Ainsley Makes Cookies

Ainsley explains what is on the menu...

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving we decided to ditch the pots and pans and head south to Mt. Vernon for an old fashioned meal of roast hen and sage dressing with giblet gravy and mashed potatoes. We even got to shoot our own pheasant with a musket. In truth we had all of the usual fixings and had a great time. Below are just a few of the several hundred we took.

Getting ready for the day


A great little restaurant


Right near the front entrance of Mt. Vernon


Dagny waiting for her dinner..pondering what little mischievous thing she could do next


Ainsley had just a great time the whole day

Autumn Fun

Before the weather began to become a little colder we took advantage of a nice day to play in a park...the girls never want to leave.

Swing..Swing...Swing!


Higher...Higher...Higher!


The slide was a favorite for both


Again and Again


Over and Over


Enough Already!

Trick or Treat!!!

The girls had a great time on Halloween, trick or treating around the neighborhood and then passing out candy to all of our visitors. Once again the weather held out and was only a little chillier then last year.

Ainsley as Princess Ariel and Dagny as Tinkerbell (their choice!)

Halloween Performance with the Bobcats!

Ainsley performs with the Bobcat class!

The River School Halloween Parade

For the third year in a row Ainsley has walked in the River School's parade. This was Dagny's first year. The weather held up as the children all dressed up for Halloween walked around MacArthur Blvd.

Dagny lining up.




Ainsley walking with friends.



After the parade both classes had parties filled with lots of fun and yummy food!

Dagny's party!








Ainsley's party!

Halloween party at Kendall

Since we continue to attend KDES' family ASL classes we were invited to the annual Halloween party. The food was great and the festivities a lot of fun. We had to rush off to Ainsley's dance class, otherwise we could have stayed there all afternoon.


The girls all dressed up for the party!

Dagny playing in the leaves

Dagny enjoying herself in the beautiful fall weather!

Pumpkin Carving!

In preparation for halloween (and because mommy needed the seeds inside the pumpkin for school) the girls created their pumpkins with daddy and mommy carved a face in them. They actually didn't make it to Halloween, one muggy, warm, rainy day did them in!

Mommy turns 33!

Mommy had a GREAT birthday filled with lots of fun and her favorite... chocolate cake with caramel and chocolate icing!

Out with the old....

The time finally came - we had to say goodbye to our Saturn of 6 years. We put some real miles on it and brought home both of our babies in it but the time was right to trade it in.

Old 2004


New 2011

First Day of School

The day finally came - the first day of school for the 2010-2011 school year. It was Ainsley's 3rd year but Dagny's first.


Dagny (Firefly) talking with one of her new teachers.


Ainsley (Bobcat) finding her cubby for her backpack and lunch.

Labor Day Weekend

Over the Labor Day holiday Chris, Stacey and Caiden came to visit. The girls just loved playing with Caiden.

They had some great time in the little pool.




Caiden at his cutest.


All of us near the house after lunch.

The kids feeding throwing bread...there was a sign that said "Do Not Feed the Waterfowl" so we were fine..we were just feeding the ducks.

Before School Haircuts

As the first day of school approached the girls needed haircuts.

Ainsley is an old pro.



Dagny's first haircut...unsupervised by mom - dad was a little nervous he'd get it done right.

The End of Summer

After a huge trip during the last part of July into August we decided to stick closer to home for the remainder of the summer. We still managed to stay busy but tried to relax...like maybe a little time on the green with the girls. They might get the hang of it.

Ainsley 3 putts.


Dagny putting for the dough.



We also spent a lot of time in our neighborhood...on the weekend nights we have live bands and Ainsley is not shy about doing some dancing...she totally gets those moves from Karl.


We also spent quite a bit of time all summer at the playground - here Ainsley shows off her new skill on the monkey bars...much to the spotters chagrin.

Bozeman in late July..a lovely time to go

We ended our trip with a few days in Bozeman to visit Marisa, Robert and Rowan. We can't wait to go back. Everyone had a great time and in the end the girls tried to pack the dogs up to bring home.

The girls take some time at the Bozeman Children's Museum to practice their boating


We took a hike to some falls - girls loved it and so did daddy's back when he carried Ainsley on his shoulders half way up.


The four of us at the falls during our hike


The girls loved the falls


Some time at some hot springs near Bozeman...Melissa wanted to move there


Went for a float one afternoon - Captain Robert took us down river


A shot looking backwards up river


During the float we saw a bald eagle...just amazing in the wild


At the end of the float Dagny was a little spent


Ainsley was done too but all had a fantastic time


Robert had a wonderful time entertaining all of the girls...they now want a pony. THANKS Robert!