in search of the roe family tree!

trey liked this one!

and kate liked this one...

our motely crew

and we decided on this one

let's tie it down and take it home!

earlier this morning we joined the gast caravan and made our second annual trek to Madison county. Madison county is only about 45 minutes north of asheville but once you are there you feel like you are in another part of the country. the scenery is pristine, rolling hills and mountains as far as the eye can see. lush dense forest on all sides of you and lots of cows and horses. truly living up to it's nickname; gods country.

thanksgiving day 2008 ~

the grands getting crafty with the kiddos
trey just being silly

grandpa & kate busily building...

voila!

grammy & grandpa ready for some turkey!

the meal shared with many friends

post-dinner entertainment provided by trey, gillian, kate & maris

a splendid holiday filled with good times with friends and family both!

our day started off with the buttering the bird and the proper stuffing preparations. once those tasks were complete and the bird was thoroughly stuffed the grandparents kept the kiddos busy with traditional gingerbread tidings while pete and i hit the pavement. peter was excited to share a new hill with me. the cliffs! OMG is about all i have to say. my feet were barely moving. once we got back pete and marty started a laundry list of things to do while the turkey roasted. we now have shelves in the den, motion sensor lights in the basement stair well and outside the garage.

at around 2 we pulled the turkey out of the oven and threw it in the back of the car. we drove down the hill and shared an enjoyable afternoon with the neighbors. post dinner entertainment was provided by the kids in the english basement. there was a little karaoke, a little dancing and a whole lot of skipping.

after we loaded the majority of the dishes and wrapped up the leftovers we meet kristen and her girls at azeala park for a soccer scrimmage. it was so much fun and actually just what we needed to fend off the bloat. not sure that the teams were exactly even but no one cared. and according to kendall grandma and grandpa still have a lot of years left on the field. they made her top 5 list!

feeling refreshed we left kate and trey with grandma and grandpa and joined some new friends for desert and drinks and a howling good game of charades. a super ending to a fantastic holiday!

welcome to the world sweet baby scarlette~

as if we weren't already thrilled to have new neighbors the package just got a little sweeter! scarlette rose just joined the ulrich family. another little person to watch blossom.

ahhhh HELLO?

apparetnly this gaggle needs to check the calendar...

considering the holiday which is fast approaching they should consider going into hiding for a few days rather than prancing all about.

noticably fatter, pete was not impressed to learn that the kids and i have been feeding them goldfish all fall. hmmmm - wonder what his problem is!? :0)

she's got it!

cleaning out the book bag this week i found this little treasure. it warmed my heart to see that at such a young age kate has already recognized the value her dear friends.

i have felt incredibly blessed to have had such amazing friends, male and female alike. and this time of year more then ever i find myself giving thanks for all of you.

lordy - lordy looks who's 40~

doug and his depends...

below kim tries to serenade doug with her rendition of american pie in honor of doug's big day.

see some of the lyrics below.

way to go kim - YOU ROCK!

the happy couple singing along...

spencer, kim and deborah being gorgeeous

sure glad i didn't take part in any shooters...

here they are - the late night crowd

ML and her infamous pose

sorry folks, i am terribly behind on my blogging. i know, i know... I shouldn't start something that i am not prepared to finish. posting the pics was all i could handle until now.

DOUG - our neighbor Doug just celebrated his 40th and we were there to harass him! this was also the toga party that pete and i dressed for which turned out to be a total BUST. not sure if they didn't get the toga memo or if it was just some type of cruel joke being layed on us. regardless we had a great time and i enjoyed being the only sober person present!

ML: i'll try to get the rest of the pics posted to shutterfly so you can do with them as you please.

all i want for christmas is ...

is my two bottom front teeth! just the other night while brushing her kate lost her second tooth. we've been enjoying the little lisp that she's developed since. and once again she was delighted to find that the tooth fairy had come while she slept. again 2 "golden" coins were left. only after closer inspection she discovered one was a "golden" coin and the other was a chuck e. cheese token. guess which one she was more excited about....

they actaully hung it up~

or at least long enough to get a quick picture to make me feel good! you know "gifting" is hard for some people but not for me. i love it. i would so much rather buy something for someone else then myself. the tricky part for me is giving something to someone else that i have made. i almost feel like i need to send along a note that says if you don't like it please pass it on, my feelings won't be hurt.

i was tickled when i received the picture above from our dear friends from chicago last night. not only is cam wearing the jammies we gave her when we saw her this summer it would also appear that they actually hung the name plate i made for her. yeah - i am feeling all warm and fuzzy! thank you guldberg's. we love you!

fun for the holidays~

one of my crafty creative idols pointed out that amy butler is currently offering a couple of her holidays patterns for free on her webiste. i plan to give this one a try. if you are interested check out the link below to see what else is available. happy crafting! thanks liz~

http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/products/me_patterns.php

brownies anyone?

trey and i whipped up a quick batch of brownies while the girls played busily by themselves in the playroom. however as you can see, as soon as they heard what we were up to they suddenly wanted in on our action. we'll be sending the leftovers home with caitlin in the morning!

ella - check it out!

a solon icon has passed on...

Eugene Bernard Krob, 77 of Solon, died Thursday, November 6, 2008 at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City after a brief illness.

This was a man that all of us in Solon grew up with. He was THE fan of ALL Solon fans. He was at every football and basketball game. He was at every track meet and softball game. He was always smiling and always cheering us on. To have known Gene was to has loved him.

two thumbs up for these sleepers...

throw them in your queue, you won't be sorry!

kids!

you've got to love their honesty!

this evening after dinner pete, kate, trey & i were all enjoying a cozy little family moment gathered around the fireplace talking about the day we had. the fire had started to dwindle so i hopped up to throw another log on the fire. as i bent over kate boldly announced "mom you've got a BIG booty." i turned around a bit startled and a bit embarrassed. my eyes went directly to pete as i was in search of some positive reinforcement... only he bust out laughing. soon trey joined in, and kate and i followed suit.

if any one needs me in the morning i'll be out running. like 40 miles...

biltmore in the fall...