Fall Pics of the Girls

http://clevercreations.smugmug.com/Children

the photographer who did our wedding did some pics of the girls for us in September: Take a look, just click on Rottier girls!

Giving Thanks!

*no pics bc i cant upload them right now*

This year we had the opportunity to meet my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandpa in Chicago for Thanksgiving. We got to the hotel on Wed late afternoon after circling the hotel about 8 times (Dan hates the upper/lower streets and one way streets in Chicago). The guys went and got burgers and chips for dinner and we spent the rest of the time in the pool. The hotel was amazing! It used to be the Chicago Men's Health Club so the pool was like an old Greecian bath! It was amazing colors and had a cool set up ! It is a lappool so it scared me at first with the girls but they loved it! They were both jumping in off the sides and Calli swam (with swimmies) from one end to the other! She would say "I want to swim to that 5 now,.... ok now lets go back to that 5." ( we were in lane 5 if you couldnt gather that.)

On Thanksgiving morning we went to the Thanksgiving Day Parade! It was so cool to experience it! They had all the HUGE balloons (Curious George, Madeline, Scooby Doo, Turkey, some mouse, and I know i am forgetting some). It was almost 2 hours long with high school bands from around the country, dance/gymnast groups, and cultrual groups (Guatemalian dancers, Hawaiian dancers, Mayan dancers, Irish dancers, etc.)

After warming up in the hotel (it was about 40degrees) and getting dressed up we went to lunch on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building. It was an amazing view! Calli loved to hang out in the bathroom bc it a whole wall of windows that she could move freely around! We were there about 2 hours- looking around, enjoying a turkey or ribs, all the traditional thanksgiving things along with amazing sweet potatoes in a pecan sauce, Butternut Bisque -Dans fav thing there :) can you believe it??, seafood - none for me, 'fancy salads', delicious desserts- pumpkin pie, carrot cake, chocolate cheesecake, pumpkin ice cream and plenty more! The resturant even did kid plates with Mac&Cheese and chix tenders!

It was a great Thanksgiving even though it was very untraditional for us!

Noelle is thankful for:
- 2 wonderful kiddos who make me laugh each and every morning, noon and night!
- My hubby
- our church family- amazing worship, thought provoking and challenging messages in the services, sunday school, and small group. Wonderful friendships with other families!
- Our friends and family who I sometimes take for granted who babysit, scrapbook. listen, have playdates, have coffee, encourage me to run :), and countless other things!

Calli is thankful for: (her words during prayer time before bed)
-Magglio (our puppy) Mamy (miss Amy), eeee eee (aunt Annie), Booshie, Bumpa, Uncle TJCharlie, miss Joanna, Miss teri, coffee time, CUBBIES- mommy im very thankful for Cubbies! yuke (luke) Anna, jake, Ewin (elin) Uncle Dave, Aunt Heidi, Aunt katie, Uncle Steve Grandpa and Grama, Daddy, Mommy, and Baby. Oh yeah I thankful for the pool we were in yesturday!
*She says most words perfectly and the ones she doesnt were ones that were her first words and i think she says them wrong out of habit bc if i say i cant understand her she will say them the correct way :) Stinker!! She always says yesturday or last night for anything in the past

Andilynn is thankful for: ( i am taking a few liberties- she said "yay" when i would say things)
all of the same people and things calli is thankful for, bop- (Barney) Oro (Dora), Elmo diapers and Zebra diapers-( she gets mad if its not the one she wants at that particular time) food in general- that girl can eat!! Kisses and hugs!!

Dan is thankful for:
his lovely, beautiful, hard-working wife!!
(lets just see how long it takes him to see this!)

Halloween!

ok so its after Thanksgiving but at least it is before Christmas!

Calli Jo got to go see Toy Story 3 as her first movie at a theatre! She was Jesse for Halloween and Andi was Bo Peep!

We spent 3 days celebrating Halloween! I know that is A LOT! Friday we went to Daddy's school dressed up as a surprise to him, (we brought him lunch too). Saturday we met the cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Rottiers, then to Booshies and Bumpas to see Grandpa Spike, and then went up to Pine Ridge Bible Camp for a trick-r-treat thing around the different cabins. On Sunday we did the traditional route - Dan's grandparents, Aunt Kate and Uncle Dave, did Trunk-r-Treat at Booshie's church, and then ended the evening (traditionally our last stop) at Aunt Beths house! The girls got tons of goodies to say the least! :)

Our girls at the 4th of July parade. Andilynn is such a little daredevil and the water (lake or pool) does not scare her at all. She tries to go underwater, she loves to jump from the dock or the side of a pool! I know her bathing suit is scandalous but I still think its cute :)

Calli Jo also loves the water but is a little more timid. I can trust her not to try to go under or go out past her belly.

The next few pics are fuzzy bc I was taking them without her knowing which was through our window. She was getting in and out of our two Cozy Coups but also had her cell phone in her hand and was talking the whole time!! She isnt quite cordinated enough to move the cars but spent like 45minutes playing. It was hilarious just to watch her. Dont worry she wasnt texting while driving- just talking. I dont know where she learned that! :)

more summer fun

calli was so excited to help "make corn" as she calls it. I told her we were going to husk corn and she set up my chair, her chair, Andi's chair and had a sand pail in front of each chair. She really is showing us each day that she is NOT a baby and is becoming a fun and smart little girl! Andi on the other hand still goes by the name "Baby" at our house. She is definitly a toddler and has her own ideas about things. She is definitly our drama queen. She can cry at the top of her lungs and stop in a matter of seconds!! It is awful when we are out and about and people think there is something very wrong but instead it is just that she wanted something that she couldn't have. :) Oh the excitement of girls!!

Andi tried to help with the corn but mainly watched Calli and I work and then she would grab the corn and take bites outta the cob (obviously it wasn't cooked yet but she loved it!!) Eww!! You can tell by the look in her eye that she was up to trouble!!

The Lowell Parade for the Riverwalk Festival was actually a great parade. Our kids loved it and it definitly wasnt as busy as the Grandville parade so it was much easier to park, walk and sit for the parade. However we did get caught in a DOWNPOUR!!! It was raining so hard Calli was crying "It HURTS MOMMY, IT HURTS!! We were so soaked after the ten minutes of rain that we just left festival. We did try to keep the kids dry but that was a lost cause even all the clothes in the diaper bag were wet.

The thought "I have such a cute family!" just went through my head when looking at the pic above! I know it might sound prideful but I am so happy about what God has given me.

Uncle Dave, the Jew, as we like to call him (married to Aunt Kate Lum Lax) was in town from California. So we met him at Ball's Ice Cream in Lowell for a catchup time and to expose him to children-(which was requested by Aunt Kate) We were able to enjoy ice cream, flowers, and playtime with Kim and Kai also! Of course Dave wouldn't pose for a pic but Calli loved chasing him around demanding a kiss and a hug! **Kate- I promise someday he will love kids, maybe not mine though :)

Summer pics

Andi loves riding the lawn tractor with Dan. She rides with him for like 2 hrs!!! She is so crazy! If he gets on and she didnt know she finds him and makes him let her on

Calli got to spend a whole day with her other family- the Ginacs! I think she actually prefers to be with them :) The day of the Start of Summer parade and celebration I had regionals for softball and Dan had to work so Ginacs were nice enough to let her celebrate with them. Andi got to hang with Booshie the whole day. I think they loved being apart for a few hrs.

Below I have put what I said at my grandma's funeral last week. Dont feel like you have to read it, it is a much longer than normal post. I just wanted to have a copy for some people to read who couldn't be at the funeral.