Merry Christmas!

Hope you're having a very merry Christmas. We woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground this AM as well as lots of presents under the tree. Gavin was pleased to find a new train under the tree -- the Pennsylvania Flyer. (I guess Santa was listening to his last minute wishes again this year!) Some of other hits included Molly's new doll from the movie Brave, and lots of legos and Native American playmobils for Gavin. Another fun surprise for Molly was a karaoke machine from Grammy and Gramps -- so fun!

The best part was getting to share this special day with their cousin Mallory. And, the kids can't wait to catch up with Max in two more days. Cousins are so fun! We can't wait to have a McCracken cousin in less than a month. Molly was really disappointed to hear that Santa didn't bring Baby McHeppen . . .

Hope you enjoy the pictures . . . Sending warm thoughts your way.

Love,

Jen, Rob, Gavin and Molly

 

 

Happy Halloween!

The kids were so excited to trick-or-treat this year.  We had a hard time keeping up with them and the rest of their buddies.  It was a mad dash between houses.  What a difference a year makes!  And despite the rain, they were able to come home with pumpkins nearly full of candy (sigh!). 

In case you need help telling their disguises, Gavin was Reds player Joey Votto and Molly was Cinderella.

Hello Kitty Party!

We celebrated Molly's birthday today.  We hosted a Hello Kitty party with 11 of Molly's friends from preschool and gymnastics. 

 

 

Here's some of the girls, which included THREE set of twins!

 

The party wouldn't have been complete without a pinata.  The boys helped us knock the candy out.



Pin the bow on Hello Kitty . . .

Our Hello Kitty favor bags.  Thank you for helping me with all the cutting, Rob!

 



Each girl got their own Hello Kitty bow.

 



 The pretty birthday girl in her Hello Kitty dress.

We love you, Molly!  You're the sweetest three year old girl we know!

Happy Birthday, Molly!

We celebrated Molly's third birthday a couple of weeks ago.  We had to sandwich our celebrations around Gavin's first soccer practice.  We started with cake and a few presents.

After soccer, we let Molly choose where we went for her birthday dinner.  She decided on the Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood.  The food is always yummy, but the highlight was having the waiters sing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese and then Molly got to ring the gong and rub the Buddha belly for good luck.

 

 

After dinner, we went home to open one last present . . . Molly was very excited to get her first American Girl doll from Mom and Dad.  We decided on McKenna, since she's a gymnast like Molly.  She was a BIG hit!

 



Molly's First Day(s) of School!

Molly started preschool two weeks ago.  She was very excited to be able to go to school where Gavin went last year.  The first day was just a one-hour trial, and she loved it!  No tears when mom dropped her off.  She's such a big girl!

 

On the second day, she was more than ready for Daddy to walk her to school.  What a sweet girl with a big smile!  We love you, Molly!

August Vacation

Our August vacation with the whole McCracken family was filled with beautiful mountains, cascading waterfalls, and Olympic hi-jinks in North Carolina.

The kids braved the Sliding Rock waterfall, which true to its name involved sliding down a slick rock into some pretty chilly mountain water.  It was quite a thrill for all of us, including Pops!

We also visited the Pisgah National Forest fish hatchery and fed the trout.

Another fun adventure was tubing down the Davidson River with Uncle Jon and Uncle Drew.  The kids are definitely up for more river sports.  Kayaking, here we come!

Wish I had a picture, but the highlight of our tubing trip was watching Uncle Jon chase beers down the river!  

On the last night, we held the McCracken Family Olympics complete with sprinting, swimming and throwing events.  Pictures to come, but here's a picture of Molly and Gavin with their well-earned gold medals from our Closing Ceremony.  What a great way to end the week!