Playdate with Friends

Addie Jack

Eme and Caden

Baby Lucy

This morning we met with the Bentleys and Fields to have an Xmas brunch. We can't believe how big all the kids have gotten. It is great to get together with all of them for this annual tradition. Thanks to Randy and Ali for hosting this year! We are looking forward to having another Field baby girl to celebrate with us next year! All these girls...Caden is going to have a lot of pretty girls to bring to prom some day!

Getting Ready For Xmas...

Caden showing off the Xmas tree he helped decorate.

Our first snow fall this year...although not a big one, both kids were excited to see snow this morning when they woke up!

Our happy little girl :-)

Kara and I at the Huntington Green Xmas Tree Lighting....Santa rode in on the fire truck so you know how excited we all were :-)

Caden saying "Cheese" for our new camera.

Sailey - Our Elf on the Shelf

We have been busy preparing for Xmas in the Mitchell household. Jay and I bought ourselves an early gift, a new camera, which we are very excited to capture the moments with the kids with this holiday season. Santa sent one of his elves to our house recently. Caden named him Sailey. Each night Sailey flies back to the North Pole to tell Santa if Caden and Addie have been naughty or nice that day. When he returns, he finds a new place to sit and Caden loves waking up to find Sailey, wherever he may be. This morning Caden found him on his dresser when he awoke. We also had our first snowfall last night....just a tiny one, but it helped to put us in the spirit of Xmas.

We were excited to see Santa ride in on the firetruck last weekend at our local tree lighting ceremony. Tomorrow morning Caden gets to be a sheep in our church Christmas pageant. We have decorated our tree and hung lights outside. Now we are just waiting for the big day. Caden is so excited this year and it is really cute to see. Addie doesn't really understand what all the craziness is about just yet. But she is running around talking up a storm.

Happy Holidays!

As we prepare for the busy holiday season, we just wanted to send happy holiday wishes to all our friends and family. The holidays feel different this year for me. I don't know if it is because we are getting older and wiser or if there is some other reason. But it means more to Jay and I to be with those we love this holiday season than ever before. Caden is bringing so much excitement into our home during this time. And somehow I don't seem worried about all the stress that comes along with Christmas usually...shopping, cooking, paying bills, etc.

I guess that I feel more at peace this year, and I can really feel God working in our lives. Caden will be a lamb in our church Christmas Pageant this weekend, and we are very excited to see him up there, even if all he has to do is say "Baaa." We are truly blessed by our beautiful children and all the happiness we find in each other each day. It is all about the little moments.

Christmas this year will be special, because Jason's grandmother, Frannie, has been sick for a while and it could possibly be our last Christmas with her. We are looking forward to sharing some happy memories with her before her time is up here on Earth. My dad had a pacemaker put in just before Thanksgiving and the realization that our parents aren't getting any younger is scary.

So I guess my message to everyone is: Live each day to the fullest. You never know what the future will hold or what surprises may be brought to you. Hold onto each day and live as if it were your last. Don't forget to count your blessings and be thankful for what you have. I hope that you all find peace within and many blessings this holiday season. May God bless you all.

Happy Halloween!!

Our little giraffe taking a break from dancing.
Caden and Addie with their cousins, Lily and Ava

Fireman Mitchell #2

Kim and Jim, our newest neighbors. We are so excited to have them living so close to us now. Caden and Addie love playing with their cousins, Lily and Ava, whenever they can.

Addie with her Godmother, Kelly.

The crazy Kimball clan!

The Mitchell's Annual Halloween Bash was back this year! We enjoyed having a smaller party this year with our closest family and friends. It was great to be able to socialize with everyone instead of spending all our time in the kitchen! We enjoyed the towering inferno in our outdoor fire pit. The costumes were great...prizes were awarded as usual. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Grampy Mark dressed in his usual drag and was certainly the life of the party. Caden has requested that he never dress like that again :-) We hope everyone had fun, and we are already looking forward to next year's bash!

On Halloween night we finally managed to get Addie into her giraffe costume without throwing a fit. Of course, Caden never wanted to take his costume off. We went to Trick or Trunk as usual. Caden helped Daddy decorate a firetruck with our firehouse friends. Then Addie danced the night away when the DJ started playing. She cried when it was time to leave. I think she is going to have dancing feet like her Auntie Kara. Between Kara and my cousin, Kim, she will be a fabulous dancer, but for now we will just enjoy her rendition of the chicken dance, which is quite hilarious.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Fall Fun

Addie was so anxious to hop in the bath one night that she jumped in with her clothes on!

Hmmm...how do we know which one to pick?

I want to take this one home!

Always take time to stop and smell the flowers.

Jay at the Truck Rodeo

Addie chomping on apple cider donuts...yum, yum!

Caden at Beardsley Orchard - I think he had more fun running around with Auntie Kara than he did picking the apples.

Just wanted to post some fun pictures. We have had a great fall season and can't believe it is November already! We have been quite busy. Jay entered a Truck Rodeo with the fire department and won several awards for driving a firetruck through an obstacle course. He took home the 2nd place overall and best rookie driver trophies! We had fun watching him and are very proud of all he puts into being a volunteer fireman. Go Daddy!

Our favorite fall activities are apple and pumpkin picking with the kids. We went to Beardsley Cider Mill and Orchard in September for apples. It was our first time there and we really enjoyed it...in fact we went back a few weeks later, too. The kids loved picking the apples and eating the warm and yummy apple cider donuts. We even got to watch them make the cider. A few weeks later we went to Jones Farm Pumpkin Seed Hill to pick some pumpkins. Caden had a blast on a hay ride, too. Hope everyone enjoyed their fall season as much as we did!

Summer Fun is Done!

Caden and Addie at an Apple Festival - yummy!

Caden's newest addition to our dress up gear. If Daddy gets called to a fire call, Caden pretends he is on one, too...full gear and all!

Not quite ready to cut Addie's hair yet so instead we just stick it on top of her head so we can still see those beautiful blue eyes!

Caden on his first day of preschool - He was very excited and had a great day!

Daddy having some fun with bathtime hairdos

Hi Everyone!

Well back to school it is for Mommy and the kids. Caden began his first day of preschool recently and Addie started at the same school in the infant program. All is going well except our little Addie is a piranha and has been biting her friends. We are hoping this is a stage she will quickly pass through. It is no fun picking her up and getting a bad report!

Our weeks have been flying by now that Mommy and Daddy are back at work and both kids are back at school. Addie is walking all over the place. She has a small vocabulary consisting of words like..."Mama, Dadda, pretty, quack, quack, moo, woof, fishie, baby, and cheese." Caden is growing up too fast, still loves Legos and is officially potty trained with no accidents in a long time :-)

We are excited to feel the cool air of fall after the hot and humid summer we had here. Today I took the kids to an Apple Festival and it was a glorious day. While I looked at some crafts, the kids were happy chomping on some cortland apples. This is definitely my favorite season in CT and I can't wait to watch the leaves change and fall. We hope that you get to enjoy the beauty of the season, too.

Poconos

Caden getting ready to go fishing.

Addie had some trouble sleeping the first few days. If she was in a room with someone, she would wake up and want to play at the crack of dawn...so after the first few nights of that, she ended up sleeping in the loft all by herself. This is her peeking over the edge of the railing to let us all know she was there :-)

Easy transport to and from the pool

Look at me....I'm a big girl now...still not walking yet, though - any day now!

Caden loves swimming, especially with Daddy.

Patiently waiting for a fish....

Daddy is proud of his catch. He caught a bigger one than that but it hopped back into the water before we could get a picture!

And Caden caught his first fish....but was not as happy as Daddy!

The last week of June, we ventured to Pocono Pines, Pa to stay in a house we rented for the week called "The Lodge" at Lake Naomi. We had a great time. It was warm a few days and chilly some other days. Needless to say, we didn't come home with the tans we wanted, but we did have a lot of fun. Gammy, Gampy and Auntie Kara came with us. Caden, Gampy and Jay enjoyed fishing often. Caden caught his first fish ever, which was exciting at first...until he came out of the water :-) The girls enjoyed shopping at the nearby outlets. We visited a great zoo one day, but mostly just enjoyed the relaxation and quiet of the lake community.

Soccer and Rainbows

Last week, Caden took part in a soccer camp for three-year-olds. He had a great time running around and we hope that maybe he will have a future in soccer :-) While he ran around playing, Addie showed off her new "cheesey" smile. The camp took place in the same town that Jay works in, so we were excited to have Daddy stop by and surprise us to play with Caden.

We have had lots of thunderstorms lately, and one day they brought a rainbow with them....that went right over our front yard. Caden says that "God makes rainbows." And we have to agree with him. Hope you all get to experience a little bit of God's beauty this summer, too.

Cruise Night

As many of you know, we have a Ford 1966 Galaxie that Jason's father or Poppi as he is now known as, passed onto Jay when he turned 21 years old. It has been a work in progress, but slowly and surely, it still runs and we get to enjoy it once the warm weather arrives. This year is extra special because we managed to fit two car seats in the back and take both Caden and Addie for a cruise night. We went to dinner and then ventured over to a local antique car show and had some ice cream. As you can see, Caden and Addie were thrilled to be riding with the top down. Addie held her mouth open the whole time catching the air. Caden yelled "This is ridiculous!" and "Go faster, daddy!" as we drove along. We hope to enjoy many more moments like this in the Galaxie as the kids grow. Maybe we can even drive them to prom or their weddings in it someday.

Happy Birthday Addie!!!

Adelaide turned one on May 15th. We cannot believe it has been a year since her birth. I found myself thinking back to the joy I was feeling the day she was born a lot on her birthday. What an amazing blessing from God to have not one, but two healthy and happy children. They bring happiness into our lives like we have never known. So all that pain delivering them without any drugs was worth it!

We had a celebration with some of our family and friends on her birthday. Jay and I continued with our tradition of baking and decorating a birthday cake...a butterfly for our little princess this time. I hope we don't run out of ideas by the time they are both 16! As you can see above, the cake was a hit with Addie. We even had to give her a bath when she was all done. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us. We had a great time and look forward to sharing many more birthdays with everyone.