So this is the third year we’ve gone in for our holiday family photo shoot… the last two years have been “trying”… Molly would be ok for about 3 minutes, then have a meltdown.  Our expectations remained low for this year, but Molly surprised us… she was having a fun time in the studio and taking good direction from the photographer!  We couldn’t believe it!

We’re staying home for Christmas this year… we’ll have our “Christmas lobster” meal (one of our weird traditions) and just kick back and watch some holiday movies.  Oh yeah- and open gifts!  Molly is starting to comprehend the Santa thing, so we’ll leave some treats out for him.  Doug suggested some rum cake that we brought back from our vacation. 

Have a Merry CHRISTmas!

~ Erin

Sorry that we haven’t posted in a while… Doug and I just spent a week in lovely and warm Grand Cayman.  Ahhhh… sitting on the beach soaking up the sun… just a fading memory at this point!

We were scheduled to fly out of Bloomington last Tuesday morning.  But Monday night, I got an automated phone call from Delta, “Your flight has been cancelled…”  What?!  Apparently there was a big ice storm headed our way.  So we were able to change our flight so we could leave from Indianapolis, so we hopped in the Jeep on Monday night, said goodbye to Molly and the grandparents and took off on our great adventure.  Doug and I were last in the Caribbean almost 5 years ago, so no ice storm was going to get in our way!

We made it down to our destination just fine… the weather was about 85 every day… it was wonderful!  We spent time snorkeling, sitting on the beaches… Doug enjoyed a good Cuban cigar and some local Caybrew beer.  We had fun searching for shells on the shore and getting much-needed massages at a spa. Probably my favorite time was when we got to swim with stingrays… seriously!  I was kind of freaked out at first, but then calmed down when I realized they weren’t going to hurt me!  Doug actually kissed one… ewww!  Doug seemed to enjoy zooming around on his wave-runner at Rum Point.  My little daredevil!

We stayed at the very affordable and accomodating Turtle Nest Inn and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great place to stay in the Caymans!  Check out pics in our vacation photo album.

Coming home was tough… we knew it had snowed while we were away, so had to put on the socks and shoes and say goodbye to our toes.    Very depressing! 

A extra special thanks to Doug’s parents and my parents for agreeing to watch Molly while we were away… sounds like she was a good kid and cooperated most of the time.  We could truly relax knowing she was in good hands.

~ Erin

What a whirlwind Saturday we had!

We were scheduled to see Santa at 9am, so we made sure to get there!  Molly wasn’t scared this year, so that was a good thing!  She really liked the big Christmas tree behind Santa, too.

It was icy and treacherous as we headed back home… the roads weren’t salted so it was a little scary as we slowly trekked to the house.  We were supposed to go to our family photo shoot later that morning but decided to reschedule due to the weather.  So instead, I decided it was time to make some gingerbread men.  Molly seemed eager to help, so I grabbed an apron and a stepstool and let her help out.  She got more flour on herself and on the floor than anything else, but she loved it and we had fun explaining the cookie-cutting steps to her!  (And she sure likes to eat the gingerbread men, too!)

Make sure to check out new photos in our November and December 2007 albums!

~ Erin