St. Patty's Day Parade in Lawrence

Conner and I just had a blast in the St. Patty's day parade here in Lawrence.  One of the mom's from our playgroup is opening a new children's indoor play area in Lawrence and decided to enter a float in this years parade.  Conner has never made it to the St. Patty's parade and being one was a new experience as well.

helping to do last minute prep on the flaot

good looking float!

snack break!

Brett dropped us off for duty at about 12 we helped with the last minute details for the float.  One of the most awesome things ever (in the mind of a 3 year old) was that the float ahead of us was an old 1930s fire engine!!  The owner even let us sit on it before the parade got started.  As you might assume there is A LOT of waiting when you are in a parade.  To make the time go by faster Conner and I decided to explore and see some of the other float.  What should we find but a PIRATE SHIP!!!!

look mom! i'm a fire-fighter!

i'm never getting off! (see the green house in the back - he let all 10 kids use his bathrooms, wonderful man!!!)

is that a pirate ship? (he looks so casual - until the cannons fired and he jumped a foot in the air)

pirate conner!

The parade was FUN but long and while Conner rode and waved to the crowds, mom was on candy handout detail and walked the whole route.  Needless to say mom is a little tired while writing this post.

watching to making sure the trailer hitch stays attached to the truck (very important job!) 

I said Kiss Me I'm Irish - no mommy that's silly , i'm Conner, not Irish

I hope you all had a little luck of the Irish on such a wonderful day.

Christmas in Minnesota - where did all the snow go?

We all made it back up north this year for Christmas (all but Miranda and Jarrod - missed you guys).  We all had a great time but we missed the snow!!

the second generation of cousins on the Keyser porch swing has begun 

This year I finally finished the Christmas Stockings that I started working on almost 8 years ago.  I was able to make every new and old member of our wonderful large family a stocking.  And who knows if they will ever be all assembled together on mom and dad's wall again.

stockings for all, and for all a good night!

Conner had a great time playing with Jackson and Will - Conner loves babys!  He loves to hug them, they don't always like his huge hugs...

But we heard Santa Nana!!!

the three boys

This year "we" like candy canes - so much so that they were all move to the top of the tree to keep them out of someones little hands...

Santa brought the boys their first ice skates this year and Conner took to the ice wonderfully - like a MN pro! Like i said there was no snow but it true MN fashion is was COLD!  Cold enough for the ice rinks to have some good ice for the boys to practice.  In fact when we got home to Kansas, Conner wanted to know when we could go ice staking again.  Sadly its been too warm here for ice this year

I can do it myself mom - i don't need to hold my hands

so when can i go on the hockey rink with the big boys?

With the missing snow this year it left us with unseasonably warm weather, so we all took advantage and played in the wheelbarrows in Nana and Pappy's backyard.

cheese!!!!

hold on Jackson!!

Hi baby Will!

Thanksgiving Day Parade and visit with Grandma

This year we made it to Appleton a little earlier than normal and finally got to see the Thanksgiving Parade and the Santa Scamper.  It was cold! I think that living in Kansas these last eight years has "weakened my think northern blood".  I didn't think that Conner's eyes could get any bigger then they did at the end of the parade when a huge float with 3 hot air balloon tanks belching out flames that lit up the night sky!

We had a great time with Issac and Jace and finally got to meet the newest additional to the family - Seth and Roman.  It was a great vacation. Oh, and you can't forget Butchy! Conner loves to feed and hug Butchy whenever at Grandmas.  This year Conner wanted to take a picture of Butchy so he could love him from Kansas.

Long lost summer photos

As I was finally downloading the digital images off our camera...and yes they dated all the way back to October of last year...I came across some image I promised to share and never bothered to download.

Last year our trumpet vine was huge and had the most amazing flowers.  We daily saw hummingbirds feasting right outside our dinning room door.  I was finally able to capture one on video after it dive bombed my head heading for the sweet flowers.  We have set up a few more bird feeders and are looking forward to so backyard bird watching this summer.