Finally Part 2 of 2008 Review

I know it has taken me a while to get to this but here it is. The conclusion to 2008!

The end of July brought on an addition to my family. My newest nephew Galen Alan was born on July 28, 2008.

Big brother Ethan holds his baby brother.

The end of August brought us to Jason's first day of Kindergarten. It was an exciting and emotional day for us.

Here he is holding a sign so I won't forget when his first day was.

September brought on the annual Bean Soup festival in my hometown.

Of course, let the holiday season begin with Halloween.

Grayson as Spiderman and Jason as Iron Man

Jason finished up his first season of soccer the first weekend of November.

Jason with his coach getting his soccer trophy.

I have no photos of Thanksgiving. We went to my mom's restaurant and cooked a huge dinner. It's probably the last holiday we will celebrate there so I really wish I had photos.

Gale, Ethan and Galen joined us for a train ride with Santa.

Jason and Grayson with Santa

I didn't post pics of Christmas because there are so many of them in a previous blog!

Hopefully 2009 will bring us many new adventures and lots of things to write about. Thanks to everyone who actually reads this blog. I hope you enjoy it.

2008 in Review - Part 1

Unfortunately 2008 began with the passing of Chris' mother on January 15th. She was one of the best mothers, mother-in-laws and grandmothers that anyone could ask for. She has been missed and will always be missed by anyone who even had the pleasure of meeting her. She had been battling lung cancer for over 4years. She had hope that she would overcome this disease and was strong the whole way to the end.

Charles, Lea and Grayson in 2005.

The year progressed and we celebrated Grayson's 3rd birthday! He wanted a Thomas themed party. I think I had to light his Thomas candle 4 times that day because he kept wanting us to sing to him so he could blow out the candle!

Grayson playing with his Thomas laptop.

Next brought on Easter. The kids put out their baskets and slept while the Easter Bunny filled them up.

The Easter baskets after the Bunny visited

In April we visited the Whitaker Center with friends.

Jason, his friend Matt and Grayson playing with the water.

We also visited Lake Tobias and rode the safari bus with some more friends.

Abigail, Jackson, Jason and Grayson

May brought on Jason's 5th birthday. He wanted his party at the bowling alley with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme.

Uncle Ed helping Jason blow out his candles with Grayson and Ethan trying to help.

June brought on a trip the Hershey's Chocolate World and a ride through the simulated factory tour. We also saw the Really Big 3D show, which was amusing.

Jason and Grayson on the factory tour.

In July, Jason started swimming lessons at Penn State Harrisburg. He proved to be quite the swimmer for his first time in swimming lessons.

Jason with his swimming instructor.

July also brought us back to Hershey for a fun day at Hershey Park.

Jason with the Reese Cup character.

And a trip to the PA State Museum for a Planetarium show and playing in the Curiosity Connection room.

Grayson picking apples from the apple tree.

We were way too busy last year to put it all in one blog. Look for part 2 coming soon!

Trains, trains, trains

On Saturday Chris and his dad took the boys to a train meet in King of Prussia. Traffic was apparently horrendous trying to get to the convention center. Since this train meet was very heavily advertised and more geared for kids than most train meets, it was somewhat busy. All of the boys had a good time though and the kids had a lot to talk about when they got home. I had a great day because I had worked overnight Friday night and I was able to sleep all day in a completely quiet house with no interruptions. It's a very rare thing!

Here are some pics from the day:

There was a room filled with track and trains

for the kids to play with.

The boys waiting for a train to come by on the track.