Alright... a moment of slight motivation...

Okay... after being reminded of the blogosphere by an old friend today, I figured I should at least slap up a few shots to show we still exist! Here are a few shots from summer 2012. Smooches!

For the record, I am now a better blogger than Benj.... slacker.

Cormick's 4th Birthday Party:

Cormick had a monster theme for his birthday this year! Woohooo!!!!

Here are some pics:

Monsters everywhere!

Blow out the candles!

Frosting face: Not bad for eating a cupcake in one bite.

Cormick's nerd smile

Into the mowed dandelions!

Fun with balls...

I likes to party too... Now where are those cupcakes?
(Not going to tell you who is saying the quote.)

Look Cormick, kids your age CAN swing without being pushed...

Birthday Community Service Hour

Swingset: Ultimate Birthday Party Asset for Slacker Parents...

Casey, Jackson, and Abby McNellis

 This is as crafty as I get...

Pre-birthday set up for Musical Hoola Hoops and Monster Bean Bags!!!

Monster Cupcakes!!!
 Decorated by Pinterest Flunkies Brittnie and Ellen

Mom, you are interrupting serious play time.

WHOA!!!! Thanks Bean, Goon, and Evan!

Ben and I blast off to new worlds!

Cousinly Thoughts... A tale of Christmas

 

Cormick: "Ahhh... How I love this festive season!"

Abi: "Ah Crap... another one of these endless photo sessions with the tablecloth."

Evan: "Where the hell am I? All I remember was climbing into a large tube with wings... and now I'm dressed like a prisoner of Christmas and being held by this creepy elf!"

Cormick: "Abi... Your elbow is unpleasantly placed... Smile through the pain, smile through the pain!"

Abi: "Alert me when it's over"

Evan: "Seriously, Mom? Dad?!"

 

Cormick: "Let's just reposition you a bit here..."

Abi: "My parents hate me."

Evan: Silent horror as realization sets in that this is not ending any time soon.

 

Cormick: "Magical joy!!!"

Abi: "This new kid is now attempting to hold my hand. Sheesh. Are we done yet?"

Evan: "If I could just get a little closer to that window..."

 

 

Cormick: "Dreaming of sugar plums game face... check!"

Abi: "Checking out until this is over."

Evan: "Dude... if you could just attempt one cute smile, we might survive this experience."  

 

Cormick: "Mom! Abi is being difficult!!!"

Abi: "I'm out. Prepare for meltdown."

Evan: "Look, I am cute! I am cute!! Take picture now!"

The end.

Size doesn't matter... right?

SAWEEEEET! My Lion King figurines! Bakke Manchunky (our Elf on the Shelf) gave Santa my order!

Disclaimer: Santa cannot be held responsible for the size of actual figurines. Amazon.com made them look much larger. That speck he is placing on the table is Zazu.

Isis and Abi

OMG! Your head accessory is devine!

 

I know! This is sincerely shocking that this was not planned! Our mother's are clearly amazing!

Uncle Fred

My Uncle Fred passed away on the evening of December 16th. I love this picture (which I stole from Aine and Nick's slideshow... Thanks!!). Uncle Fred was always good for some excellent story swapping, talented grilling skills, and a genuine interest in the lives of his friends and relatives.
Although there have been many great times spent with Fred and my aunt Margie, I have two favorite memories. The first was from when I was in college. Margie and Fred would have Dan and I up to dinner fairly often and sometimes they would invite my cousin Maureen along as well. Whenever this would happen Fred would inevitably throw out some political bait in the conversation to see if Maureen would bite. Maureen and Fred had to be about a 180 as far as politics are concerned. After the gauntlet was thrown, Dan, Margie, and I would sit back and watch and listen to what can only be described as a great debate. I always enjoyed these evenings and left laughing.
The other wonderful thing I will always cherish is how much Fred loved and enjoyed hanging out with Cormick. Cormick was always excited to see Fred and especially enjoyed his whiskery hugs when it was time to part ways. 

He will be greatly missed!

 

Cormick posing with our family heirloom "The Head".  This delightful sculpture was created by my mother when she was in college. She actually received an A for painting an old chunk of wood. U of M should be proud of it's standards. As you can see, her art career was short lived, but "The Head" lives on! He was always in the bedroom my brother and I, and my cousin Jake slept in when visiting my grandpa's house in Butte. One day when we were much older, "The Head" was somehow brought up and we all shared stories of nightmares and sleepless nights we'd suffered due to it's presence. From that day forward, "The Head" is passed to signify important events in our lives. Unfortunately, Abi is 3 months younger than Evan, so we are stuck with it until Bean, Goon, Jake or Jen do something cool. I believe Jen will be graduating from med school within a year... a totally "headworthy" event!

What?! No Mom and Dad... Aunty Riggs, Grammy, and Grampa did not stuff my face with Baby Mum Mums when I woke up at 10pm so they could finish their card game. They were excellent babysitters!

Abs crashin the man couch.... (Yes, the furry one is Benj)

So... not as delightful of a pic when the flash is used... Evan and Abi gettin their drool on!

Cousins!

Santa's little helpers...

What a difference a year makes...

The following picture was taken on the 23rd of November 2010. It is a picture of our little Abigael Erin and her sibling George as 5 day old embryos. (George didn't stick, but he sure was cute... don't you think?...Not sure which one is which).

One year later.... (11/23/11)

It was a long, stressful, tough road full of frustrations, but in the end... we got quite a prize!

Go Griz!

Hey... we all matched, so I figured we better take a family pic. Then I went online and made our Christmas card! I realized after I ordered it, that I ordered post cards and failed to put our names on them... oops!

Pictures taken 11-18-11: Hard to believe that one year ago from this very moment I was a single cell in a petri dish! Proof that miracles do happen!

Yep... we look this cute every morning!

Grammy Toot (Mary) got me some boy boots this year! Woohoo!

Daddy and me chillin to the max.