so many things to be thankful for...

AMAZING FAMILIES THAT LOVE US UNCONDITIONALLY...

ADORABLE, FUN NEPHEWS...

BEST FRIENDS TO LAUGH WITH...

THE LOVE OF A LIFETIME...

AND A GOD WHO SAVES... WE ARE SO BLESSED!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

first snow, EVER

Last Thursday, after a long night of parent/teacher conferences, I headed home to Morgantown. It was flurrying on the drive home and by the time I pulled into our house we had about a 1/2 inch of snow on the ground. I couldn't get my clothes changed fast enough because I knew this would be the first time Marley ever saw snow. After a quick change into warm clothes, we were off. Marley didn't know what to think at first. He sort of sniffed around and tried to figure out what all this white stuff was. Snow was coming down in huge flakes by this point and more and more snow was laying on the ground. This was when Marley really started having fun. He was jumping in the air trying to catch snowflakes in his mouth and rolling around in the snow. I threw snow at him and he thought it was just the best game ever. By the next morning, we had over 3 inches of snow on the ground! We were excited Marley liked the snow so much! Lets hope for lots more snowy days!

our first snow in Morgantown

Marley still not sure what to think

ahh, play time!

so cute

family photo shoot

I decided that this year I wanted to take some pictures of Aaron, Marley, and I and send out a photo Christmas card. Let me tell you... getting a 45 lb. hyper puppy to sit for a photo shoot is near impossible. hahaha here are the results... and thanks to kels for her picture taking skills ;)

what can i say? kels had a treat ...

great minus the finger... haha

the winner!

A long overdue thank you...

Some of my best childhood memories I remember through photos. Crazy outfits worn by kels, pictures of halloween when we were little, and of course pictures of my sisters and I in matching dresses. Every Christmas and Easter until I was about 10 my mom made Erika, Kelsey, and I matching dresses. It was always fun to help mom pick out the fabric and wear our pretty dresses on special holidays. Everyone at church waited to see what my mom would come up with next. Since then, I have turned to my mom to make me clothes, bedding, fix Aarons pants, hem my pants, etc. She is always trying to get me to sew... but I'm not the seamstress she is. When we moved into our house, she told us she wanted to make us a quilt for our bedroom. So, when her and dad came to visit in June we spent a day running around Chester and Berks counties to find the perfect fabric for our quilt. My mom worked tirelessly on the quilt (and curtains, pillows, and bedskirt!) and had it done for me the beginning of August! It is beautiful and we LOVE it! Mom, thanks for the many gifts, but especially this one. We love you :)

pictures of mom's handiwork:

busy, busy fall

So I realize that it has been a solid 2 months since I've blogged about anything, but this has been one crazy fall! Since Labor Day weekend, Aaron and I haven't slowed down. The start of school, 3 trips to Pittsburgh, rugby, bible study, and training Marley has pretty much filled our plates. I never got to blog about our spectacular Labor Day weekend with my childhood (and still) best friends and their boyfriends. Alysa, John, Amy, and Craig ventured from Chicago and Pittsburgh to check out our new house and see Philadelphia. We had a blast!!!

all of us on the art museum steps

me, Alysa, and Amy

We have also made numerous trips to Pittsburgh to see Kelsey play in her last collegiate soccer games. She's been playing really well and the team is playing well too!

Check them out: http://www.geneva.edu/page/womenssoccer

It's also been really nice to see my (Kristen's) parents and finally make it to a Geneva homecoming. I got to play in the GWS alumni game and it reminded me how far from soccer shape I am! haha

me, Kels, and Mom at the Alumni game

The other thing we've really been focusing on this fall is training our pup Marley. He is a great dog but has a TON of energy. We've been working with Shannon who runs Polite Paws and he has come a long way. If you need a dog trainer and live in our area... call her! We've still got a long way to go but he is doing a lot better and enjoying our daily bike rides :)

Marley and me

One of these days, hopefully soon, life will slow down...

happy 25th birthday aaron!

hahaha how can you not love this man? :)

atlantic city

so, this week on thursday and friday, aaron and i were in atlantic city. Aaron had to do some work at the Borgata and, because of all the overtime he put in on a project earlier this summer, his company paid for us to stay over. So we got a sweet room overlooking the bay, a free hotel, and an awesome dinner at Wolfgang Puck.

the crazy hotel entryway

again

and again

aaron and the view from our room

our sweet shower

aaron and i (and my new haircut!)

sara and dougie

Last week our friends Sara Stevens and Doug Magee got married. Here are some pictures from the Sara's line dancing bachelorette party and from the wedding. Congrats friends!!!

sara's gettin hitched

my loves


my bef!

sara riding the bull

crazy!

sara and her dad... walking down the aisle

the happy couple

my love and i

instant family of four... make that five

A few weeks ago, Aaron and I got to watch our nephews Aidan and Ethan for the week. It was crazy :) But we loved it! While the boys were here, I was telling a friend on the phone that we had become an instant family of four... to which Aidan chimed in "family of five kiki -you forgot Marley!" We did everything from Chuck E Cheese and boating to cookouts and dirt biking. Yes, dirt biking, Aaron took both the boys out seperately and they loved it! We went swimming 3 different days... the boys are such waterbugs! Aidan and Ethan were both jumping off the diving board into "untle awin's" arms. The boys and Marley got along pretty well. With all of his crazy energy he can be intimidating but the boys told him "no mawlee dog!" when he jumped up or tried to take a chicken nugget ;) Marley got neutered and was at the vet's (or doggie doctor as we called it) overnight. When we went to pick him up, Ethan said... Mawlee dog we missed you. (it was the sweetest thing!) Erika and Todd (my sister and brother in law) came in for the weekend to see our new digs and pick up their boys. We had a great time out on the boat and just hanging out. Erika and Todd both got up on the wakeboard- it was impressive! And Aidan went out tubing with Todd. All in all it was a pretty fun week. We had a blast being a family of five with the boys! Here are some pictures from our adventures and from our weekend at the cottage before:

marley dog

ethan being cute

the boys on the dirt bike

the boys and mawlee dog watching diego

dad and ethan "floating"

kisses for bebe!

Aidan after floating down the river