Another great summer comes to an end.

Aleia's 6th year "gotcha day" picture.

Getting ready to cheer on our Quakers at the first football game.

Playing with one of our ipods. Ha

Playing with the neighbor kids in the sprinker. What fun!

At the lake with lots of friends.

Alexa and her cousin Carlie from South Carolina.

I cannot believe another summer has come and gone. Where does time go? I guess the saying is true, "time sure flies when you are having fun." We had such a great summer. We spent lots of time at the pool, playing with our friends, going places with the family, and tons of times at the park. It was such a awesome time. The girls love playing together and sharing playdates with each others friends. It is so nice to see the love they have for one another. Aleia started in the first grade this year and Alexa is in her second year of preschool. They both really enjoy school, but are looking forward to next year when they will both be in the same building. We also recently shared in Aleia's 6th "gotcha day" dinner. She is such a special girl who is quite the pleaser. If you are happy, so is Aleia. The girls had some new pictures taken by a professional photographer, so I posted a couple of those too. They were all so good that we had trouble deciding which ones to get. Love to all.

Family vacation at the beach. What fun!!

Daddy and Alexa sharing a moment.

Getting ready to putt putt.

On the crows nest at our house. We spend lots of time up there.

Sisterly love.

The annual family pictures on the dunes.


We had another great family vacation at Pawley's Island last month. We stayed at the same house which we figured was our seventh trip there. It is called Dino's Retreat. The girls refer to it as our beach house. Ha. We spent lots of time riding waves this year. We took all of the sand toys that we own, but the girls didn't play with them much at all. They were all about the waves and going for dips. (Daddy does this with the girls, cause Mom isn't the biggest ocean fan). We spent a day at Charleston shopping and visiting with one of my friends from high school. Bob made his annual crab cake and steak dinner too. So yummy!! Can't wait til 2011 to make that trip again.

Miss Alexa turns 4.

Alexa making the big climb up the rope ladder.

Alexa loving the indoor waterpark.

They had a ball playing all day and part of the next.

Well, I cannot believe that our little one is four already. She is growing up way too fast for me. Can't they just stay this size for a little bit longer!//?. We celebrated her birthday by going to Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky with Mimi and Papaw. Let me tell you that the adults were pretty water lodged by the end of the trip. Alexa was beside herself on the trip. This was all she talked about for months before we went and for the weeks that followed. She had the time of her life. If she went down the slide three times, she went down thirty!! We also had a family birthday party the night of her birthday here at the house. It was a good time had by all. Very low key with lots of presents of course!

Alexa's 3rd "Gotcha Day" and Spring Break.

Outside the Aquarium in Charleston, SC

Happy Easter 2010

One of our bathing beauties.

Dinner at Oak Steakhouse. Bob's favorite restaurant in the south.

Alexa's 3rd year "gotcha day" celebration.

Alexa and Kaitlin were all smiles this night.

Two of our three traveling families had dinner at the club to celebrate the girls' special day. We sure missed the Bichsel's that night.



Well, a lot has been going on since I posted the last time. Auntie Elaine is going to be so proud of me!! Our family along with the McConnell's and Bichsel's shared a special day on March 25th. Three years previously, we received our china dolls. Where does time really go? I just cannot believe that we have had these special girls that long already. They have all come so far in their own little ways. Annie loves the bugs and outdoors. Alexa and Kaitlin love dresses and not getting dirty>. Ha!! Growing up with girls and boys in the same house are so different. Let me tell you that all three of them are quite unique! And soooo special.

We also spent some time away for spring break this year. We went down to Kiawah Island SC. We left on a Wed. afternoon and came back on Monday, but boy was it a much needed trip. We were gone for Easter, but we had our own little celebration down there. We went into downtown Charleston on Easter Sunday. We took the girls to the aquarium and had a nice lunch together. We spent lots of time just hanging out on the beach on our trip too. It was so nice to have some family time together. I am sure you will enjoy the pics. The smiles on the girls' faces are priceless. I will be posting again soon, cause little Lex is going to be turning four. WOW

Snow, snow, and more snow !

Aleia and her Auntie Elaine. This is the American Girl outfit Aleia told Auntie Elaine that she would really like to have for her birthday. Ha, Ha.

The view outside of our patio doors.

Trying to ride the frozen, snow covered glider.

Alexa can't hardly stand up. She was determined to get into her playhouse.

Sisterly love!!

Look how many inches of snow we really got.

Everyone kept saying I needed a picture of Aleia without her two front teeth. She is very proud of this one.


Well, do you think it will keep snowing. Sure looks like it. We were blasted with a huge snow storm this past weekend. We probably got about 16 inches of snow. It is still snowing off and on and the snow arrived five days ago. The kids here in town have only been to school one day this week so far. The roads are just nasty. We haven't seen snow like this in OHio for quite sometime. Stay warm!!

Ok, it's been a while.

OSU Rose Bowl family pics in Hilton Head.

Best of friends. It amazes me how that the older they get, the more attached

and the closer they become.

The playground at HH. They weren't having too much fun. Ha, ha. It was

snowing and very cold back home in OHio.

Christmas morning. Bright and early.

The Ferris's delivering cupcakes to the girls.

Our cousins Catie and Carlie from South Carolina. Catie is the little girl that

got those whole "China" thing started.

Aleia's "6th" birthday present.


Ok, I know that I have been very bad at this blogging thing recently, but I am hoping to get better here in 2010. We had a great rest of 09. Aleia celebrated her sixth birthday in November. We had a friend/family birthday party and fun was had by all. Aleia got a new bike that she had been waiting on since late summer when she learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She was so shocked when Bob brought the bike up from the basement. She was speechless. We had another amazing Christmas. This was the first Christmas that both girls were really into the whole "santa thing". It was one of our best Christmas' so far. Aleia and Alexa both asked for one thing and of course Santa came through. Aleia wanted a Ninetendo DS and Alexa wanted a dollhouse. We left Christmas day again this year for Hilton Head Island with three other families. We had nice weather and enjoyed just relaxing and hanging out with our friends and Nemaw and Papaw went too. Well, here's to the new year. Let's hope it's another good one. Love, Lisa