Happy early holidays!

Is it ok to take a picture of a picture and put it on the internet? Who knows. Did it anyway. This was actually taken just over a week after we came home from Russia. The boys have that very stoic look that says, " I don't understand what you are saying, or why you are pointing that thing at me."


Fast forward to a more recent photo session. The Marsh side of the family decided to try and get all five cousins together for a Christmas picture. It actually worked! Above, we have the CNM boys showing off their sweaters and giving their usual look when the camera comes out. Conner has started smiling on command, while Carson at least half the time gives the deer in the headlights look. :-) At least he broke out the smile for us when all the cousins were together!


Two boys and three girls. Conner, Carson, Kyleigh, Alex(andria) and Casey. What a cute group! In the last few months, we took quite a jump from two cousins to five. It will be a busy Christmas. Kyleigh is the eldest, at eight years, Casey is almost three, and Alex is just a few weeks old! In case you forgot, Conner turned three on Oct 26 and Carson turned two on Sept 12.

Recently, the boys have started asking to be cradled like babies. They've met a few newborns, and have been very sweet to them. "Conner, baby...Carson baby..." It has been very nice to play baby with them, because they look into our eyes and let us really snuggle. The picture above is a rare moment when they both wanted to be babies together. The Curious George books, by the way, are among their favorites. They both have monkey dolls that look a lot like George. Carson has started calling his, "Mee mee," which we think is pretty darn cute.

Just another quick leaf pile picture. We had such a great, warm Thanksgiving weekend that most of it was spent outside. The boys played like Energizer bunnies in the leaf piles, and were even willing to bring individual leaves from other parts of the yard into the pile. Good thing we took care of the yard during the weekend, because it got cold real fast!

The first weekend of December, and it was cold! Here are the boys all bundled up to go see the Old Fashioned Christmas parade. We are so lucky to be within walking distance of lots of cool stuff, including downtown Lawrence. The parade is primarily horse-drawn carriages, sleighs and horseback riders. The boys totally loved it. "Another horsey, another horsey?...Big horsey!...Little horsey!" That night, the whole family went to a restaurant (only the second time) to celebrate the seven-year anniversary of Mommy and Daddy's first kiss. :-)