Thanksgiving weekend visit with the Fischers.

This weekend Tony's friend Tim (from college) his wife Sara and their 3 kids

were back from Colorado for Thanksgiving. We were glad that

Tony decided to take a long weekend so we could visit with them.

Thanks to the hospitality of Tim's parents Bob and Sandy (which we

also enjoy over 4th of July every year) we had a great visit. Here are a few,

but not all, of the highlights.

Pilot (Tony) and co-pilot (Sean) have cleared us for departure.

It took some talking on the way home to get Sean to agree that it wasn't his turn

to drive.

Saying hi to one of the many trains along the way.
A small bird hit the window at the Fischer cabin, Tim helped

get it going again... Sean said hello.

Sean and Gabe dine on pizza after watching the Husker game with daddies.
On Saturday we went to Tim's dad's farm.

The kids watched Bob feed the cows.

Stanley loved Emma the farm dog... Unfortunately the feeling wasn't mutual.

Lainey, Sean and Stanley visit with the sheep.

Mommy and Sean checked in on a cow being nursed back

to health after hurting her leg.

Sean, who loves to drive, was in his glory driving the tractor.

Ryan joined us at the farm, however, he slept through the entire visit.

Here he is after we got back to the house.

A Cute Smile...

and a friendly reminder!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Annika poses while sharing a toy with her brother Austin and cousin Ryan.
Sean begrudgingly takes a time out from playing to pose

with Mommy and Ryan.

Just a little over 9 months old, Ryan isn't afraid to enjoy

a turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Grandma sets Jake, Sean and cousin Katie up with their own

table to not eat at!

These two were attentive to their movie as they were not stuffed

from the delicious Thanksgiving feast!

Bowling was the name of the game for the Staab family yesterday.

Despite having been sick on Monday afternoon, daddy took an afternoon off and we hit the alley!

Sean was in fine form... good release.
He patiently waits for his ball to make contact with the pin or (hopefully) pins!
Daddy takes care of some business as he, Sean and Ryan continue to wait for the ball

to make contact!

Daddy fancies himself quite the bowler...

could the bumpers have played a role in

his near perfect game?

Sean's eyes lit up when he saw a game with a steering wheel!

Good thing he doesn't know you can do more than sit in it!!

Mommy is noticeably absent from these pics. You can be sure that she did participate in the game... and she was terrible! Yes excuses could be made because of her wrist (which is in desperate need of a cortisone injection), but despite the help of the afore mentioned bumpers, she scored a dismal 88 a mere 20 some points more than Sean!!

The afternoon was rounded out by dinner at Applebee's. Sean dined on his favourite, chicken nuggets, with the surprising self selected side of applesauce (not french fries). Ryan dined on whatever daddy could or would put in front of him... chicken, steak, broccoli, zucchini, mashed potatoes. That kid is an eater!!!

I can't quite get the hang of this sippy cup thing...

but trying sure is fun!!

Ryan has had a busy few days. He was sick with the stomach flu... yuck.

He's teething.. top AND bottom two won't be long... I hope!

He has a cold... runny nose, watery eyes, cough.

He waves or at least extends for a high five!

AND last night he surfed along the edge of the bathtub waiting to get in!!

RYAN

What a colorful character!!

Ryan, I am happy to report is doing great. All of his test came back normal.

We've been giving him table food instead of baby food and he is loving it. Since

we started this he rarely spits up and is off all medications. That is a first since he was three weeks old.

He still has some sleep problems, probably from his early difficulties. He is getting better at settling down on his own. He also has problems with the bottle, mostly due to his nosy nature. If he sees or hears something

while drinking... forget it he's done! He is into everything. He has been pulling himself to a stand for about a month now, crawls everywhere and isn't afraid to explore. Lately, Stanley's dog food dishes have been a source of wonder. Anything electronic too... converters (loves em), phones (check), dvd player (oh ya gets them open), cd players (check, check)! A couple of days ago he was standing at the railing, doing his usual schtick (ya don't know how to spell that) holding with two hands... letting one go and turning as if to say "ya I can do it!", when he moves one hand down a rail and steps over. YIKES, I'm not ready for a walker yet. Oh and walkers... okay my Canadian friends and relatives don't freak out... as you may recall we own a walker. He is under constant supervision (trust me eagle eye mommy is on the case), but man does he whip around in that thing. So, Ryan, Goodtime Charlie, Baberoo, Munchkin, Ry Guy etc. is doing great. Thank you to everyone who has kept him (and our sanity) intheir thoughts and prayers.

Boys (at least my boys) do the craziest things!!

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car
Shh, Mommy I'm reading
I have no idea... but he loves to do this!
Sean loves to watch Mommy put on makeup...

apparently he thought he needed some to...

and he could do it himself. Click on this picture to get a closer look!

Halloween Hodge Podge

It isn't easy catching up after being gone for so long, so this is a mish mash of pictures from Halloween.

We attended a carnival and Grandma and Grandpa's church, Helgoth's Pumpkin Patch with the Vrbas' (Dave,Amy and Jack), Family Fun Night at the Event Centre (again with the Vrbas'.. no pics it was a mess) and trick or treating in the neighbourhood.

Captain Feathersword and Wags the Dog

The boys carving pumpkins






A Pumpkin among pumpkins
The Staab Family
The Vrbas Family
Collecting Pumpkins
I found some!!

The boys playing in the corn box
The costume that wasn't from last year... a favourite this year
Woof Woof
Ahoy there me hearties

Just me and my dog!

Is it just me or are Ryan and Stanley starting to look alike?

I think Stanley liked it better when he was only being attacked by the big one.

Look out World... I'm up on two feet and just itching to take off!!