Photo A Day- August 26

On Sundays, we usually get the special treat of having lunch with Granddaddy and Nana after church. Today we went to get soup... the super delicious crab chowder at Nantucket Grill! We always forget that Kenna loves soup, and don't order her her own, and then she ends up eating someone else's entire bowl. Thankfully Nana was willing to share! We're thankful for how frequently we get to see Granddaddy and Nana in this stage of our lives.

Beck's Birthday!

This year, celebrating Beckley's birthday provided us with our first trip to Marbles Kids' Museum, a great museum in downtown Raleigh that we've wanted to visit for awhile! We've heard everyone with kids Kenna's age talk about how amazing this museum is and what a fun experience for the kiddos. Unfortunately, Matt had a weekend class, but Kenna, Finn & I packed up and headed for a fun day downtown celebrating Beck's big day!

We started with cake and muffins at 10 am- what better way to start the day?! Happy 3rd birthday, Beckley!
Marbles was everything people had said and more. Kenna had a blast checking out all the kid-sized real-life play spaces, such as the pirate ship, grocery store checkout, veterinarian, and bank!
Her absolute favorite was the Wake Med sponsored mini-ambulance! I poked my head in the back several times to see her on the kid-sized stretcher, defibrillating the hearts of other kids and even herself! Actually, I was pretty amazed that she even knew that the defibrillator went on her chest, I'm not sure where she would have seen that anywhere else.
She was also very familiar with how to swaddle up the babies in their little kiddo-sized hospital buckets thanks to visiting the hospital when Finn was born!
Speaking of whom, Finn made it super easy on me by napping in the stroller the entire time we were there!
Papa just happened to be in town and was taking Evan on a special Papa/Evan trip to Marbles, so we met up with them to play for a little while in the Home Depot building area, and the matchbox car area!
What a great time! We can't wait to take Daddy to see Marbles, and it will be extra fun when Finn is big enough to play... and a very happy birthday to our Beckley boy!

Thanksgiving 2010!

I think I was clearly focused on the eating when it came to taking pictures of our Thanksgiving this year; I thought we only had one or two. Luckily, Matt was completely on the ball and got a picture of all the highlights!

Just when you thought playing in leaves might be a cliche that no one actually does anymore, you should have seen these two 2 year olds! Imagine being allowed to shriek and throw things and not get in trouble for it... 2 year old heaven!

Especially when Nana B. joins in and you have someone to throw the leaves AT... even better! I think she enjoyed it as much as the grandkids did!
As usual, Nana B. and Granddaddy cooked an unbelievable feast with all the classics! We were way to excited about digging in to take any pictures of the turkey, food, and pies. My favorite this year was definitely the egg noodles cooked in the turkey broth fresh from the baked turkey... yum! And the mashed potatoes. Um, and the stuffing. And the pie.

A Brogli tradition: gathering around the sales ads after eating to find all the bargains- Leanne and Nana B. are on a whole new level when it comes to finding the best deal! We love to eavesdrop and secretly get ideas for Christmas presents for each other.
While the boys played "ball" (men around the pool table- another Brogli tradition!) Kenna opened some awesome birthday presents from her sweet cousins, including a pack of new underpants! Guess we really will have to start potty training after all!

We came home late in the afternoon, still totally stuffed, and started working on making Thanksgiving dinner for my family! I also slacked and took no pictures at all except for this one Matt took of me cooking in the new birthday apron he got for me at a recent craft show:

And like mother, like daughter, Kenna had to have her own apron to help with the dishes:

Such a big helper!

We are so thankful for the families God has blessed us with, and the ability to be with them on holidays. We know that is not the case for everyone, and may not even be the case for us forever. God has given us so many blessings this year, big and small, and is really teaching is to have grateful hearts in the little things and how to rely on him more and more for his perfect provision. We're especially thankful this year to be anticipating our family getting a little bigger in just a few months!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Dinner!

Last week we went out for a family dinner to celebrate Nana B's birthday (which was actually this week, happy birthday!). We were going to try out a new Italian restaurant near Wakefield, and we got a call from Granddaddy right before we left the house... we were supposed to get there a little early and be ready to sing happy birthday because Nana was getting an extra special surprise birthday gift:

a new car!

The faces in this next photo are hilarious... Kenna is pointing at the car, Nana didn't realize right away that it was for her, and Sandy had driven up in it just minutes before she got there! (Granddaddy looks like maybe the surprise didn't quite go like he thought?)
After all the excitement, we went inside and enjoyed a delicious Italian-bistro style dinner and lots of fun cousin and grandparent time! Love these girly girls:
Check out that cheesy pizza!
A little mister also had a September birthday! Beckley boy turned 2 on September 10th!
Kenna enjoyed helping herself to Granddaddy's chicken parm and sweet tea... luckily he is always gracious enough to share!
Coloring with Nana B:
After dinner we each got to take a little spin in the parking lot in Nana B's new toy... Happy Birthday Nana B!

Happy Father's Day!

We had a great weekend this past weekend celebrating Matt's first Father's Day! We were able to spend some time at the pool and some time with each of our families. On Saturday we took Kenna to our neighborhood pool for the first time. We figured with how much she loves to kick and splash in the tub she would really love it, but we ended up getting there right around nap time so she was a little tired. The weather was perfect, warm but not immediate-sunburn-sunny, and we had a great time seeing our little water baby swim around!

Daddy and Kenna. She gets this intense little look on her face when she is kicking.

"Swimming" under Daddy's careful supervision!

Mommy and Kenna

Happy family!

Papa and Mimi went with us since they stayed with us at our house for the weekend. They were a big help getting Kenna fed and dressed Saturday morning so that we got to sleep in!

Getting dried off and warmed up!

I had a hard time thinking of what to do for Matt for Father's Day. I wanted to do something special since he had been so indulgent to me on Mother's Day. As it turned out, the best thing I could think to do was to make him breakfast in bed... and I mean "real" breakfast (sausage and eggs) not just cereal! (This is special coming from me since I am very much not a morning person, and got up early to cook it for him before Sunday school and church. He knows this is a sacrifice for me !) I decorated the plate with a few fresh strawberries and served it to him on a tray... I wanted to take a picture of it, but I was too concerned that I wouldn't get it all back upstairs before his alarm went off! We went to church together and enjoyed a great lunch with Matt's family. Later that evening, we snuggled up on the couch and watched some movies together just the three of us which is one of Matt's favorite things to do. (He's only not smiling because he's so serious about his movie-watching!)

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Time With Cousins!

On June 7th, 2009 our new sweet baby neice was born! Welcome to the world, Emerson Grace! Her proud Momma, Daddy, and big brother are all so happy that she's here!

I am so impressed with Alisa's birth story. Determined to experience every minute of this little one's arrival, especially since it was her second one and she had a better idea of what to expect, she had Emerson completely without any intervention or pain medication! What an accomplishment!
Baby Emm made her arrival just after midnight on the 7th! (Which made her Aunt happy, since Uncle Matt's birthday is on March 7th, and that will help me remember the right date!) She came home to a warm welcome from her big brother Evan... it's hard to believe that my own big brother now has TWO kiddos! We went to visit at the hospital, and I had to sneak Kenna up to see her... I couldn't stand to sit in the waiting room waiting for Matt to come back down! It will be so fun for Kenna to have another girl cousin, and just six months apart in age.

Kenna meeting her new cousin:

The four red-heads of the family!

This weekend, we got the opportunity to go to Matt's parents' beach house overnight with his whole family! It was a short trip, but a really fun time with all three cousins and two grand-dogs together! Nana B and Grandaddy stayed in to enjoy the kids so that we could have more time on the beach.

Kenna, 6 months, and Beckley, 8 months

Beckley is a busy boy on the move! Growing SO fast!

Ansley and Kenna... sweet girls!

Nana's girl is about to turn 5 this summer! That's hard for me to believe, especially since she was born just a few months before we got married... that means we're coming up on our 5th anniversary! Amazing!Granddaddy loves his silly girls!

Beckley enjoying a chocolate popsicle with his Mommy and Daddy... perfect beach food!
Even the grand-dogs, Bailey and Pontouf, had a great time! They know where to sit for a good chance of food scraps coming their way (it was some hotdog bun in this picture)!

The Broglis' house is RIGHT across the street from the beach. The weather was absolutely gorgeous until a late afternoon thunderstorm, and the ocean was chilly but nice and not too cold to swim! We took Kenna out on the beach to put her toes in the sand. She wasn't a huge fan of the water, but it was a little on the cold side for her. Maybe later in the summer when it is like bath water she will enjoy it more.

Ready for the beach!