Happy Thanksgiving

As we've said before, this 24 day journey has included visits with more people than we can even list. We might try to list them when we get back, but we'd feel awfully guilty if we left someone out! Thanksgiving was a success in Massachusetts! With 18 people expected for dinner, and more for dessert, everyone spent the morning cleaning and preparing for company from near and far. No one was exempt from morning chores, well, maybe Zachary was but, hey, he's just learning how to use his little fingers! Will, Joey and Grandpa vacuumed all over the house while Grammie cooked up a storm in the kitchen. Will enjoyed his Thanksgiving meal and was pretty exhausted by the end of the night. Unfortunately, he spent much of today (the day after) sick and sleeping. He rallied his spirits by dinner time, though, and found the twinkle in his eyes...even though we don't like when he's sick, those extra cuddles and naps (with Mom or Dad) are definitely great!

In other news, did we mention the tee-pee? No, you say? Oh, well, Daddy and Uncle Joe set up the real tee-pee in the backyard the other day for Joey to play in. Turns out, Grammie was much more excited about it. Grammie's side of the family has Native American roots, so, when Daddy was little, he went to real pow-wows with his Grandpa and brother. They dug out the real tee-pee just in time for Thanksgiving. Which left Joey asking, "So...which are you...Pilgrim or Indian?" Last night, with the house so full and beds scarce, Grammie, Uncle Joe, and Joey braved the cold weather and slept in the tee-pee. Don't worry...it has a wood stove! We told you it was pretty authentic!

For those of you who have read this far...we are going to change the settings so that even people without accounts for blogger can comment. We'll see how this works out because so many people have said, "I read your blog!" during this trip, and we want to hear from you! Click on "comments" below each post to leave your two...or more....cents.

Massachusetts Part II

On Wednesday, we went to Borderland State Park in Easton, MA for a hike. Megan and Josh went there for their 2nd and 3rd dates, and Megan took Fenway there almost every day of Josh's first deployment. We went for a long hike and explored the fields, woods, rocks, ponds, and waterfalls. Will enjoyed throwing rocks into the water and eating lunch in the middle of the woods before he fell asleep on the way back to the car.

Grad School Friends

Will is such an advanced kid that he has already finished grad school, and he still has friends from grad school! You see, Megan, Jill and Maghan were all pregnant during grad school. Dom, Mairead, and Will were born in May 2007, July 2007, and August 2007! Ainsley is the older, more mature student from the pack. We got together with the kids on Monday and had a lot of fun watching them play for real, since they catch up on each other through pictures and blogs. Thanks to Caitlin, Lisa, Maghan, Jill, and Amy for getting together again!

Vermont Part I

With all the pictures we have from this trip, we can update the blog everyday for the rest of the year! After leaving the Maple Cake Farm on Sunday, we stopped off at The Round Robin Farm, which Josh's Uncle Steve and Aunt Pat own. They run a horse camp in the summer and own 19 horses, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and one old donkey named Daisy. The horses weren't too social, but Daisy was glad to have a pint sized visitor. Will was happy to meet Ruby, the dog, too. We were lucky that Will's godmother, Ashley, lives in Burlington, VT now, and she stopped by for a visit before her trip to Connecticut.

Vermont Weekend Slideshow

Great Nana's birthday party was a big success! The huge farmhouse in Randolph Center, Vermont was a perfect place to gather friends and family and celebrate Great Nana's 80th birthday. Here is a slideshow of the weekend; unfortunately; we are having trouble adding captions so you will have to use your imagination about what might be going on. Let's just say that Josh's Aunt Pat brought a big bag of "dress up" accessories. That might explain some of the pictures...and the others, well, don't you have a crazy family, too?

Leather, Crystal and Glass

Today is our 3rd anniversary. The traditional gifts are crystal and glass and the modern gift is leather. Josh is looking forward to 2 years from now, when picking out a card is easier because they come with the number 5 on them. 3 years sure has gone by fast/slow. Last week, Josh was convinced it was our 4th anniversary...what with all those deployments and a 1 year old. We're not sure what we're doing to celebrate today, but, thank you to everyone who helped us make it this far.

Happy 80th Birthday, Great Nana!

Saturday was Great Nana's 80th birthday. That is, Josh's Nana; Will's Great Nana. Family came from near and far to gather at the Maple Cake Farm in Vermont. The 200 acre farm with an amazing farmhouse was the perfect place for everyone to surprise Nana. You see, this surprise has been in the works for quite a while, but amazingly, Nana had no idea. She thought she was simply going out for a birthday lunch with a few family members. What a treat when she found out everyone had gathered for the whole weekend in her honor! More to come....

Party Prep

Now that the big secret is out, we can finally write about Great Nana's big 80th birthday bash which was this weekend in Vermont. Before we start posting pictures and stories from the party, here's a preview of the preparations on Friday. Grammie and Will worked very hard to make donuts (from scratch), but, no matter what they did, they couldn't seem to keep snitching hands from the tupperwear. Later, while everyone was eating pizza, Joey and Will fled to have some "big" cousin time.

Massachusetts Part I

Grandpa and Will read a bed time truck book last night

Playing on the back porch

Dad's cousin Chris came by to visit

Will was reading to Aunt Leah and Zack before bedtime

Phew. We've been in New England for umm...carry the one....let's see...oh, yes, 2 weeks now! Will is 15 months old today and the house sure is rockin'. Uncle Bob and Aunt Leah live here with cousin Zack who is 2 months old and this morning, Grandpa Joe came back from an early morning ride to the airport with Uncle Joe and cousin Joey (he's 6 years old!). By the way, "Joseph" is a popular name around here. It sure is busy around here and much to Will's delight, someone is always eating and willing to share with him.

Grammie and Grandpa have a piano which is probably Will's favorite thing next to the free flowing food policy. Somewhere along the lines, this boy got to be very musical. This morning, when Grandpa's cell phone rang, Will started shaking his hips and really dancing around to the beat of the cell phone. He's got some moves we've never seen before! Here are a few pictures from Massachusetts so far. We are sure to have more after this weekend's adventures.

Daddy and baby Zachary snoozin' away on the couch

Zack

Photo Shoot

Yesterday, we finally got to meet up with Michelle Carr for another photo shoot. We promised her that we would be much better clients this time around...since before, Megan was in labor, Josh was on the phone from Iraq, and Will didn't want to make an appearance. Can you believe that was 15 months ago? That's right! Will will be 15 months old tomorrow. Here's the link to Michelle's sneak peak. Since our original session was cancelled due to rain and now it's freezing cold outside, we improvised with an indoor/outdoor session at Stonehill College...where Megan went to college! Thanks to Michelle for her hard work and we can't wait to see the rest of the pictures!

Connecticut Part III

We sure had fun visiting Connecticut for 11 days! Despite being a California boy for most of his life, Will jumped right into fall weather and loved playing outside and going to playgrounds, parks, and on walks and hikes. Daddy let Will "run the bases" at the little league field today, but, it seems he was more interested in being a catcher. A lazy one, at that. Will was a little shocked to find that he was the exact height of the tunnel at the playground, so, even though he could walk into it, he couldn't get any farther because his head jammed against the top and he got stuck. He needed a little assistance getting out of that one! Thanks to Gram, Gramps, and Duncan for letting us stay with them for 11 days and feeding us delicious food. We will miss Connecticut!