Goin' oN a TRee HUNt

while living in colorado,
we usually cut our own tree down
outside of winter park.
this year we found our tree virginia-style.
at james monroe's 3500-acre estate, ash-lawn highlands,
you're allowed to hike in and cut down your own tree.
so armed with a saw, a toddler, and an infant,
we drove the fifteen minutes with the usual
family combo of enthusiasm and poor-planning,
and hiked and scouted this year's Jehle Christmas Tree.
there were a couple of hitches-
we didn't realize how much walking would be involved,
and forgot the hiking backpack to carry hutch
(find the picture of him bawling),
and his need to be held made for a couple of
safety hazards in the actual cutting of the tree.
however, it was the first beautiful day
we've had in weeks, and it was great to be outside.
just making commonwealth memories, people.

i've been tagged...

I've been tagged!
Here are the instructions:
1. Go to your pictures
2. Upload the fourth picture in the fourth file
3. Post the pic
4. Tag four friends

hmm..i tag mer, katie, annie, heather

hutch snooping in a gift bag and rocking
his wrist bands...he still wears all 6 of them at once
almost every day.

haPPy gOBBLe '08

this year we decided to stay put in charlottesville,
and have thanksgiving with our neighbors, the robles
(aka 'the family with five'...soon to be six!).
our childrens' age to states visited ratio
is ridiculously high (hutch-15, elsa-5),
and after a stressful few months of
a newborn, interviewing, and test-taking,
thanksgiving proved be a peaceful
time of healing for our little family.
the strains have been and will be worth it
for our the upcoming chapter of our lives,
but i can't tell you how happy i am they are behind us.
here's a combined look at our turkey day and
our beautiful elsa's 3-month pictures.
she's a rollin' over, giggling, smiling, cuddling ball of joy, with
a healthy dose of tears mixed in when the situation calls for it.
we are so thankful.....

AdA

i felt compelled to post this picture
because there is a little boy
who asks about his ada
not once in awhile,
not daily,
but hourly.
ada's visit a couple of weeks ago
is vivid in his memory,
and he talks often of ada
going bye-bye on the airplane
to go home to mcmomma.
hutch lists his relatives several times a day,
and post colorado,
although pretty shy around the colonel and hayes,
has worked the 'corn and ayes' into his list of peeps.
but that ada, he's the man of the moment.

rocky mountain high

our final stop
on the interview tour 2008
was ft collins over this
past weekend.
friday and saturday
were spent in denver at
er and mer's house,
sunday at the coors
for a reunion with the coors,
bakers, and trotters,
and monday and tuesday we were
in ft collins where alex interviewed and
we lollygagged around the charming town.
we loved, loved, loved seeing everyone and being
back in that great state.
sadly, my camera was out of batteries and i didn't get to capture
all i wanted to, like addy's killer smile (happiest baby ever),
and miles and hutch reuniting.
this photo, taken by liz,
is the only one, but what a pic it is.
**WARNING**: you are about to see an extreme overload
of CUTE kids, and one cute alex (and minus one cute johanna blake).















of course, my kids aren't even close to looking at the camera.
thanks for the good times as always, folks. miss you already.

bRanDY sTATion

with alex tied up with the Big Test last week
(thanks for all of your prayers)
and a convention this week,
my dad cashed in his free plane ticket
to come keep us company.
it was finally a visit that didn't involve
to-do projects or having babies,
we were able to visit some civil war battlefields.
the weather has been amazing
and brandy station proved to be a little boy wonderland:
lots of open space to run, grass to uproot, and most importantly,
the culpepper county airport was across the dirt road,
so "airpins" were abundant in the sky.

the big halloween deal in charlottesville
is to take your kids trick or treating
on the lawn at uva campus.
whilst we didn't give hutch
the opportunity to actually
obtain candy,
he had a blast taking in the sensory overload.
it was such a beautiful day, and uva
is one of the most amazing campuses i've
ever seen.
in spite of the kids' nasty colds,
we had a great time.