Cole and Lily thought it was pretty neat, too.

On to Thanksgiving, Christmas trees, and Christmas!!