We're back and we missed 14.5 inches of snow!

After a great week away from home, we certainly are glad to be back in Virginia Beach. It was so great to see our families and friends. We really did have a wonderful time.

Neighbors told us that we missed 14.5 inches of snow while we were gone. That's just fine by me. We saw our fair share in Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania:

• Speaking of snow
The girls took advantage of the snow and went sled-riding a few different times. Sophia and Nana went out on their own one day while I was trying to encourage Lilly to actually sleep in the toddler bed and not climb in and out of it for her entire hour of nap time. Will tried "snowboarding" down the hill on the sled (not shown here).

I don't think it snowed while we were there more than an inch, but freezing rain was falling when we left on Thursday.


• Family Photo
Since our family is as complete as it's going to be for a while we thought we would take a family photo. Meg completes the puzzle and rounds us out to 8 people and 2 dogs. Daniel is holding his dog, Piper, and Sadie didn't feel like posing. The dog sitting on the couch with Sophia is her Christmas present from Santa. She just knew he was going to bring her the "Fur Real Friends Doggie that has a purple and pink collar and a leash and it is white and you can take it for a walk". She was thrilled when she opened it up on Christmas morning. It was amazing to watch her face light up.


• Annual Cousin Photo
Here's a picture of Sophia and her oldest second cousin, Cole. He'll be 7 at the end of January. He was taller than Sophia in August when we visited, but now she's taller than he is. I knew she had a growth spurt!

Every year we get together with my cousins and their kids and we take a photo of all the kids. This year we really had to boogie through it because the kids were getting pretty antsy. One would be smiling and ready to go and the others would be off in la la land.

Here's the best one that I got. Cole is 2 weeks away from being 7. Sophia is 4 and 1/2, Rylee is 4 (turns 5 in September), Morgan is 3 and 1/2, Lilly is 2 and 1/2, and Kale is 1.


Notice that Lilly and Kale are holding hands. That was completely unplanned.

I predict we'll be adding to this picture soon. (Could be my cousin or even my brother).


• Other Fun Things
My Aunt Carole and I took the girls to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum one afternoon. We all had a great time. Sophia carefully inspected every last inch of the place. Lilly mostly asked to be held, but did warm up and by the time we got to the Water Room she was as comfortable as could be. Both of the girls quickly put on the provided rain jackets. We skipped the free Crocs sandals because the girls had their boots on and I honestly didn't think their feet would get wet. I was wrong. They got wet in spite of the rain jackets. I mean really wet: pant legs, socks, and sleeves.

We didn't have a camera with us the entire day, but I managed to get a few gritty ones with my phone.

Overall we got some cute photos.

We got to Grancy and Big Daddy's house on Thursday afternoon. It was their 39th anniversary and they decided to postpone celebrating to spend the evening with all of us. All of us included: Rob & Christina, Claire, Craig & Jonas, Will, me, Sophia & Lilly. Not included: Mike, Misty, Terra, Madeline & Jack. A great big family indeed!

It was Will's first time meeting "baby Jonas". That's what the girls call him. We all think he's an adorably handsome little guy. He's got a very laid back personality and it seems like he's happy all the time. Lucky parents!

Sophia was kind of obsessed with baby Jonas. At first she wanted to comfort him when he cried and by the end of our stay she was ready to hold him..and she did.

Grancy, Christina and I took the girls to see Tangled. It was a really cute Disney movie and I could literally hear Sophia's heart fall with disappointment when Rapunzel lost her long hair. Lilly stayed awake and quietly watched the whole movie. They ate popcorn and drank fruit punch. What else could they possibly have asked for?

A little quiet time, I guess.

After the movie we were supposed to drop Lilly off back at home with Will and then go to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. Sophia decided that she didn't want to go so she also stayed home with Will, but she played quietly by herself the entire time, I think.

On New Year's Eve we went over to Rob and Christina's townhouse to celebrate the new year with some of their friends. Will and I had a blast even though we were the "old couple". At some point in life I guess we all experience it. We were fitting right in so our experience will be a pleasant one to remember. We played Taboo. It was a riot and a lot of fun. Then the guys played Rock Bank for a while and then the ball dropped! We were out that night until 3:30am. For a couple of old-timers...I guess that's not too bad.

Here are some of my favorite shots from time spent in Northern VA. Here are the rest of the pictures.