Happy New Year!

Fun with the Hill and Ward families! We missed the Pilumeli's who are off in Italy!

Anna conked out on the couch before 6pm!, so she missed a cute Wiggles dance party -- so cute!



Including my cousin Kayla there were 13 of us sleeping under one roof tonight!

King Cousins Christmas at Aunt Terese's

A glimpse of the fun they will have!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Christmas Eve

Giuseppe (Joseph) and Violetta (an angel) were in the Christmas pageant and Anna was a zombie in mass, until she and Dionisio buddied up. We gave Anna and Carla each a present this afternoon and Carla was the main character of hers! Anna was excited to prepare snacks for Santa and his reindeer. Thanks Gramma for the cute plate and mug :)

Oh, Christmas time :)

We went to see the life-sized Candyland at Halle Farm and then came home and made a candy masterpiece ourselves - just look at the focus and concentration! And it sure looks like Carla is going to enjoy all the upcoming unwrapping! She actually did really well getting this gift open! So cute :)

Sometimes, you just can't pick

Fairy Dust and Scissors

Anna found some Styrofoam and was making and sprinkling "fairy dust" all over the living room! Also, she learned a new skill of cutting with scissors today! ...Don't worry she was with me for that!

Wow! New record for time between posting!

Back to El Rodeo, yum!, and this time there was a clown! Bo Bo made Anna a cool Nemo out of balloons with sea surroundings and all! Somehow there were no pics of the creation. Aren't Carla and Daddy looking even more alike these days?! Oops! Carla entertained us all by grabbing Daddy's food and spilling it all over him! So interested in food these days...pretty soon Carla!

We love you Candace!

We'll miss you so much! Thanks for all the great memories! And your wonderful help!



For the one of just Anna (and GLifford, as she calls him), she asked me to take a pic of them! This isn't something she usually does ... usually I'm just taking them constantly ...

Then, here are some book club ladies braving the wintry ice storm!

Giuseppe and Violetta's Christmas Show!

Thanks for the stylish vest Zia!

Best Daddy in the World!

Spontaneous Photo Shoot!

We were having fun with "our whole family" as Anna says, playing around in her room. Then I thought since Carla was still all dolled up for a birthday party (Happy Birthday Alana!), I could take some pictures of her. They turned out darling!

Reading and playing!

Thanks for reading with me Uncle Bob!
Veronica we had fun with you too!

The girls both love playing with you Elizabeth and Alyson!

Candace's Second-to-Last Day and GE Lighting Ceremony

Buddies :)

Fun was had by all!

Here is a sneak peak at what had to be cropped out for our Christmas card - Anna's memorable flashing of tights, and no shoes (Dora tennies were worn for the rest of the party b/c of some dress shoe confusion)!

Thank you Uncle Steve!

These cute kitties are Pounce and Snip!

(Anna sometimes calls them Bounce and Snap)

The Girls!

Masterpiece!

When I found myself offering Anna a show and she said "no thanks", instead of the reverse, I thought we should do something fun! Notice the stylish art smock -- from when I was a little girl!

Carla Smily Mae

Thank you Aunt Lori!

Our new friends -- Hal and Holly :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The turkey and the party of 26 wiped out Anna! We found her asleep on the couch in the midst of lots of noisy fun. She NEVER falls asleep like this! When she was full of energy 4 hours later and the crowd was gone, she helped herself to the pumpkin pie!

Thanks for coming to visit Grandma J!

We had so much fun with Grandma while Daddy was working on the bathroom. Grandma was so impressed that Anna made this house out of pebbles all by herself! There is even a roof top and a "stick" (chimney). Carla was sitting all by herself; she is getting pretty good...though Mommy was too scared to move too far away, especially with the hard floors! The one of both girls together is cute because it's fun to see any interaction between them; there isn't a lot yet. Check out Anna's new hair cut! Thank you Grandma for your great hair salon skills! Thanks for all of your help and your great company these last few days!

Let the bathroom renovations begin!

Rollie Pollie Ollie

Care Bears are a captive audience

Reading to her friends. So precious...

Happy Birthday Uncle Michael!

So very serious!

Loving Daddy and Mommy

So snuggly with Daddy.

Also, it was so cute how when she heard my (Mommy) voice, she smiled in her sleep...every time. I could barely get out what I wanted to say because each time I began speaking, she would grin :) And she didn't even wake up the whole time!

Happy, happy baby

Daddy and his girls

Dionisio's 4th Birthday Party!

Please click to enlarge!

It would be better if I matched everything up, and I will try to, but in the meantime, here is a photo of Carla at Dionisio's 4th birthday party, at nearly 4 months old, and it reminded me of an old photo of Anna on vacation in Cape Cod, at a little more than 4 months old!

Carla has a bit less hair, but I certainly see that they are sisters :)

Happy actual birthday Gramma and Dionisio!

Carla had her 4-month appointment a few days early. She is 14 lb 14 oz! Hard to believe, but she is smaller than Anna was. For some reason, we always think of Carla as so much bigger than Anna was...oh well. As Mike says, they are allowed to be different :) It was a really quick appointment - Carla is perfectly healthy. The big quote from the doctor to report is "Wow! She has great control!" Oh yeah, and immunizations apparently treat Carla well - she was in a super giddy, giggly mood, and all smiles the rest of the day, after FOUR shots and an oral vaccine!...and no Tylenol!

Click on collage to enlarge.

Gramma's birthday party!...whoops, no photos...how did that happen?

This girl is a crazy climber! (earlier)

Then she was so fussy at Gramma M's birthday party until Uncle Billy cuddled up and rocked her to sleep, soooo cute! Cozy Godfather and Goddaughter :)

A perfectly perfect day at the zoo

We went with Alana and Gabby and it was a gorgeous day! The picture of the sky was to try to remember the perfection. Anna was SO good - she walked the whole time, and we even hiked all the way up to the Primate House and back!...except to the car - last photo - when she finally collapsed into the stroller.

Click on collage to enlarge.

Dressing up as Daddy!

El Rodeo - Yum!

"More 'spicy' Daddy!"

Sisters playing!

Oh, they're really going to have so much fun together, you know, in the next month, year, decade...I'm so happy for them that they each have a sister :)

Cooing and Carving

Sometimes it's just easier and more fun to make a collage than to pick.

Better late than never :)

Spoooooooky!

Happy Halloween!