Christmas 2010

Now that all the presents are unwrapped and all of the decorations have come down we're ready to sit down and blog about Christmas. This year we were in NJ along with 10 other McHughs, 3 Hodges, 2 Pacellis, and 1 Soon-To-Be-McHugh. The living quarters were tight, nap time and bed time were delicate operations, but in the end everyone survived and boy did the kids have fun together!!! We had the pleasure of meeting our beautiful niece Maggie for the first time, and Owen couldn't resist hugging and kissing her. A good sign for his soon-to-be little sister. Here are some highlights.

Gram bought the kids all matching outfits, but they couldn't quite keep it together for one good photograph.



By far the biggest highlight of Christmas day for Owen was his new play kitchen. It wasn't even a minute before he was pouring coffee, frying eggs, and baking in the oven!!! (Obviously all things he sees his mommy doing at home).



It brought us such joy to watch Owen spending so much time with his extended family. At this point he has mastered almost everyone's name, but its Aunt Amy who has captured his heart like no one else!





We hope that celebrating the birth of our Savior meant as much to you as it did to us, and that the first couple weeks of your New Year have gotten off to a blessed start.

Fall 2010 in Review

So, what to do when you haven't posted in nearly 2 months? Well, I figure just post a bunch of pictures, because that's really the best part, right? (Note: Owen's growing quite a healthy self-confidence in his physique as displayed in the last 2 photos)

Fall = Pumpkins = Lots of yummy food and fun!

I looooove anything pumpkin flavored. Who can resist a good pumpkin cookie or a nice slice of pumpkin bread!? Someone was giving away neck pumpkins at church the other day and said they worked well for baking. I had never actually cooked a pumpkin and baked with it before. I always bought pumpkin in a can. I decided to try it and planned to make a chocolate pumpkin cake out of it.
These days Owen loves to pretend to cook. He pulls out all of our pots and pans and spoons and just goes to town "cooking". If you ask him what he is cooking he with either say "apples" or "eggs". I let him pull a chair up to the counter and help me with the cake. He had the best time. We just might have sampled slightly too much batter. :)
The cake turned out really good. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com I am sort of obsessed with this website now. It has the best recipes and tons of reviews from people that have tried them. Yum!!

Wordless Wednesday

Latest Happenings......

The month of September has flown by! It is hard to believe summer is over and fall is underway. We started the month by taking a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my (Brynne's) family. It was such a fun time. Owen loved spending time with his Mimi, Pap Pap, Aunt Brit, Great Aunt Ellen and my cousins Tori and Ashley. Pap Pap bought Owen his first power tool set and he still plays with his tools constantly!! I am thankful for this new toy. :) O also got to take a slow ride around the yard on Pap Pap's quad. I am not sure who was more excited about this....Owen or Pap Pap?





The second weekend in September we traveled to Allentown, PA for Brian's first Marathon! I was SO proud of him. He trained so hard over the summer and did a GREAT job! We were joined by Bri's parents, his brother Chris and Chris' fiance Sarah. It was fun to cheer Brian on and hang out with family.

Later in the month Grandpa McHugh came for visitnwhile Grandma was in TX visiting Brian's brother and his wife. We went to a fall festival at a local farm. Owen had a great time going on a hay ride, feeding the animals and running around outside.

We were also visited by Grandma McHugh and Aunt Megan at different times during the month. It was fun to have them here! What a great way to end the summer and head into Fall!!

Let's Go PSU!!!!!

We didn't actually get to watch the Penn State game today but we had fun wearing our gear! Our kids are destined to be Penn State fans..........

Yogurt :)

This is what happens when we let O "feed" himself his yogurt.........some days it is cleaner than others. Sometimes he gets tired of the spoon and just digs in with his hands. :)