A Busy Fishing Weekend!!

What a weekend! It was full of family and friends. Gotta love living on the lake and all the things it has to offer. Here are a few pictures:

It's Been Some Time....

I admit it, I've become a victim of FaceBook. I have very little time in my life as it is but I seem to find time to see who has wrote on my wall or nosed around other people's info. I call it the nosey neighbor syndrome. It's like reading my morning paper.. so sad but at least I admit it.

To prove the girls are still around I have included some random photos from the past few month. We recently celebrated Dave's birthday. He turned the big 38 this year.

Just looking forward to some warmer weather and some good outdoor time.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everybody!! We had a fun family evening with some good friends. Mind you we all had no kids a few years back...boy times have changed. When we used to think that 9:30pm was going out time, we were all home and getting ready for bed this year. It was a fun night that the girls are still talking about. Your way of thinking and life really changes for the better after children. What blessings we all have to be healthy and happy.

End of 2008

What a busy year it has been for everyone, we are ready to start fresh with 2009!

Christmas was a fun time for us spending time with family and friends. The girls really got into the Santa thing this year and were very excited in the morning. We spent X-mas eve with Dave's family and then went to the Macke's. Christmas day was at our house. Here are some photos to sum up Christmas.

Gill's Christmas Party

The annual family party has come and gone. This years party was held in Munster and organized pretty much by my cousin Stacia. It was a lot of work but she did a great job!! The girls had a fun time seeing their 2 & 3rd cousins and of course Santa. Brooke of course covered her ears and refused to see Santa. Avery sat in the front row and gladly went up to get her gift, (that should tell you how different they are).

It was a great time seeing everyone and catching up . It's seems like the family is getting so big and there are some many kids now, we may need a football stadium soon.

First Snow

We had our first big snow fall on Tuesday. We got about 7 inches out by us. The girls are really enjoying the snow this year. After a battle about getting all bundled up they had a good time. Brooke is getting good at the snow angel thing while Avery kept hitting her with snow balls.

Halloween

I think Halloween is celebrated like the their birthday. The event starts a week prior to the actual day. Brooke was so over taken with her mermaid costume she had to wear it 15 hrs a day( she did take it off the sleep but a few times wore her shoes to bed). Avery on the other hand wanted to be a ghost. They do not make "safe" ghost costumes for a toddler that looked cute. So I took on the task of making it. 2 days and a lot of hot glue and glitter (yes, my ghost has glitter) Avery decided "nope" I want to be a Mermaid..... I told Dave he was going to use the costume because of the work. I'm glad to say she wore it and needed some encouragement.
We went to Aunt Jodie's and Uncle Doug's for Trick or Treating. After that, it became a little block party with pizza and a bonfire. The girls really had a great time.

Playing Dress Up

The girls recently discovered my wedding dress hanging in the closet. For those who don't know Brooke really likes to play dress up. This dress has been "hawking" her for the past couple of days. Well, the other night I found her on the floor with my wedding dress. She was stroking it saying "oh.. it's so beautiful".
For fun I let them wear the veil and they put on their " wedding dress" .

Family Hayride 2008

Happy Birthday

We have been celebrating the girls 3rd b-day for the past week. It was last Monday but the party was yesterday. They now think it's a week long thing because it's been talked about so much.

We had a house full but the girls had a great time. Brooke took awhile to warm up but got into things once she knew there were presents for her.

I found a bakery that made a cake that Avery could have due to her food allergies. It was the best cake I've had and it looked great. The theme of the party was Princess for Brooke and Backyardagins for Avery. The bakery made it look like a story book and but both things on there...very cute.

A New Picture

After a night of mosquito attacks, I was worried how this would turn out. Thank goodness for touch-ups.

Ways To Pass the Rainy Days

We have gotten so much rain here the past couple of days. The girls are having a hard time staying in when they're used to going out everyday. We have played dress up a million times, painted a wall of pictures for the family and created a new potty song.

This weekend we attended a hog roast and the girls had a blast splashing in the puddles. They had a DJ and to our surprise, Avery preformed the "Casper Slide" to a small crowd. She was actually pretty good...has her moms rhythm!

Hot Days of Summer

We've had a busy few weeks. The girls went fishing with Daddy and "caught" their big fish. (Little did they know it was caught by Daddy and sitting on the line for them to pull in). Brooke was so excited and the first one to grab then poor fish. Av was a a little shy about touching the thing but shared in Brooke's excitement.

We then headed down to the lake with the family. It was a fun day of hanging out on the boats and playing in the water. We then had a big bon fire and made smores in the evening. The girls had so much fun playing with their cousins.

It's nice that the girls are getting the age that they play more and want to be on our laps less.