Happy Thanksgiving!

Maren:
We celebrated Thanksgiving last week and my Pica and Grammie made their annual trek north.  We sure had a great weekend with them with lots of fun.  Thanksgiving day itself was wonderful of course... mommy made a really yummy dinner in the evening but we had lots of good appetizers during the day.  I thought it was pretty fun that I got to eat crackers, cheese, pickles, and veggies for lunch!  I could do that every day!  Uncle Frankie joined us for dinner and we had a really nice evening.  Mommy got me my very own bottle of apple cider... I felt like a princess drinking all of the bubbles!  On Thanksgiving day we went for a nice walk up the road before dinner.  It had been raining a lot and I found a really big puddle that I wanted to splash in.  Unfortunately, the mud was really deep, my boots got stuck and I fell over!  Brrrr! The water was cold! 
One day while they were here we went for a nice walk on one of the logging roads just up the hill from our property.  It has been really cold here (down to the low 20's at night) with some snow in the higher elevations.  There was quite a bit of snow where we went walking, at least in sections, with lots of frozen puddles for me to slip and slide on.  It was so beautiful and so much fun!  I also really loved cracking the ice on the puddles... it sounded like breaking glass!
The morning after Thanksgiving our resident Elf on a Shelf, Sparkle, returned for the season!  I was soooooo excited! The morning she came was so beautiful outside and she made everything around us sparkle too!  I went outside to explore and mommy looked out the window and found me licking the fence posts!  Luckily I didn't get splinters in my tongue! 

Maddox:
My first Thanksgiving was a hit.  Having Pica and Grammie around was really fun and I really liked chasing all of their doggies.  Pica played with me a lot... I especially liked it when he would toss me up in the air!  When he was done and would sit me down I would reach my arms back up as if to say "Do it again!"  Mommy planned dinner so that it would be right after my second nap and I joined everyone for the feast.  I really liked turkey and especially enjoyed chewing on one of the leg bones! 
I joined mommy, daddy, sissy, and Pica for the hike too even though it was super cold outside.  Mommy snuggled me into a snow suit. put me in the front pack, then zipped me up inside her coat.  I was snug as a bug in a rug!  We stopped in a nice sunny spot for a little rest and I got to get out and crawl around. 

A bunch of sillies!

Maren:
Things have been pretty dull around our house since Aunt CC and the boys left for home.  EVERYONE got super sick and so we have been laying low.  We did manage to get outside for a walk a couple of times which was a nice break.  Mommy says she is grooming me to be her hiking buddy while daddy is at work but I have a lot of training to do!  I get pretty worn out when we are walking up the big hills around our house.  That might be because I do lots of talking though.... :)
The other day I taught Maddox how to smear the windows really well.  It wasn't long before I had him giving me big kisses through the window and making faces like a champ.  Mommy just sat back and laughed at us because we were giggling like crazy! 
Next week is Thanksgiving and I am really excited for my Pica and Grammie to come.  I have made a calendar of things I am thankful for this month... there sure is a lot of wonderful things in my life!  

Maddox:
I have had some really bad luck in the health department lately.   Being young with no immune system is really no fun.  My cousins were sick while they were here and shared their cold with most of us in the house.  My Nonna and I seemed to be affected the most, then my mommy, my daddy, and my Nonno got sick.  Sissy was the only one to stay well.  I was a really miserable baby with a horrible cough and runny nose.  My sinuses were so overwhelmed that I had goopy stuff coming out my eyes!  Yuck!  Its really fun to rub my runny nose all over the windows! 
On a positive note... I have started pulling myself up on everything around me.  Mommy and daddy are pretty sure that I will be walking in no time!  Mommy especially loves to see my naked bum right before tubby time! 
We spent one day this last weekend over at Nonna and Nonno's new house to help them paint.  I don't think I was much help but I sure liked chewing on the brushes! 

More Cousins and a new set of legs (four of them!)

Maren:
The excitement in our house keeps on!  Just when my mommy gets our house back in order from one set of visitors another shows up!  It has been fantastic!  This last week my Auntie CC came to visit and she brought Hayden and Bubba!  My mommy was able to take a few days off when they were here and we had some great quality family time.  We didn't really have any huge adventures but lots of fun regardless.  The weather was beautiful and we spent lots of time playing on the property and running around.  We visited the park that is just down the road from Nonna and Nonno's new house and had a fire for hot dogs and smores... of course!  One day while they were here my cousin Bubba decided to push me around in the stroller and I thought it would be fun if he pushed me down the stairs on our back porch.  Mommy got me a protected in my helmet and told me to hang on tight.... then I got scared!  Good thing there were adults there to catch me! 
Right after they left a new little dog joined our family.  Much to the reluctance of my daddy, mommy fell in love with a career change dog from Dogs For the Deaf named Jasmine.  She is little and fluffy and super sweet to me and Maddox.  Daddy wasn't too fond of her name so she quickly was renamed to Jilly Bean!

Maddox:
Our house has been full of fun!  My Auntie CC came to visit this last week... I'm not sure I remembered her but it didn't take me long to snuggle right up because she sounds so much like my mommy.  I was still feeling pretty sick when she first got here so I was laying pretty low.  I had a bad case of the tummy bug and spent about 5 days vomiting and a week with horrible diarrhea.  No fun!
Our new doggie is lots of fun though.  Daddy isn't too happy about another doggie in the house but we think she is pretty sweet.  I really like to chew on her toys which really grosses my mommy out... silly dog brings me her toys, though, so what else am I supposed to do? She happily brings me her toys, drops them in my lap and then waits patiently for me to throw them. 

Happy Halloween!

Maren:
This last week was Halloween!  I really wanted to dress up like Elsa, of course, but when my mommy told me she would dress up too I changed my mind.  I really have a fascination with being married and falling in love so my mommy came up with a great idea.  I dressed up as a beautiful bride, wearing my Nonna's old wedding dress that she modified just for my size.  I carried a bouquet of flowers, orange of course, and I wore a beautiful veil and ring.  My mommy borrowed Pica's tuxedo and dressed up as my "broom"!  Mommy made a beard out of coffee grounds and we made quite a pair.  Mommy took me to my school party and helped out... we made bracelets, wrapped each other up like mummies, made ghost cookies, and colored.  We also sang songs at the end and I got to lead my class in the "Five Little Hot Dogs" song!  Later that night we met our good friends Miss Heather and Jace for a party at a local church.  Unfortunately the party was kinda boring so we had a quick pony ride and then went to Mexican food. 

Maddox:
Unfortunately I missed out on all of the festivities this week because I got really sick.  I started vomiting the day before Halloween and just felt plain yucky.  No pictures of me this week because of it!