Christmas 2009 Part 1

Here are photos from our Christmas trip home to family, part 1. The first few photos/videos are from celebrating their birthday at grandma and grandpa Downs. They are followed by pix and videos from Christmas at Oma's Enjoy!

Best Weatherman

Vote for Best Weatherman
Last week, we found out that Dale had been nominated for best weatherman here in Huntsville. For being on television for not even a year yet, this was a big accomplishment for him!
Show your support by visiting the site below and voting for Dale!!!!
http://blog.al.com/breaking/thebest/index.html

Early Birthday with Oma

Over Thanksgiving, we decided to let the kids have their birthday with Oma while she is in town. We have agreed that with their birthday so close to Christmas that it is fine right now to spread it out. These kids will have so many gifts between the 19th of December and the 26th that they won't know what to do! So, allowing them to get some early was a good choice!
From Oma, they got a kitchen set with lots of dishes and food and a train table with lots of train accessories. These things have kept them busy all weekend! Now, if they can only learn to pick up all the dishes and toys when they are done, we will be happy :)

Alex is quite the cook! He will make you just about anything you want!

Turkey Day 2009

THANKSGIVING 2009
We decided to stay at home this year for Thanksgiving. So, our family has taken turns coming to our house. Over the holiday, mommy was fighting strep throat and a bad cold. The week before, Alex had been in the ER for a double ear infection, strep, and conjunctivitus in his one eye. However, we still had a great time this Thanksgiving!

As all family can agree with now, getting pictures is not an easy task these days! Addie and Alex are EVERYWHERE and it is so hard for them to hold still at the same time to get a perfect shot. However, we tired our best!

Fall Festival

Fall Festival 2009

Whew! I think that we are all beat after a very busy day.

This afternoon, we went to a fall festival with the kids. It was great as they had a special area designated for toddlers. Addie and Alex loved jumping!!!!!!!!

Addie loved the duck pond and Alex liked digging in for treasures in the sand.

We had planned on staying later in the afternoon for trunk or treat. However, the kids were just too tired and I was not going to push them. Looking forward to this event next year!

Feeding the Ducks....

Today was a beautiful fall day here in Huntsville. We spent the day with some friends celebrating the good news that we received this past week. For the past 9 months, daddy has been working part-time. However, we found out this week that he will be starting full-time on the 1st of November. Our friends took us to lunch to celebrate! Then, we all took Addie and Alex to the park to feed the ducks. I am so thankful that they were there to help us chase the kids. There is no way that we could have done it without them! Whew, I am tired just thinking about all the running around we did earlier today. To end the day, we went to a fall festival here in town where Addie and Alex had a blast. Stay tuned for those pics.

Here is Miss Norma. She is our adopted mom here in Huntsville. We met Miss Norma through Addie and Alex's school. The kids LOVE her and we are so glad to have her as part of our family!
Miss Norma and Mr. Tom with Addie and Alex at the park. We should have taken this picture when we first got there as by this time, they were ready to be set free and continue playing!

Told ya, Addie was all over the place! She could have cared less about feeding the ducks. She was all about running the grounds.

Mr. Climber himself. He was so tired from running that he decided that he needed a break!

Funny picture... Why? Well, this was when we first got to the park and the kids were actually holding our hands! After about 2 minutes, they were done with that!

Catching Up....

When we went home to St. Louis a little over a month ago, Daddy went and talked with the first graders at the school where mommy used to teach. He taught them the tornado dance and all about severe weather safety. While he was talking, the kids had a blast playing in another first grade room. They were the hit of the day!

From the start, Addie helped herself and hopped up into this little girls lap and started using her supplies. Does that surprise you?