The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

I'm trying to catch everyone up on our month of December! After school ended, the girls were in a Christmas play with some kids from the neighborhood. It was so sweet to see all the kids acting out the birth of our Savior. Our neighbor, Heather, got it all together...reserving the chapel at NPS, organizing the parts and holding rehersals. THANK YOU Heather! Everyone loved the afternoon performance.

Hannah Kate was one of the narrators. She did an excellent job reading her lines...and there were a lot of them! All 3 of the narrators did a great job re-telling the story of Mary & Joseph's travels & birth of Jesus... very proud of them all!

Caroline was an angel. She was too cute walking down the isle at the chapel to take her place among the nativity scene. Once she spotted Bama in the audience she really performed... waving, blowing kisses...etc... I think this picture is actually mid-wave :)

All the neighborhood kids wanted to be Mary...well the girls at least! Heather drew names out of a hat to assign the parts for the play and Madison was chosen to be Mary - and an excellent Mary she was!! She did a great job up on stage - coming in with the angel who told her she would have a child, coming to the Inn with Joseph and sitting with the little baby... it was all so sweet!

All the kindergarten neighbors - Jillian was the Inn Keeper's Wife, Madison as Mary and Jacqueline was the Christmas Star that lead the shepards & wise men to Jesus. They all did a great job playing their important roles!

OUR FAMILY My parents are here for Christmas and arrived 2 days before the play. The girls were so excited to have them here for the play! After the pageant was over we enjoyed snacks there at NPS. I was able to gather my 3 actors for a quick picture with the family! They all did a great job sharing the true Christmas Story... I love the joy they have!

Picture with Santa

Wow - so behind on the blog! I have neglected the blog since finding Facebook...thanks Cece! I guess I should replace the Thanksgiving background with something Christmas, but no time for that now. Just wanted to put a picture of the kiddos with Santa. We had them dressed to do a family picture on the beach after Thanksgiving. It was a slightly overcast day, but good for no squinty eyes in the sun... but the WIND was terrible! Couldn't open our eyes to take a picture! Off to the mall all dressed alike for some Chipotle for dinner. As we walked there was Santa waiting for some kiddos to take their picture...since it was only the day after Thanksgiving there was no line of kids! The girls were excited to see Santa, and Grayson really liked the facial hair... a little hard to get him to look at camera:) Hope you all are doing well & ready to celebrate the birth of our Lord & King! What a wonderful time of year!

We're on the move!

Grayson found his way up on all fours! Although he kicks along with his foot instead of his knee, it still gets him where he needs to go! Some of his favorite places are the DVD player and electrical cords... has not been the toy of choice with the girls, but we're not comparing:)

I don't know how Grayson can be 8 1/2 months old! We have gone from getting him up from his nap like this...
eyes peeking over the bumper ...

To a wild man trying to figure if he can flip over the railing! Time to lower the mattress for sure!

Once something grabs his attention... like a box of diapers... he works with determination to get to them no matter what. He's become so steady on his knees and moving around - no more little swaddled infant - he's into everything it seems! I know we forget from child to child, but he seems to be a little busier than the others - or just more determined to keep up!

Butterflies in Pacific Grove, CA

We went to see the butterflies in Pacific Grove. They travel about 1200 miles to get to the mild California climate. There is a Butterfly Sanctuary and butterflies everywhere! They stay here from October until February & are amazing! They know the correct temperature they need and adjust themselves in the trees to stay within the correct temperature. Amazes me that they know just where to go... any closer to the water & they'd be too cold. Amazes me too that they cluster together so nicely and hide themselves on the branches - when their wings are folded they look brownish, like a leaf! God knows how to design some amazing creatures!

Clustered along the end of the branch...

Zoomed in to see each little triangle is a butterfly!

So many butterflies! Each female can lay about 400 eggs each time - lots & lots of butterflies!

Halloween Night

We had such a fun Halloween here in CA! There was a chance of rain throughout the day... in a place that we've only seen rain but 2 times in our 3 months of living here! God held out for us and there was no rain - hooray! The girls had a fun day at school with parties & a dance outside on the playground area...lots of Hannah Montana songs - they had a ball. That evening we got together with some neighbors for some pizza before heading out to collect our treats.

Our time of having an input on what our children will be for Halloween has somewhat passed. My idea of a family theme costume was lost in one trip to Target! Everyone picked what they wanted...no more surfing the internet for that 'adorable' costume - Hannah Kate does not like adorable to be a word that describes her attire... she prefers hip & cool:)

The Halloween-ready Caseys

Madison was some star in "Camp Rock" Hannah Kate was an Army Diva Caroline was my pink horse (really a unicorn, but didn't go there with the explaination!) and Grayson was my horse while I dressed up in my Cheyenne, WY gear as the cowgirl... the only matching family members!

The Neighborhood Gang ready to go!We walked & walked around the neighborhood. It was so fun to have a good ol' fashioned Halloween - kids running throughout the neighborhood with little to no cars driving by and no worry of who's house we were going to...most everyone knows everyone. The girls made it around the loop while Daddy & Grayson passed out candy. The girls finished the loop then wanted to see who was coming by our house, so home we went to pass out candy.

Hannah-Kate & Madison pass out candy

Caroline checks out her goodies!

It dawned on me in the afternoon that I have yet to unpack their trick-or-treat bags. I did a quick look in the garage, but could not find them, so the girls were off with their pillow cases... just like their mommy did when she was little:) Once home again, Caroline was all set to dig into the treats... tested a few with only a couple of licks and chowed down on the good stuff until we put her into bed!

What's more fun that chillin' out with friends and watching a movie after trick-or-treating! Hannah Kate actually moved to the couch and fell asleep watching the movie - busy day for everyone!

Grayson Growing

Our little boy is getting bigger each day! I went in to get him up the other morning and he had both hands on the railing of his crib and was on his knees - oh my! He has not tried to pull himself up on anything so I was really surprised to find him in the crib that way.

Ed got him from his nap yesterday afternoon and he was sitting playing with a little toy. He was so surprised to see Daddy walk into the room:)!

Grayson Looking Surprised

He is so sweet - sitting playing with his little lamb... could just eat him up!

Halloween Morning!

His sisters are very excited that Grayson is sitting in his crib. Hannah Kate came running into my room to tell me, "Mommy, Grayson is sitting up again! He did it all by himself!" Grayson loves the attention he gets from his sisters - he is all smiles when they come into his room!

Chatting away to his sisters!

So now the days of finding Grayson lying on his back playing with his toes I guess are gone... maybe he'll surprise us from time to time and still be laying down peering over his bumper pad to see who is coming in to get him. These babies grow too fast!

Air Show

Wow - it has been a long time since I last posted! September flew by and October is doing the same...it will be Christmas before I know it!! The end of September we were able to see the Thunderbirds here in CA. There was a show out in Salinas that the whole family went to...not just me & the kids... daddy was there to help too!! Loved the show - loved sitting & enjoying the VIP tent without chasing kids around:) I am so thankful for the time we enjoyed on the Thunderbirds and all the air shows we went to, but I don't need to get back into that anytime soon!

Mommy & the girls in the VIP tent

There was a Thunderbird VIP tent which had the bare minimum - some shade, water and chairs. The team was nice to give us passes into the "President's Club" tent which had everything - great food, drinks, tables & chairs...very enjoyable!

Caroline in her Thunderbird gear

Our neighbors also came out to enjoy the show. Here are the girls with Carter & Calvin.

Grayson enjoying his 2nd air show...first show he was just a week old at Nellis. We love his Thunderbird gear from the Farrar's. Those 2 Thunderbird jets on the front of Grayson's shirt are his daddy flying with Brian!

Grayson happy the air show is over!

Bonfire at the beach

On Saturday night we enjoyed an evening down at the beach. The sunset was beautiful! While the sun was going down we saw some sea lions swimming where the waves were breaking... we tried to get Conner to swim out and catch us one!

We had a great time down at the beach with the O'Malley's and our neighbors the Keene's...lots of kids and lots of space to run! It was fun enjoying hotdogs for dinner and smores for dessert.

The Family at Sunset

Girls at Sunset
Hannah Kate with her marshmallow in the fire while Steve's marshmallow is on fire!
Conner, Isaiah and Madison enjoy some sparklers

Labor Day at the Beach!

We spent our Labor Day down at the beach... it was a beautiful sunny day and the girls loved it. This time we ate before going down as to not have sandy food to complain about!

Blue Water and Sandy Beaches at Carmel Beach

Even Grayson enjoyed his time at the beach! He was awake for the first part and then slept the rest of our time down there...love the jog stroller getting us across the sand!
Daddy & Caroline get out the sand toys!
The biggest hit of our time at the beach was a huge piece of kelp - the girls used it as a jump rope. This is a picture of Madison jump-roping.
Then Hannah Kate jumping too!
Still find it hard to believe we're living at the beach. As busy as life can get we try to slow it down and enjoy all there is to do here in Monterey before we have to leave next year... why are the good spots always the shortest?!?

Sweet Snuggling Sisters

Our bedtime routine usually includes Daddy snuggling with the girls...something he started when he traveled so much.

The girls sometimes request "sleepovers" now that they have their own rooms. Last Friday night they all fell asleep in Madison's bed - we moved them when we went to bed so the whole family was not up with Caroline at 6:30 am!

The sleepovers have made Caroline start requesting her sisters to snuggle with her. Last night was Hannah Kate and tonight was Madison. She tells Ed, "and tomorrow night I'll have you snuggle with me... and that will make you so happy!" It is so sweet to see them chit chat as they go to sleep - usually needing my help of, "I'll move you back to your own bed if you do not stop talking" to get them to sleep, but they do love each other so much. I think Caroline misses Madison being home with her since she is now at school all day.

I took this picture tonight of Caroline & Madison sleeping away in Caroline's room... they are too sweet!

Where's Grayson

While I put away laundry the other day, Grayson played with toys on the floor of his room. On one trip into his room the room was quiet and he was no where to be found... until I looked under his crib! He rolled several times to get there and was actually up against the wall sucking his fingers, but was excited to see me and when I got the camera he was kicking & smiling... he's too sweet these days!

Fortunately the dust ruffle is pushed up from where Caroline climbs up on his crib to look at him... gave me a good view of him under there!
Grayson is for the most part a happy guy - smiling all the time. He loves playing with his toys now that he can grab his toys & such.
Sometimes the noise from his sisters can get to him:)
Grayson at six months... time goes too quickly!

Our favorite thing to do...

Sea Lions!!

The girls love going down to the Coast Guard Pier to check out the Sea Lions. They are EVERYWHERE! They lay along the rocks & enjoy the warm sun. They are constantly barking at one another and making all sorts of noise.
This little guy looks cute and friendly, but would bark at anyone who came close - scared Hannah Kate away! It was moving all around and barking that she thought it was going to jump up on the pier with her:)

Kaitlyn, Caroline & Madison check out the Sea Lion

Our babysitter turned family member in Las Vegas came to visit us for the week. We had a lot of fun w/Kaitlyn here and sure do miss the extra hands! Hopefully we showed her enough of the great things in CA that she'll come back again soon!!!

Start of the school year!

Girls off to their 1st day of school!

Well, we're starting our THIRD week of school and I'm finally getting around to putting pictures up! It has been a busy couple of weeks getting into our routine, but the girls are enjoying school. Hannah Kate misses her old friends, but is adjusting and has a lot of friends here in the neighborhood that keep them both plenty busy.

Off to KINDERGARTEN! Hard to believe my Madison started kindergarten! She LOVES it and has a very sweet teacher. She turned FIVE last week - time passes too quickly! She turned five, Grayson turned five months and popped out TWO bottom teeth! Everyone is growing up.

We need to leave the house by 7:45 to get to school for the 8:00 bell... a little earlier than last year, but we're making it. Can't say Caroline & Grayson are dressed then too, but that's OK. The girls are use to getting to school and love walking by themselves... Hannah Kate is a great sister and walks Madison to her class & then goes on to her class.

My 2nd grader with Mrs. Heartfelt, her teacher