Christmas at the Cabin

We try to make a tradition of getting away by ourselves after the extended family Christmas celebrations are over.  This year the 3 of us rented a cabin in southern Illinois near Carbondale and had a cozy little Christmas.

This might be the first picture I took with the new flash I got for Christmas (a Nikon SB 600 - thanks parents).

Joshua started opening his own presents while we were there.  Very fun to watch!

Family portrait.

It snowed while we were there.  We didn't really pack for that, but we tried to go sledding anyways.  It didn't go very well.

Nice gloves papa.

 

Elmo Party

We celebrated Joshua's second birthday with an Elmo party.

Missy made Elmo cupcakes.

A center piece in honor of Dorothy.

Alice

Adam and Isaac

Anthony

Megan and Ruth

Ben and Bailey

Lucas

Blowing out my candle (with a little help from mom)

Opening presents

I got a cool remote control car.

Daddy and me

Photo Contest

Here are the three pictures I entered in the black and white category of the annual photo contest at the Edwardsville Library.

Oh my goodness he is sweet!

I love how Joshua always makes his grandparents smile.

This one actually won. I think it is the directional lighting and the shadow on one side of his face that put it over the top. Thanks for your help little buddy!

Here is a link to the official results:
http://www.edwardsvillelibrary.org/misc/photo.html

Forrest Park and Zoo

We took advantage of a beautiful day today to get some fall pictures of our family and go to the zoo. It turns out that it was "Boo at the Zoo" day and it was really crowded. But we still had a great time.

A family portrait in Forrest Park.


and another one


on the way to our photo shoot...


hanging out with papa.


having a snack before we went to see the elephants.


A cooperative elephant getting his (or her) picture taken.


Lounging in my wagon at the end of the day.

Punkins!

So, our blog is again ridiculously out of date. Here are some pictures from a recent trip with Gramma and Grampa Dickson to an apple and pumpkin farm.

Having some lunch near a cool old truck.


Walking in the apple orchard.


It was getting close to nap time and I was sick of all these pumpkins.


OK, one more cute pose, but this is the last one.