Getting Ready for the holidays and hanging with the Grandparents!

Like most Floridians, we get ready for the holidays by going to the beach. I still can't believe that we live down here. I am so not use to putting on sunscreen to do our outdoor decorations. I burn more yankee candles with the evergreen smell just to bring the Christmas scent into the air conditioning mix.

 

 

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving visiting family in SC. Jordan and Garrett had a blast with their cousins and the change in weather was nice. You would have thought that Garrett had not felt the cool weather before. (When we got him it was 20 below.) How quickly he forgets.

Jordan is playing in a local soccer league. It is hysterical to watch ... when she actually decides to play. (Stubborn) It has been a treat for me to get back on the soccer fields too. I have never taken more aspirin for muscle aches after a half hour practice with 3-4 year olds.

Both Jordan and Garrett are loving the festivities surrounding the holidays. This was the first time Garrett saw a Christmas tree. Needless to say, I have had to replace more ornaments this year then ever. In the morning, Garrett comes down the stairs and immediately shouts, "lights, lights." It has been fun walking the neighborhood in the evenings and seeing all the decorations. We spend considerable time hugging and kissing each blow up Santa and Snowman. We have sat on Santa's lap a few times already. Garrett is not so sure of this Santa thing, but Jordan is quick to hop on his lap and run down her list of wants.

We had a few things to celebrate this month. We celebrated Jordan's birthday last weekend with a family backyard BBQ. She loved the attention and had a blast celebrating a day just for her. The next afternoon we got Garrett Christened. He was so loud during the entire service. There were three other infants and loud Garrett. Fun! Garrett turns 2 next week. Hard to believe we have only had him only 8 months.

Best Grandparents EVER!!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year.

This holiday seems to be passing by so quickly. There always seems to be something that needs to get done. We have had the opportunity to spend some quality time with our families. After spending countless hours shopping, I have come to realize the importance of this time of year.

We hope you are all enjoying the festivities surrounding the holidays. It is a time to be TRULY thankful. It is nice to have a holiday full of flashy lights, good food and the laughter of children to remind us of our blessings.

Enjoy your holiday and please keep in touch!

Coming Down off the Sugar High!

Can't believe it is already November! It is hard to keep track of the months down here. The only thing that changes is the humidity (still hot). It is hard getting use to the Halloween season in the south where you are more likely to see plastic pumpkins in the yards due to the heat. The pumpkins in all of these photos are plastic!

We had a full October. We spent a long weekend at Sea World. Jordan is now just starting to get to the age where she is so animated and excited. She loved the giant jungle gym in the center of the park and watching Shamu swim with her new baby. She loved watching the mommy and the baby swimming together. Garrett's favorite was the Clydesdale horses and the bleachers... The horses were conveniently located next to their courtesy tent where they gave away free beer. We were more then happy to spend the day looking at just the horses.

A few weeks later we spent the weekend in Disney. It was blazing hot and while we tempted to make the experience as magical as possible, it seemed as though every ride we got on... Someone was getting sick nearby. Nothing like waiting in endless lines with two young kiddos and no cooler of adult drinks. I am sure Chris will highlight his moment there waiting in line to see Ariel. I have never seen him sweat so much. As luck would have it, Ariel took a "short" break. I thought Chris would pass out, but he prevailed for the love of his daughter and her all time favorite character. It was no surprise that once they FINALLY got to the front of the line to meet her, Jordan became riddled by fear and they left without seeing her. Go Figure.

Halloween was a highlight. Chris spent hours (ok days) on our decorations. The web turned out fantastic. Bernie the bug was a bit fragile much managed to make it through the season.

We felt very safe knowing we had a protective duo living with us. Jordan took her role as Batman very seriously. Chris completed their costume by making a Bat mobile out of our wagon. We had a small party on our driveway before trick or treating and we had Deborah and Gail with us to celebrate the sugar fest. Garrett picked up on the holiday very quickly. No surprise that he thought

that you ate the candy as you went. He was foaming at the mouth by the time we got home. Putting them

both to bed that night was a treat in itself.

We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with SC family and shortly there after we have their birthdays and Garrett is getting baptized.

On another note... We are officially on the waitlist for #3. I wish I could report that the process is smooth at the moment, but it seems to continue to have its challenges. We are hoping to be traveling

SUMMER 2007.

Hope you all enjoy the upcoming holidays... The Carey's

A September Update...

Greetings from the Keys! We spent a nice long weekend with the kids and our parents at a resort in the Keys a few weekends ago. We had a fantastic weekend relaxing. Well, at least Chris and I relaxed. We managed to get the chance do go on some solo runs together (ie. not pushing the double jogger). We even got out to do some SCUBA diving. It was so wonderful spending some quality time with our families together.

We had Jordan somewhat convinced there was a mermaid in the isolated pond the resort owned and she was certain that it was Ariel. She spent the weekend pretending that she was prince Eric and "Coach" and "Pop Pop" were gracious enough to play the role of Ariel when needed.

We have been preparing for the Halloween holiday. This is one of Jordan's favorite days. She has been trying on her costume daily. She is going to be Batman and Garrett is to be Robin. Decorations are going up all around the neighborhood and this lengthens our evening bike rides considerably. Jordan and Garrett have made friends with several creepy characters hanging in doorways and such. We have even gone as far as naming a few. "Rupert" lives across the street. It is so fun watching their faces... They believe everything is so real... Even when you remove the batteries.

Jordan is starting to play soccer this season. She is elated. She asks to play as soon as she gets home from school. She is turning 4 this December and it will be interesting watching her out on the fields. We have been working on not stopping the ball with our hands when playing. A hard concept for her. It was helpful buying her a pair of "magic" cleats and shin guards for the big season starter in a few weeks. It is amazing how much better things become to kids when you put "magic" or "special" in front of it. It still hasn't worked yet with vegetables.

We are heading north to meet Shamu. It will be nice to see their faces when they see the show and Shamu's size. Garrett is doing fantastic. He has no fear with water and is able to swim across the width of the pool. As mentioned before, he is our dare devil. He isn't afraid to jump from any height into the pool and loves the novelty of going swimming in the buff.

We made the decision to head back to Russia for a third (and last). We should be in over our heads by next summer or late next year. We are very excited to return to Russia and spend some time hopefully in a region that we have not yet visited. As you may know, Russia is a very special place to our family. We enjoy spending time in getting to experience the culture where our children came from.

On September 18th, we celebrated Jordan's third Gotcha day. I wish I could say that we celebrated the holiday with some Russian cuisine... But the fog has yet to lift for me in the kitchen and we stuck with some take out Chinese. Close enough.

Love to you all...