Thanksgiving 2012

Levi is thrilled to ride on the airplane this year to go see Mimi & Papa Balsley.

Levi & Mimi enjoying the park.

We did not realize there was a sign until AFTER the chase.

Picnic fun.

They took us to the Nixon Library and there was a special Christmas Tree & Train display that Levi loved.

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Balsley Clan.

Thanksgiving 2012 family photo.

Stephen & Meagan

More park fun with Papa.

There is nothing else like quality train time with Papa.

Picnic at the beach.

Family shadow profile picture.

Both of us enjoying our Bill Peet books from Mimi.

Our date lunch out. Love you, Andrew!

The family train ride at the zoo. Thanks Mimi and Papa for a great visit! Love you!

Snow Day & Singing

Andrew is singing right now with a community choir. The 1st concert (yesterday) was with the town orchestra. The concert today is at the "Old Stone Church" and is a full choral concert. I was able to attend the "dress rehearsal" with Levi earlier in the week. That was a treat for me as both concerts conflicted with Levi's sleep schedule.

Levi has reached his "50 good boy stickers" milestone and received some new parts for his "tato-head".

We had out 1st sizable snow fall this weekend and Levi, Andrew & I got out to enjoy it. This was Levi's 1st attempt at snow removal.

The snow had perfect snow man making chemistry.

What a great snowman, guys!

There is no comparison to fun had with dad on the sled! i have many more photos to post including our wonderful trip to California but it will have to be another time and another post. Happy December!

1st Trick or Treat

Levi fit in to the cute astronaut costume given to us by Mimi Crandall. I wasn't sure how he would do in it as he isn't a big fan of things on his head some days but he loved it!

We went to a local nursing home that was passing out candy and visited with the residents while trick or treating. 

Then we went over to our neighbors homes to say hello and trick or treat. Now when he sees the lights on he says "Trick or treat?"

I dressed up as "Mars" to walk around the nursing home with Levi. You can see my tape with writing on my belly if you click on the photo or just squint. :)

We went on a trip to Hot Springs, SD the other weekend for Presbytery and I have a lot of photos so I figured I would post a few here and then do another post. It was the day of our 1st snow of the season and was cold but Levi, a friend from church and I enjoyed a walk to see the hot springs flowing and falling in downtown. All through the winter the water is still warm. It was really nice.

Another thing I did recently was help a group of ladies (2 from my church and several from a nearby community) sew some dresses for "Little Dresses for Africa". Levi played happily without throwing pins, thread or touching the sewing machines most of the day. We were glad to get out of the house as the men were working all day in our house replacing windows and using power tools. (More on the windows in another post. )

Fall in S.D.

For those of you that haven't seen this photo yet, here it is. I like how it turned out. Even a full moon in the background! Thanks, Andrew for making me look good! :)

These photos were all taken out at a nature preserve we sometimes walk around  in as a family. We were attempting to capture a nice photo for Jan & Alan's Christmas frame/Levi's 2nd birthday photo shoot/pregnancy pics. I love these couple of Andrew and Levi.

Carrying around these 43+ extra pounds is hard work! :)

Can you say "Seen mama do this one too many times this pregnancy?!" Hahaha. So much for "Potty training".

This is proof that we can have a nice fall day. Notice Levi is in shorts and a tshirt.

Levi sporting his almost too small cowboy vest from Mimi. He is attending his friend's 2nd birthday party and needed something that would pass for "Farm".

Levi's 1st horse back ride at friend's birthday. I had to get on with him (not an easy task) because he didn't want to ride alone.

Here is a photo of Andrew and I at this year's Spirit of Dakota dinner. I was wearing the same outfit 2 years ago to the same banquet but looked much different. :)

Each year I fill several boxes for the Operation Christmas Child donation. This year I had a little buddy cheerfully helping me fill our 3 boxes. Hint if your family does this: buy throughout the year when things are on clearance; i.e. after school is back in session school supplies are SUPER cheap. I did this as a child of about 10-12 and received a little package back from the girl that got my box. It was SO meaningful!

Levi and Andrew raking the leaves together.

Levi helped Andrew smash the leaves in the can by jumping on them.