Harper's Baptism Weekend

We were so blessed to have family and friends attend Harper's baptism on Sunday. The McDermott's made the long drive from Minnesota to be here for Harper's baptism (Josh and Brenda are her Godparents). Dylan was thrilled to have his cousins here for a few days. He had a ton of fun playing with Gabe and even Madison and Kaelin.

Carolyn, Kyle and Amie arrived on Friday and were able to make it to Dylan's baseball practice. I kept busy on Saturday making some of the food for the baptism lunch and the cake. Dana and Paul flew in from Chicago late Saturday afternoon and the McDermotts arrived a few hours later. Saturday night was busy at our house! It was great to have everyone together though!

Sunday morning was busy getting kids ready and the final food prep done. Harper did great at her baptism and just let out a small cry when her head was doused with water! Dylan and Gabe went to children's church  and had a good time making crafts.

Lunch and the afternoon were great (other than the ISU NCAA tournament loss :( even though the weather wasn't too great.

Monday morning, Carolyn, Kyle and Amie, and Paul and Dana headed back to the midwest. The McDermotts stayed in town for another day and a half, and while the weather was cold we managed to stay busy. We went to lunch at the Diners, Drive-In and Dives recommended Pizza Palace. We didn't know there wasn't any seating inside of the "palace", however we made do in the very roomy tahoe. The kids had a good time having a picnic in the back of the tahoe!

After lunch we made our way to Sweetwater and The Lost Sea. Dave, Dylan and I had been there about 3 years ago, but it was still a fun trip. Dylan didn't remember anything from our last visit (obviously) and Harper was happy just to look around and nap.

Dinner was at one of our favorite places, Chez Guevara and then to the McDermotts hotel so Dylan could hang out with his cousins and check out the water park. It was a long day, but a lot of fun. We don't get to see the McDermott family very often so it was great to catch up.

GSMNP

We went up to the mountains a few weeks ago. It was Harper's first trip and from what we could tell she had a great time! We had planned on having a picnic lunch at the Elkmont Picnic area just outside of Cades Cove, but it was super windy so Dylan and I walked around a little bit before having our picnic in the car. We saw quite a few deer and turkey when we drove through Cades Cove. Towards the end of the Cove we saw a few males locking antlers over a doe. We also stopped at one of the historic cabins and saw 4 or 5 deer up pretty close. We always make fun of the people who stop at take photos of deer, but this time we were just as bad as everyone else :) There were a ton of trees down as we drove in on Little River Road,(not really on the road, but on the sides of the road)we have been going up to the mountains every year for the past 7 years we have lived in Tennessee and have never seen so many trees down. I don't know if it was from all of the rain we have been getting or the ice storms we had in January, but there were so many trees down. You can see all of the downed trees in the last pictures on the slideshow.

A quick getaway

A few weeks ago Dave and I were lucky enough to take a short trip to Florida sans kids! Grandma Carolyn came to Knoxville to watch Harper and Dylan so Dave and I could head to Southwest Florida to visit Ed and Sharon.

We had such a great and relaxing time. We had great seafood (and other awesome meals cooked by Ed), went shopping, boating, and to the beach. Dave golfed with Ed and Sharon, I got a nap in every day and we even made it out to see a Journey tribute band.

It was sooo nice to be able to get a few nights of uninterrupted sleep and not worry about what the kids were doing! We were really in need of a break!

 

Christmas 2012 Slideshow!

Harper!

She's here!

Harper Elizabeth Vannier
November 2, 2012
12:39pm
7.5 lbs
20"

We made it home from the hospital on Monday afternoon. Dylan has been a great big brother, helping out when he can. He loves to "pet" her head and sings Rock-a-bye Baby to her when she cries.
My recovery is going well. I think I only have another night or two of sleeping in the recliner!
I know everyone says all babies are different and Harper and Dylan are certainly proving that true. While Dylan stuck to the same eating schedule for two months (every two hours, it was awful). Harper eats every 3 or 4 hours and then will some times eat every hour. She sleeps pretty well and we are hoping that will continue to improve!
We have had a few visitors since we have been home and Dave was lucky enough to be able to stay home for a week after Harper arrived and Grandma Carolyn has been here since before we went to the hospital. She has been a great help taking care of Dylan, taking him to gymnastics, school and other activities. My mom will be here next week and say for a week and then my dad will be here in December. We are also excited to have Dave's cousin Brenda coming to stay with us the first week I go back to work in January!
If you haven't stopped by to visit and want to let us know! We love having visitors!
Here is a slideshow of photos from the past week.

Dylan's 4th Birthday Party!

Dylan had such a great time at his birthday party. A few of his friends from daycare came over for the party as well as his good friends Brandon and Andrew. We also had a few little ones and our neighbors, so there were lots of kids running around the house in addition to the 10 adults. The kids stayed busy playing in the new playroom, shooting baskets at Dylan's new basketball hoop, riding bikes and trikes down our hill and running around the yard.

I made Dylan's birthday cake again this year. He loves superheros as most boys do and his favorites are Spiderman and Batman. I found some cake inspiration on pinterest and went from there. I think the cake turned out pretty good, however, I didn't center it very well and it's a little lopsided, but other than those two issues I was happy with it.

He ripped through his presents in record time and of course loved all of them, especially his new Ironman and Captain America action figures, batman car and spiderman shooting webs.

A big thanks to all our friends and Dylan's that came to the party, you made his day!

Photos: Myrtle Beach & Marathon

Hot to Trot!

Dave and Andrew ran the annual Hot to Trot race in Knoxville on Thanksgiving morning. They both did awesome as usual. Dave finished 17th in his age group in the 10k and Andrew finished 4th in his age group in the 5k!

The Fair!

Last night Dave, Dylan and I headed to East Knoxville for the Tennessee Valley Fair! We were warned about heading over to the East side, but we survived unscathed and met some nice Iowans when we parked in their yard! (And we found out Dave had never heard of Clear Lake, Iowa, you know where Buddy Holly died, the Big Bopper. Really Mr. Music know it all, unbelievable!) We had a great time at the fair, and while it was small (I guess once you have been to the Iowa State Fair, all fairs seem small in comparison) it was still a blast. They had a lot of rides, and a lot of them were for little kids, so Dylan could ride on his own. He loved going on the swing with Dave and this morning he told me that the train was his favorite. We all rode the huge Ferris wheel and partook in corn dogs, chili cheese fries and a funnel cake. As you can see from the pictures below he also had a pretty good time on the motorcycle. Some of my favorite pictures are of Dave and Dylan on the swings and the carousal.

How to get even more Easter candy!

Have an Easter Egg Hunt! We had a great Easter Egg Hunt with our neighbhors. Dylan had lots of fun playing and hunting for eggs with Philppe and Camille!

"Easter Egg Hunt"

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Florida pictures

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