Thanksgiving in NJ & Christmas in Charlotte

While I've no doubt neglected the blog for the last several months, we've had a busy few weeks so there are a few gems in this much needed post.  We spent Thanksgiving with the Cooney fam in New Jersey.  It was a busy and fun day with the family...in fact, one of the best Thanksgivings yet (save sweet Ellie's birth of course!).  This weekend we celebrated Christmas with Mom, Dennis, J.P., Maureen, and Ellie.  We are off to Florida for the week of Christmas, so pictures of the Rinehart fam won't be far behind! 

The whole gang at Sean and Nan's. 

Ellie all bundled up for a new event in the cousin Olympics, the bean bag toss. 

Brooke, Mary Grace, and Ellie

Here are the Charlotte pics:

Ellie really enjoyed the Christmas festivities...most especially the light of the Christmas trees.

We went downtown to see the "Bearstein Orchestra" in the Bank of America building.  It provided a few minutes of entertainment.  

Riley loved the excitement of having so many visitors. 

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, R.C.!

It's hard to believe, but R.C. turned 30 this weekend.  We had a great time celebrating with him in Charleston this weekend.  Here are a few photos of the good times. 

Quinn and Riley became fast friends. 

R.C. and Quinn at the party. 

Michael sports his sailor cap in this picture with R.C.  While Michael bought the hat for Quinn, he couldn't seem to part with it for the rest of the weekend.  

Yes, somehow we ended up bowling. 

This alligator was 100 feet from our back porch on Wild Dunes! 

Riley enjoyed her first trip to the beach.  

Before & After

It's amazing what a groomer can do!  Here is little Riley befoer she went:

She was looking a little scruffy and had a bouffant thing going at the top of her head. 

Here are the after pictures.  We especially love her patriotic bandana!  The groomers loved Riley so much they didn't want her to leave.  What a charmer. 

Good Times with the Fam & Adios Summer....

It's official.  Summer has come to an end.  The school children of Charlotte are back in full swing and so are we.  We kissed the summer goodbye with a fabulous weekend visit from the Rineharts.  We were especially glad that Michael's Grandmom was able to make the trip.  We had our handy man "to do" list for John, so he and Michael were busy much of the weekend. Riley now has fabulous flood lights to light her way (motion sensored!) when she needs to go outside at night.   All in all, it was a great time. 

Sally spoiled Riley with lots of love, toys, and treats.  Riley was very sad to see her go.  

Life just hasn't been the same for Riley since Sally left.  Come back soon!

In other news, my weekend reunion with the DC girls in Cape Cod is off because Meaghan fell and broke her leg yesterday.  Keep her in your prayers. 

What a lovable pooch!

Weekend with Dad

Dad came down from New Jersey for a weekend in the warm south.  On Saturday we drove to the quaint town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  A few miles down the road was Boone, home of Appalachian State.   

Go Mountaineers.

Today we had brunch on Lake Wylie.   Good times.  As always, the weekend went too fast and it was sad to see Dad go.  

Honduran Hammock & Riley's First Bath

Michael put up the hammock he bought in Honduras.  While tying it to two trees might have worked there, we had no such luck here in Charlotte.  We bought the hammock stand.  The colors represent the Honduran flag. 

We also gave Riley a bath a few days ago.  She loves playing outside, so the time had come.  She didn't so much love the bath, but we were happy with the results.  Here she is right before we put her in the tub. 

Here she is wet and ready to escape.  Luckily she's still too small to make it out on her own.

All done!

Summer is slipping away

Hilton Head was fantastic, only now that we're back we're beginning to face the reality that summer is slipping away.  Michael is down to one week and I am down to two.  It was bound to happen:).   Kym, R.C., and Quinn joined us for a few days at the beach.  We also celebrated our second anniversary.  The time just flew. 

Michael enjoyed having a playmate fora few days.  Cute Quinn was glad to humor him. 

Sweet glasses. 

Quinn loved the beach!

The beach was the perfect place to celebrate anniversary #2.