Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Thanksgiving weekend as we did! Our 1st of 3 dinners was Wednesday night with my mom and it was as delicious as always. Most of these pictures are from that night and capture the true joy that Cameron and Kate experienced. Kate and Sawyer have always played well together but Kate and Cameron were not a close. That changed this week and they now seem to be the best of friends! The video of them doing 'flips' is great.

We enjoyed another great meal and visit with Ryan's Dad, Opal Ann, and the extended family on the Mardis side on Thursday in LaFollette. And if that wasn't enough traveling, we visited Ryan's mom this afternoon in Berea for a 3rd meal that was then followed by dinner with Janet and John. Needless to say we are full and ready to stay home for a few days.

Sunday will be filled with putting the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations so pictures of that will follow!
http://picasaweb.google.com/whitneymardis/ThanksgivingWeekend112708?authkey=UGxgahKKgcI#

Welcome Back April & Jon

After more than 3 years in Florida, my dear friend April and her husband Jon officially moved back to Louisville this weekend and we are so excited to have them both close again. This evening, Michele and her family (Will, William and Whitney) invited us, as well as the Kaufman's (Casey, Jennifer, John Riley, and Lucy) and April and Jon to their house for pizza, cupcakes, wine and beer. The kids had a blast playing downstairs in the playroom and we adults had a blast catching up on all that life entails! Speaking on behalf of all the girls, we are so excited to have April back and look forward to more girl time in the near future. It is amazing how fast time goes as Lucy is already almost 4 months old and it seems like she just arrived yesterday. I enjoyed holding her for over an hour and wish I could do it more. All the other kids are running around, talking, and often times fighting over the same toy. There was so much joy in the Barber's house tonight and I feel so lucky to have been part of it! I apologize for no pictures. We tried but didn't realize the cameria battery was dead...oh well! Guess we will just have to do it again soon :)

Happy Birthday Nana/Mom/Jo

Happy Birthday Nana!!! We all made the trip down to Berea this afternoon to spend the day with Ryan's mom for her birthday. As you can see from the pictures, it was a great trip. Kate and Ava had a ball playing together. We also had the opportunity to meet Jo's new friend, Michael. He was great and by the end of the day, Kate would even go to him...which means a lot since she is still quite shy. We hope Nana enjoyed her new gifts and we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2 weeks!

As all of you know who read this blog...my work schedule has be crazy since June. Luckily, this past week was the last week of travel until January 12th. I have been in Chicago or California 7 weeks in the past 4 months and it has taken its toll! Kate and Ryan have done so good without me! I am just glad to be back to enjoy a little normalacy again! I am a little tired of everytime I leave, Kate thinks I am going to Chicago...even when I am just running out to my car to get something.

This past week I did get a head start on Christmas shopping in Chicago. Kate started talking about Santa Claus this past week so needless to say, we are very excited for the holiday season this year. She knows Santa likes cookies and milk, has reindeer, and brings toys, specifically baby dolls! What joy it is to witness the holiday's through a child's eyes!

I hope everyone has a great week! We will enjoy a week of somewhat normal life!

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Cutest pictures ever...

Thought everyone would enjoy these random pictures! I am off to Chicago again so I will try and catch up via the blog sometime later this week!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! As you can see, sweet Kate was the Itsy Bitsy Spider last night and enjoyed every minute of it. She didn't want to put the costume on at first but ended up wearing it 3 different times to 3 different parties this week, without one complaint. Last night, we walked down to our neighbors house for a cookout/pot-luck. Kate and Grant enjoyed walking around their court and we enjoyed watching all the kids!

I made it back safe from California this week and as always, Ryan and Kate were great together while I was gone. She is becoming more of a mommy's girl now that I am gone so much but still handles me being away great. I brought her home a Donald Duck and a Goofy doll, which made her very happy. Luckily I only travel one more week and then I am home until Jan!!! YEAH.

I hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/whitneymardis/20081031HappyHalloween#