Cousins

Hello friends and family!  Quick, time to get one more November post in there.  That will make it a staggering two posts!  I'm great at this blogging thing.  We've had a fun and busy November.  My parents came out for a visit and we went down to Phoenix for my cousin's wedding. I was so glad that Mom and Dad were willing to fly out to LA, rent a van, and make the 8-hour drive with two little boys in tow.  They were a huge help.  Thank you!  The drive went surprisingly well and the whole weekend was a blast.

Messing around in the hotel

Unfortunately, I was very slack about taking pictures at the wedding.  My camera battery died, but really, even up until that point I wasn't taking many pictures.  My mom, however, was more responsible, so most of the following pictures are hers.

Great Gramma and the boys

Early morning made better with Mom

Little stink was up at 5

Uncle Jason is congratulated on making partner

Our little family

The boys were such champions.  There were very few children at all the festivities, which is always a little nerve-wracking since your kids will stand out all the more if they're acting up.  Both Owen and Caelum were very well-behaved.  Caelum slept during a good portion of the rehearsal dinner and the ceremony, and Owen was well entertained by everything going on and the multitude of relatives.

Waiting in the lobby before the wedding

At the actual ceremony, Zach rocked Caelum to sleep as it was beginning, and he (Caelum) slept through a good portion of the reception.  Uncle Mike and other family members passed him around for most of the reception.  Owen loooooooved the quartet and watched them play for the entirety of the cocktail hour.  That kid has some musical genes in him for sure (Thanks Queenie!).   During the reception, Owen had lots of yummy food, a special toy bag from my cousin, dancing, music, and the promise of cake to encourage him to behave.  The boys did so well that we were able to stay much longer than anticipated...10!  I even got a couple dances in with Zach, who was looking fly in his new suit. 

Perfect timing

Kristin, looking beautiful

My cousin Katie and I

Aunt Sandy, Uncle Ted, Gramma, Aunt Char, and my mom (only one of my mom's siblings was missing)

Jason and I, so awkward

Caelum being punished

Owen = enthralled

"Owen, move sweetie."

Jason entertaining Owen

Aunt Sandy finally gets Caelum from Uncle Mike, who held him most of the time

 

My mom's cousin

So sweet

I love Caelum's little face in this picture

Aren't I such a Mom?  My entire recap of the wedding revolves around how my kids behaved! Other than that, I will say it was such fun to see so much of my family, especially Gramma Zembruski. It's crazy, but Zach hadn't seen most of those people since Joel's wedding when we had only been dating a few months.  And there was one family Zach had never met, so this was such a great opportunity for him to get better acquainted with my relatives and for me to show off my kids and husband.  Always a delight to get to see Jason and Katrina too.  Kristin, the bride, looked lovely and was glad that we made the trek down.  Owen has been asking to go back to the hotel, so I think he enjoyed the adventure as well.

Getting ready to leave the hotel.

Thanksgiving was also a delight.  I don't have any pictures to prove this.  A family at church offered to host two other families and us.  In the morning, Zach and Owen went on a long hike with the men from the families and Caelum and I had a quiet morning, just the two of us.  Dinner was great, and Caelum went to sleep in the pack and play at around 6:15.  Two of the girls there played with Owen the whole time, so that left Zach and I free to drink punch and play games.  It's hard to be far from family during the holidays, but we definitely had a great time despite this.

See you in December! Blogaphorically speaking.

Candy

 

Before it's been way too long and this post becomes irrelevant, I wanted to put up some Halloween pictures.  This is the first year we "did" Halloween with Owen, and he really enjoyed it.  We carved pumpkins, had dinner with our neighbors and then went trick or treating near the closest elementary school. All in all, it was a great Halloween.

Owen helped me draw the face on his pumpkin, then Zach cleaned and carved it.

He was pleased with the outcome.

Caelum's cute little pumpkin was baked, pureed, and fed to him.

Anna, Owen, and Zach pumpkins

Pumpkins on the stoop

At the last minute, I decided to dress Caelum up too.  Found a little black turtleneck in his drawer, and decided he'd be a little beatnik poet.  I then made him a quasi-beret and he quickly grew facial hair.

Caelum playing the little drum Zach made for him.

Owen was reluctant to don his costume, even though he was excited at the prospect of being Bob the Builder.  Zach finally cajoled him into it by playing some Bob the Builder while he dressed him. We picked up the shirt for $3 at Kohl's, he had the overalls, and Zach cut an old belt for the toolbelt. Cost effective.

Ready to start trick or treating

Once he understood how easy it was to get handfuls of candy, Owen was running from house to house. The combination of a small bucket and generous people resulted in what seemed to be lots of candy after only a few houses.  It was a perfect first outing for Owen.

The rest of us had fun too.

Attempted family picture.  Zach is snapping to try to get Caelum's attention. Also, the next night I saw a huge rat crawling out of my pumpkin, and Zach had heard it rustling in the bush as this picture was taken. Needless to say, our pumpkins were quickly tossed.  The rat went over to our neighbors' pumpkin the next night.