vacation part two

For the second half of our vacation we went to Maryland to visit with Josh's family. Also a fun time! A little more busy than PA, but great to be around the fam once again.

Some crazy kiddos!



Sweet, adorable, little Gracie. Look at that face! Just has love written all over it, doesn't it? =)


Here, this is better


CRABS!!!!! One of the things Josh and I miss most about the eastern shore are the crabs! Soooo good! We knew a feast had to be on the agenda and we chose it for our anniversary day!


Holding up four fingers for "four years" on our anniversary.


Ice cream night at DQ!! I absolutely LOVE ice cream! I think the kids enjoyed it too...


I have no explanation for this shot.


The day we left. We flew out that night, but for lunch after church we went out to eat. My friend Amanda was able to come with us! I'm so glad I got to see her!

vacation part one

I am finally getting around to posting our vacation pics. We had such an awesome time with our families! We miss them all so much! First stop, Pennsylvania! We stayed with my brother and his wife and their extremely cute kiddos. Here are some pics of them...

Computer time


Blue-eyed Beauty


Sometimes ya just gotta putchyer feet in the air.


Sweet, baby blues


My mom and dad were even able to come for one night. I was glad we got to see them too! Before you scan these next photos, keep in mind that for some reason, over the course of the last few years I have acquired this problem of closing my eyes in photos. Just wanted to clarify why I look so freaked out in these pics. I mean, not that I have ever been that photogenic anyway, but wow. It provides some entertainment when taking pictures, that's for sure. Usually, if I pose with my eyes as wide as I can get them, by the time the flash goes off they are of normal size. Unfortunately this does not work every time, as you can see.

Mommy and me


Daddy and me


This is Daisy. The newest addition to their family.


The night before we left, Kate and I played beauty salon and she colored my hair. We laughed about how she tried to turn me into her b/c the color is the same as hers.


I kinda like it though.


I hate goodbyes. Hate them. I hate crying. And I really hate crying in front of other people, family or not. And I miss these people soo much! I kept myself busy during these moments, snapping the camera. That way I didn't sob uncontrollably. =)

Here the kids are taking their turn with Grandma and Grandad.


Mother and son. My mom was tearing up herself here. I'm pretty sure it's no secret that she is the source of my over-stimulated tear ducts. Hey, who else will weep their way through the Hallmark movies, if not for us? That's my justification and I'm sticking to it. Amen, and amen.


One last hug, you can never get enough.


"Good-bye, Grandma!"


Josh and I left the next day. His dad came and picked us up to take us to the second half of our va-cay. My brother wasn't there, we had said goodbye to him earlier. At this point, the tears came. Silently, but in a torrent. Look at them, they're like their own little Hallmark movie, standing there. Sweet family. I love them! Until we meet again...

canady christmas, 2007

Backtracking a bit since I'm behind. These pictures were taken over Christmas vacation. Josh and I flew to Maryland to be with the Canady family. Josh could only stay the weekend through Christmas Day since he didn't have any vacation days to take off yet, but I had the opportunity to stay the week. It was great to be able to spend some extra time with them! I love the way Gracie is looking at Josh in these...


I like this picture of us...I don't know why, I just do.


Josh has started a tradition since we've been married of giving me new pajamas on Christmas Eve. This year he said he went with the ones that made him laugh. Don't know if you can tell, but they're covered with sock monkeys doing various chores. It's pretty funny...


Zeke in his new Spongebob pjs Christmas morning..(seriously this was around 7:30ish am. The Canadys don't mess around!

This is the best picture I got of Eden's Spongebob pjs. I have always loved Christmas, but kids make it even more fun!


Zeke was so fun to watch that morning. He got his own Gibson guitar. To see a video of him trying it out, click here. It's so cute! Josh even enjoyed trying it out.


These are the fleece blankets I made for the Haneman kids (Josh's oldest sister Jenny's kids):




I think it's obvious why I had to post this picture:
This baby brings many smiles everywhere she goes! This is Gracie; she's Josh's youngest older sister, Missy's baby. If you think this picture is cute, check this out.

thanksgiving in 'pah' part v: alumni game

Why is it that when you are young, you want nothing more than to be older, and it seems that you will never arrive to that point anytime soon? Then when you actually get older, you wonder where the years (and your physical conditioning) have gone so quickly? While home in PA, I had the opportunity to get together with a few girls I went to high school with and attempt a little b-ball action. Fortunately there were a few girls on my team who were conditioned enough to help us keep up with the high school team. We only lost by two points! These pics are not very good at all. The lighting inside the gym wasn't the best for picture taking, but hubby did pretty good with what he had to work with. Here I am before the game. As you can see I am still breathing properly...oh yeah, and the brace is a precaution. I had surgery on my knee a few years ago as a result of some intense Tae-Bo. (I would love to say it's a sports injury - sounds so much tougher, but, yeah. It happened b/c I was kicking the air over my head. Woo-hoo!)



Here I am right before attempting a 3-pointer that didn't go in. In fact, I didn't score the whole game!! Just a tad different from my high school days!



This one is right after there was a tie up with the ball. Apparently my dribbling skills are just as good as they were back in the day...(that's not a good thing)



Two of my awesome fellow graduates of 1998 and their kids. Tracy and Lily and Katie and James. A few years ago I started doing this thing where I shut my eyes anytime a picture is taken...thus the silly look on my face.



So I made a fool of myself running around on the basketball court, but I enjoyed so much getting to spend some time with some great friends that I haven't seen in years! Hopefully this is the start of staying in better touch as I am very bad at that.

thanksgiving in 'pah' part iv: cookies/buck

The first day of hunting season was always a fun day for me growing up. My dad and brothers would go hunting, and I would stay in and make Christmas cookies! We always had the day off from school b/c, well, it was the first day of buck season! Hel-lo! This year I had fun making cookies with Dreama and Kimmy while Robbie Jr went out with my brother and dad. Congratulations to my growing-up-way-too-fast nephew, Robbie, on his first buck!!



The girls were pros in the kitchen.




Well, ok, so the first batch we made from the wrong recipe and ended up with a sticky mess that wouldn't roll out, then when we found the right recipe we were out of butter b/c we used it in the first recipe.





After a few phone calls to my mom who had gone to work, we finally were able to whip up a tasty treat!



These are a few of my favorites from my batch....

thanksgiving in 'pah' part iii: cute kiddos

I am so thankful that I was able to travel with my mom across the state to see my brother Daniel and his family. Josh's parents had picked him up on their way through from NY and took him to MD to see friends and family since he will only be able to be there for a short weekend over Christmas. So, to get him back we met at Daniel's in Leesport. Somehow, after I've come away from a visit there, I always have a million pictures of their kids, and not any of Daniel and Kate. It's not that I don't love Daniel and Kate, it's just that their kids are so darn cute! =) I mean, check this out:

a profile shot; a little distracted by sesame street




The kids LOVED uncle Josh! Madelyn went through a phase where he kind of scared her, but now both of them couldn't love him more!~




Elijah is two years old. Him and I were "fighting" over Josh. We were going back and forth: "My Josh!" "No, MY Josh!". After doing this a few times he got this pitiful look on his face and he said to me, "But I love him!" Speaking for Josh, if that doesn't boost your ego I'm not sure what will! =)

and how could I forget, buddies, Sampson and Simon...



Unfortunately, no pictures of my brother and Kate, but like I said, their kids are so darn cute!!! Sorry, Daniel and Kate, you know I love you though. ;)

thanksgiving in 'pah' part ii: back woods fun

The day after Thanksgiving my dad said he needed to sight in his gun for the "big day" (hunting season opening day). I have always been one to follow my dad everywhere he goes. Josh and I went along, fully intended to shoot a couple myself! =) I hit the bullseye from 100 yards..not bad, eh? =) We also shot one of my dad's pistols, but my camera was messing up so we didn't get any pics of that. So this is what we do in these here back woods o' pennsyltucky. =o)


Our target was down by the tree line...




Linin' up the sights. This was a little difficult since I'm right-handed and had to use my right eye, which is VERY bad since I didn't have my contacts in...




My daddy...