VanDusseldorp Family Pictures

In addition to the Eastwood/VanDusseldorp family photos, we also did our annual photos with the VanDusseldorp family. This year we used Jayne Jansen Photography. Jayne did a wonderful job! We chose a spot in DeKovand Park. The colors were perfect and the weather was great! 

Here are a few of my favorites from that day.

The two who started all of this! 

Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grandchildren. 

  

My favorite from the day. I love these kids!

SILS!

The handsome VanDusseldorp men.

We always look forward to comparing last year's photos to the current year. Last year we had two infants in our photos and this year show how much all of the cousins have grown. They are such a great group of kids and Jayne did a great job capturing that. 

The Hebert/Wilson/Eastwood/VanDusseldorp Family Photos

Two years ago, as a gift for Mother's Day, we gave my Grandma an IOU for a family photo session. And yes, more than two years, we finally delivered!

We met a fellow-photographer at Observatory Park on a nice fall morning! 

Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot. 

My Mom and Dad.

Four generations. Grandma, her daughters, granddaughter, and great-grandaughters.

This photo was recreated from a shoot two years prior. 

My little brother and I! 

The whole family (back to front, left to right): Uncle Ron, Aunt Sharon, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Michael, Nathan and Abby, myself, Forest, and Elizabeth! 

I am so glad that we were finally able to get these done! 

Happy 9th Birthday Sweet Elizabeth!

I just wanted to share how blessed we are to have this little angel in our lives! Elizabeth turned eight over the weekend and even at eight, she continues to touch our hearts every day! 

Elizabeth truly has grown into a beautiful, smart,and caring girl. 

We are fortunate to have her in our lives and thank God for her health and happiness as she continues to grow! 

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! You are truly a blessing to many! We love you dearly!

Recalling Halloween

First of all, a quick disclaimer about my blog! I don't know where the year has gone! All of the sudden, Christmas is 13 days away and my mind is still trying to recoop from Halloween! 

Life is wonderful, but it's so crazy and busy. Writing my blog helps me to take it all in, even if it is two month post-event! 

I typically don't pay any mind to what the girls want to be for Halloween until the month of October. I think Abby changed her mind 52 times. It took staring a wall of costumes at the Halloween store to bring her to her final decision--Rapunzel. Elizabeth bounced back in forth between a few characters but had her mind set on Hermoine. Ya-Ya and Pops were able to find very fitting costumes for each of the girls! 

Pre-Halloween shenanigans at Target!

Halloween was on a Friday this year. Which meant for a busy day! We would attend school parties, go trick-or-treating, and attend the neighborhood chili cook-off. 

 Abigail's class party would be first. The preschoolers get to use the gym for their party! 

 Abby was pretty good at this ring-toss game! 

 Next, was Elizabeth's party. I am Head Room Parent for Elizabeth's class this year, so with help from other parents, I organized and threw the party. 

This is about as organized as a 2nd grade class picture can get on Halloween!
Yes, Mr. Olsen dressed as a woman for Halloween! One of the many reasons why we adore him!

There was so much food. I am always impressed by the support at Peabody! 

Max dressed as Harry Potter so we had to get a picture of the two together!

 One of the activities involved wrapping each other into mummies with toilet paper! The activity went over really well, but the classroom was covered in TP afterwards!

Abby made a beautiful Rapunzel! 

 And Elizabeth was one wicked-cook witch! 

  After classroom parties, we took to the streets with Caleb and Owen! Much like last year, Julie and I took the kids out while Nate and Dan handed out candy. 

After surviving two rounds of trick-or-treating, we all packed up and walked over to the Somer's house to enjoy the chili-cook off. We sat around the fire and enjoyed the company of our neighbors! 

Such a fun Halloween. I love the neighborhood traditions that we have become a part of! 

Abby has already changed her mind 16 times for her next Halloween costume :)

Racing for a Cure & Abby's Birthday Adventure: Part II

In year's past, we have celebrated Abby's Birthday with our family after The Race for the Cure.

We started downtown for the race! This was the first year in a long time that I was able to participate (in years past I always had to work at the restaurant). 

Mom and the girls made special hats for everybody to wear during the race.

Abby was the cutest little Birthday witch I've ever seen!

She's so eager to kick cancer's butt!

We weren't very successful at finding the beginning of the race we signed up for. We realized about 200 yards in that we began at the wrong starting line! Because walking the 5K was out of the question we turned right back around and joined one of the races...still not quite sure which one it was!

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Pops picked us up from downtown and we headed over to YaYas for some brunch and Birthday cake.

Oh, and of course, presents! 

Phew! That was a long weekend of birthday celebrations! 

A note from Mom & Dad: 

Dear Abby,

You are the most energetic, ambitious, loving, caring and bright little girl I know! You have grown so much in five short years. You have brought a lot of light into our family and we are thankful for every day that we have you in our lives. You have a kind heart and an ever-lasting love for your big sister! 

I hope that you had a wonderful birthday weekend and we look forward to another year of joy and excitement from you!

Love you so very much Abby-do!

Mom & Dad