Some Christmas Pics of the Girls...

a little photo shoot of the girls!!

Let the Updates begin!!

These will be in order of most recent working backwards. Camping!!! I still can't believe we did this. It was totally a last minute decision to go with friends of ours (Adam, Bethany, and Isabel Christian) who had already decided to go. When Travis mentioned it I thought he was joking. And then, 12 hours later we were all loaded up with our 2 1/2 year old, 1 year old, and pregnant me. My biggest fear was just the cold. It's been pretty mild still here, but then again, we aren't sleeping outside at night. But it all turned out great, the kids LOVED it and I would totally do it again! Ellie and Sarah Grace with their friend Izzy. They couldn't stay out of the water...Dads or kids!

The cooks! Trav did almost all the packing (including food) for our trip...he only forgot a few things which thankfully, our friends had!!

The morning was chilly...thus the footy jammies AND hoodies!

Ellie did a "nature walk" with Trav and found things that were on the sheet he made for her (pine cone, flower, stick, rock, leaf...) She loved it!

Our "hike" around the pond...

The Christians! We love you! Thansk for letting us go with you!

This was towards the end of the hike...don't worry, it's not as bad as it seems. E is just a little dramatic! (She was a little sad that she couldn't ride on Daddy's shoulders too.) Thanks, Adam for helping us out here...she rode with Adam instead!

I know she may hate this picture later but I couldn't resist!

Ready to kayak!!

We did it! We survived! (and Trav and I did reward ourselves with a little Chilis chips and salsa on the way home!)

Last Day at the Pool, Fun at the Park, Breakfast with Friends, and Labor Day Fun... Just because we live in Boston doesn't mean we too didn't live at the pool for most of August. There was a really great free pool right down the street from us where a bunch of us would meet (for a while there, almost every day!). We were SO sad when it closed!! Gracie our fearles CLIMBER at the park!

Breakfast at downtown at the famous Paramount.

This isn't a great pic but had to get in Ellie's bowl of blueberries!

Our sweet friends the Kleinsassers...Zack, Michelle, and Charlie

Charlie! :)

The kids at our labor day party...(yes, they are all almost the same age!)

And the adults!

This one's for Poppy...proof that Sarah Grace is brushing her teeth! Thanks for the toothbrush!

A fun day with Charlie in the backyard!

CFCF Staff Retreat (Beverly, MA)...We had our first retreat with our staff after a lot of changes over the past few months. We spent some time up on the North Shore. The girls literally "helped" Trav with the luggage cart all the way from our room! Buddies...Ellie and Annie Kate Goode

And their Daddys!

This is the spot where we got engaged...here we are now, 2 and almost 3 kids later! Crazy!

And this is who Ellie calls "My Alyssa". She's the Children's Pastor at our church and one of Ellie's favorite people in the whole world. We talk about Alyssa in our house every day! Can't you just see here how fun she is?!!

The Staff (almost...a couple people are missing)

The Polo Match (early September)...This was so much fun! I had only seen these in the movies before. A big group of us drove to Newport, RI for the match and tried our best to act like we really knew what we were doing...dresses, hats, stomping the divets during halftime, eating fancy food. We loved it and it was so beautiful out.

The girls and Lacey (who lives with us...our kids adore her)

I'm no photographer but I figured this was a good 'polo match' shot??

Like she'd seen it all a hundred times...

Seth and Gracie...

We miss you D!!! (part of the reason for the festive event was because our sweet friends Dara and Sarah were both moving...and now they're gone...so sad for us)

I love these next two pics!! Canela's on the left (she lives with us) and Emily's (Em to Ellie) on the right, she goes with Seth. These friends are so dear to us and our kids.

The hats!!

I just don't know if we were meant for hats...

The laughter in our lives...our Sandra!!