Thanksgiving

Our family gathered in Nebraska for Thanksgiving. Since the whole gang was there, we took the opportunity to exchange Christmas presents at that time.

We are thankful for Oma who baked a ton of Hilda Broetchen (our favorite Xmas cookies) and took care of everything so that we could have some "free" time at her house. We're grateful for Alex (Mr. Why) and Sophie (Miss Sunshine) to be such fun-loving kids eager to learn new things each day. We're thankful for our great family and friends far and near!

Sophie is now 7 months old.  She can sit all by herself and we can just see her first tooth.  It won't be long before she crawls. Then the fun starts!

Here are a few pictures of the festivities and more.

Playing Uno for the first time at Justin's house

Sophie having fun on her playmat

Papa tells the best stories

Cousin Rachel gave Sophie a doll cradle for Xmas

Alex's favorite food of all times: Pho.

Alex playing at Oma's house before all the cousins arrived

Sophie's way of "devouring" books

Two very cute girls

Cousins suddenly attacked by a triceratop

Alex having fun with the girls

Aunt Emma tells the best jokes

Alex opening his Xmas presents a little in advance

Sophie is more interested in eating the wrapping paper, card, etc. than the actual presents!

Who should I call now?

John, Alex and Colton clowning around. Who is the best looking donkey now?

Sophie watching the NE ball game with the boys

Oma, I can't say "Go Cornhuskers!" yet

Aunt Emma with Sophie Emma

Sophie eating papa's Xmas cookie. And then surprise, her first tooth appeared!

Alex and Henry touring the farm on the tractor

I can play hide-and-seek too!

Alex wants to learn how to swim to go down the slide next summer

Fun Days at Home

The Indian summer weather is over, so we are spending more time playing at home. Here are a few pictures of last week.

Sophie likes to stick her tongue out now!

Hey, Sophie found my cow!

I can sit up all by myself now!

Where is Sophie? I can barely see her among Alex's stuffed animals and puppets

Here she is! Piglet is very tasty...

Alex practicing how to trace

About 15 lbs on one hand and 30 lbs on the other hand

Alex and Sophie play "cache-cache" (hide and seek)

 

Sophie likes to stand on her feet, so we found a French gizmo

to help her practice how to walk

 

After all this walking, I'm just exhausted!

Alex's Singing Debut

Alex sang in the church children's choir for the first time this morning.

Happy Halloween!

Alex really enjoyed celebrating Halloween this year. He loved his dinosaur costume so much that it was hard to get him to take if off before going to sleep each day! Sophie wasn't so sure about being a leopard...

We celebrated Sophie's 6 months last Friday. She has grown a lot in the past couple of months and now weighs 14.7 lbs (6,5 kg) and is 26" (66 cm) long. She has been eating solid food for the past month and is now eating entire jars full every day. She has tried rice cereals, zucchini, carrots, butternut squash, peas, sweet potatoes, pears, prunes, and bananas, and so far she hasn't met a food that she doesn't like. As long as she ends up not liking cheese, mama is happy!

Leopard and Dinosaur

Pumpkin time

All tired out

Triceratops

Roar!

Yoga pose

Yum

I like carrots and it shows!

Out in the yard

Hey, this is my toy, Alex!

Look at me!

Hi Sophie

Why me, mom?

Ready for Mardi Gras?

Chillin'

Sophie likes to sit

Fall activities

Here's a few pictures from the last month.  We have been enjoying the awesome fall weather and spent as much time as possible outside.  Our big trip for the month was to Newton, Kansas for homecoming weekend at Eric's alma mater, Bethel College.

Alex's first fish!

Fun at the Wichita zoo.
Alex loves to pretend he's Curious George!

Alex and Sophie playing

Alex the helper

At Roger & Frederique's house

Happy Sophie

Future truck driver visiting maman at work

 Sophie likes to roll onto her belly