Riechmann Family

Decorations and Cupcakes!

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving we decorated our house for the Christmas season. We attempted to do as much as possible while Avery slept since I didn't think she'd be very helpful! We were able to accomplish quite a bit in that two hour window!!

My Lil' Angel

Braden with Baby Jesus from our nativity


Just a random bathtub shot of Avery. Haven't had one of those lately :)

Monday was my birthday, but since we had just had a sitter the weekend before, and we were going to need one soon enough for Dustin's company Christmas party, we opted to have a low-key celebration for my birthday. The lucky girl that I am, I had cupcakes from The Cup delivered to my door by the Rodgers Family as well as some brought home by my hubby! We had lots to enjoy!

Cheese! I'm 40 (just kidding :))

This looks as if I'm getting ready to extinguish the candles, but a millisecond after this was taken, Braden blew it out for me. Oh well, I hope he got his wish ;)

CUPCAKES!!!!!!

Thanksgiving 2011

We started in the early morning by heading over to visit Norbert in the nursing home on Thanksgiving. After that, we headed to Mimi and Papa's house to hang out. We ate lots of yummy appetizers, had a delicious dinner, and I sent the kids home with Dustin while I stayed at my parents' house so that Mom and I could get an early start on shopping on Black Friday!

Grandma and Grandpa Riechmann with the kids

Daddy and his girls!

Baby Ethan and Kendall

What a handsome little devil ;)

This and the following pictures will show how photogenic my family is...

At lease Addy and Amelia cooperated for this one!

Fun Times!

Here's a catch-up post for November.

Alayna and Kendall at the SIUE Family Fun event held in November. The daddies were away on their annual hunting trip, so we braved this outing!

At first, I didn't bring the stroller, then I remembered I have a crazy baby and went back out to get it!

What a sad face! He was having too much fun to leave!

Our handsome tiger cub scout!

These boys are growing up too fast ;) Can't beat a fake mustache! It was earned the hard way with tickets from Alphonso's at the soccer team's end of the season party!

Daddy pinning on Braden's bobcat badge!

One of the most fun nights!!! We ate at Bella Milano and then went to see Breaking Dawn Part 1 on opening night! I love these girls!!!!

Randy's Birthday!! We at at Peel...

then headed to Global Brew for some enormous beers!

The boys

Yet another crazy picture by my husband...could it be less flattering??

Cheers!

Kendall's Thanksgiving feast at school...look at all those natives!!

She was so proud of her "Thanksgiving Dress" as she called it!

Halloween!!

This Halloween has been a long time coming for our big kids! We ordered their costumes waaaay back in July (crazy, but I found a sale I couldn't resist!) and the costumes have been hanging in the closet ever since! We spent Halloween as we usually do, with the Rodgers family. We used to do two neighborhoods, but this year we stuck to one (theirs). We headed over, had some yummy chili, a photo with the whole gang, and then we set out to hit a few houses with the baby girls before Jaycie and I headed back to her house to hand out candy and let the babies play while the big kids got buckets of candy. In Edwardsville/Glen Carbon, we trick or treat the night before Halloween so that the crazy people can attend the parade. We're going to hold off on that event until we are stroller free (I hope).

Snow White

Double vision - Kendall and her mini-me

Two Harrys!

Cuteness to the 3rd power!

What a crew: Jackson, Braden, Avery, Mia, Emilia, Olivia, Reese, and Kendall

My girls and me :)

Our family Halloween 2011!

Take 2...

Take 32...

Take 42...we really shouldn't trust Dustin to take our picture!!

Halloween at Braden's school! We dressed up and came to watch the classes parade around the track. We had perfect weather!

Can you spot my little Harry Potter??

Jeff & Jenn's Wedding Weekend

Near the end of October, we traveled to Wichita, KS to be a part of our long-time friend's wedding. Jeff has been around since our SIUE days...around 12 years or so. He was a part of our big day over 10 years ago, so it was fitting that we'd travel that LONG, BORING journey across Missouri and half of Kansas to be a part of his! I've never been past Kansas City, MO (that I can remember...and I'm not counting when I was a baby and traveled to Colorado to visit Pike's Peak), so I wasn't exactly prepared for the nothingness that is Kansas. I experienced a toll road for the first time, and Dustin was a trooper and drove most (okay, the entire) way. We left on Friday morning (Thanks Mimi and Papa for watching the kids!!) and arrived that evening in time for checking in, changing clothes, and attending the rehearsal and dinner at a yummy restaurant that I couldn't tell you the name of. The next day was pretty relaxing since the wedding was in the evening. We slept in (a very rare occasion for us), went to breakfast, went for a walk, lounged around the hotel, and Dustin headed off around 2:00 to start the wedding festivities. I enjoyed some very rare "alone time" until the wedding that evening. We had a great time at the wedding and reception! We attended church at the Cathedral in downtown Wichita and then headed home. It was a LONG drive, but we were home by 6:30 to relieve Mimi and Papa (who were quite worn out from taking care of our kids for three whole days!).