Delaware, Pennsylvania and Ohio - Oh My!

December 7 - 9th we were back in Wilmington. We enjoyed the Annual Christmas Progressive with our Wilmington friends, stayed one night at the Blanton's, then spent Saturday with the Altman's enjoying Longwood Garden's and the new Children's Garden.

Lily and Will continue to be great buds, as you can see!

One of the funniest moments of the garden's was Lily dipping her fingers into the fountains like it was holy water from church, and preceding to bless not only herself, but Will too : )

Lily's daddy showed her how put her fingers in the fountain. Lily thought this was sooooo cool. When a reserved, banker-type looking toddler arrived at the fountain, Lily attempted to help him get his sleeves up and into the water too : )

Corey and I then went to the Bio-Imaging Christmas party and Lily hung out with Will (and his parents for supervision). She had a blast!!! As you can tell, Mike and Tammy are a pro already with handling 2 little ones!

The next morning we exchanged Christmas presents and dressed Lily and Will in matching monkey clothes yet again! As teenagers, monkey clothes will be harder to come by, but we will find something cute and matchy, and I'm sure they will love it. Ha!

On the 9th, Lily and I dropped Corey off at the airport and then spent a couple of hours at the Philadelphia Please Touch Museum. It was very cool. We look forward to another visit there someday soon! Lily's favorite was the farm where she could pick vegetables and feed the animals (all pretend of course), and the miniature grocery store where she could work the register, push a miniature cart, and select vegetables, stocked items, as well as bakery goods!

The rest of our trip home did not go too smoothly. We faced a cancelled flight when we arrived in Cleveland, leaving Lily and pregnant me with a few over-stuffed and heavy bags for the night! We were both exhausted! We struggled to a cab, hopped over to a Mariott, walked to Denny's for 'breakfast dinner', then laid in bed watching a movie. My little buddy crashed within minutes!The next day we encountered some very thoughtful people who helped us manage gate changes with luggage plus breakfast, and kind people in South Bend who tried to help us get to our car across the icy parking lot. There are very many wonderful people out there!!! [December 7 - 10, 2007]

19 Months and First Big Snow!

December 5, Lily had about 10 inches of fluffy white snow to celebrate being 19 months...so she also had her first sleigh ride.

Decorating the Tree

We decorated the tree throughout the week. As you can see, Lily was a big help with hanging lights and cleaning up fallen needles. The end results was a beautiful tree!

Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

December 2 we set out to cut down our own Christmas tree. It ended up being a rainy day with thunder and lightning! It did not deter us and we found a beautiful little white pine, and better yet, we didn't even need to use the saw! We simply tagged the tree, and the tree farm workers came out and sawed it down. All we had to do was relax in the cozy barn, sipping cocoa : ) [December 2, 2005]

Thanksgiving 2006

Thanksgiving turned out just a bit different than planned. Everyone was scheduled to come to South Bend and we had enough food to feed a small army. However we awoke Thanksgiving morning to news that Norm (Grandpa Angst) was having sever stomach pain. He went to the ER and we headed to MI with bins full of food! Thankfully Grandpa Angst turned out to have pancreatitis and nothing more serious. Unfortunately we can't figure out what caused it, so we are all praying that it was just a fluke thing, never ever to be repeated.


We cooked a turkey for Grandma Pfromm and Grandpa Dave Thanksgiving night. Below you can see photos of Lily enjoying her pumpkin pie and whipped cream (emphasis on the whipped cream).

The next day, we cooked another turkey and 2 racks of lamb and Grandma and Grandpa Angst's house. Everyone, except for Norm, was there. We visited him in the hospital later that night. He was sorely missed, but as you can see, the cousins still had a ball.

Colm, Stephanie, Allesandra's Visit

We had a chilly weekend, but Lily and Allesandra had a great time. Allesandra is 6 months older, so Lily was always trying to keep up! Aside from tailgating, we went to the pep rally, fed the ducks, and did a lot of playing! The rest of the gang went to the game to see ND get beat by Airforce while Lily, Allesandra and I hung out at home. Later that night we made homemade pizza and had a picnic in the office and roasted smore's. It was really fun! [November 9 - 12]

Orlando

Our little world traveler celebrated her 18 month birthday in Orlando at the Coronado Disney Resort. I had a work conference there, which gave Lily and Lindsay the opportunity to enjoy some pool time sipping frozen drinks and swimming, and some shopping. We also took time to enjoy Universal Studios. Lily rode the Cinderella Carousel, It's a Small Wonder Boat, and the Disney Train. She loved playing at Pooh's Corner, an outdoor play area. She especially loved the fountains, and twice was caught in the flow of a big fountain by surprise : ) She also loved playing in Pooh's house. We will definitely come back when Lily is older. [November 4 - 7, 2007]