Someone becomes 3-0

Happy Birthday to Chris! He is thirty years old as of yesterday. (So funny--I called him "my old man" when we were dating but I barely use the phrase anymore, even though it is more appropriate now than it was then!) Have you had the Jr. Primary sing "Happy Birthday" to you recently? ;) Because Chris got that privilege! For his birthday dinner, I made rouladen and German potato salad--everything tasted awesome and I'm not just saying that because I made it! I say that because Germans are smart: they throw bacon in everything and bacon makes everything awesome!

We had the Heit's and Turman's over later that night for some cake and ice cream. Chris requested a sour cream cake for his birthday cake. It's his mom's recipe, and let me tell you what--it's fabulous! I'm glad he asked for that one :)


The girls wanted to help their Daddy blow out the candles.



Here are the kids at their table!


The Turman's gave Chris a glow-in-the-dark sports set: football, soccer, basketball. They're a big hit of course!


The Heit's gave Chris Mike and Ikes (his favorite) and baby food--because that's what you eat when you get old! hahaha And hey, banana is actually pretty good!


Guess who ran off with the Mike and Ikes--she was caught red-handed! And clearly, she has no remorse!


We girls got our Dad a nose, hair, and eyebrow trimmer, two shirts, a pair of pants, and a new pair of Uggs.


We spent the weekend in Williamsburg, VA visiting family. It went by so fast but we had so much fun! We hope to go back soon to visit the Nielson family. While we were there, we visited also Jamestown (remember Pocahontas and John Smith?) and Yorktown (where the Revolutionary War ended, aka where the British surrendered and we won). These three towns are known as the Historic Triangle (Williamsburg is included because it was the capital of colonial Virginia). There is a ton of history in this area and we absolutely loved it!

Jamestown, located beside the James River, is a really cool place. The girls loved exploring!

The girls love cannons!



The best souvenir ever!


Yorktown is next to the York River and we did the audio tour of the battlefield. The girls slept through most of this, but they woke up towards the end of the tour.
Note: Look closely at Cate in this picture.

Lizzie's reaction to driving through a flooded road!





From earlier this week:
Look who can climb onto the dining room table now!

You caught me, Mom!

Library time

Guess who is inside?

Playing at the park

S'mores--thanks Barbie

This past week we stopped by the Family Fun Day at the Montgomery Mall. Complete success! We will certainly be returning (2nd and 4th Wed, every month). Good music, paper guitar decorating, treats from Chik-fil-a and Auntie Anne's, colorful balloons--the kids loved it.



We stopped by Redbox quite a few times last week. The girls enjoyed some movies (Spooky Buddies, Cat in the hat Trick or Treat, etc.) and I enjoyed some movies (The Conspirator, Thor, etc.), all by my lonesome while Chris was at school! One movie I got for the girls was Barbie Princess Charm School. The girls liked the extras more than the actual movie, I think. One clip was called "A-camping we will go!" where Barbie and her sisters go camping for a night. They made s'mores and Lizzie asked if we could make some later. She and Cate were so fascinated by the whole process. And naturally, they were a big hit!


Shelley hosted a Craft Day at her house later in the week. I was pleasantly surprised and very thankful that I finished the craft...Cate usually has a difficult time leaving my side! These Halloween jars are too cute! (Check Woman's Day Magazine for directions on how to make it.) I've decided to use the mantel in the living room during the holidays to house decorations--the girls can't reach it ;)

Upclose view

Lizzie has helped me with a ghost jar and a frankenstein jar--I'll get pictures of those when they are finished.

On Saturday, the Heit's watched Lizzie and Cate while Chris and I went to the temple. Later that night, we had Reed and Blake at our place so Lois and Jeff could go to the temple. The kids were too cute! (Cate fell asleep early, hence her absence in the pictures.)
Megamind was the movie of choice for the night!

Blake LOVED the Buzz mobile!


Sunday mornings aren't complete without scrambled eggs and banana pancakes :)

Jersey Week and Valley Forge

We said goodbye to dear friends of ours recently. The Wilkins family moved west to Oklahoma; we miss them so much already! (We hope to visit with them the next time we are in TX.) Before they left for OK and we left for NJ, we got together for some play time.
Nice face, Elizabeth! ;)



On the day we left for NJ, we ladies joined the Heit's and the Turman's for some fun at the Rio. The kids had a great time--I loved this picture of Reed and Lizzie "riding their bikes!"

We also went to the park nearby and found some ducks along the way!




We went to New Jersey on Sept 23, intending to stay for only the weekend. The girls and I ended up staying for the week! Springer's Ice Cream in Stone Harbor, NJ needed some help with some end of the season things, since many employees went back to school.
Before Chris went back to MD, we walked the boardwalk and stopped by the Irish Festival in North Wildwood.




I loved helping out at Springer's! I scooped ice cream, washed dishes, and thoroughly enjoyed myself! I felt like I was back in high school :) It didn't really feel like work because I was surrounded by family and friends. I brought the camera and naturally, we documented as much as we could--






During the day, my mom went to Springer's to help out so the girls and I had that time to run errands for the family or to do whatever we wanted. We saw Katie play in one of her tennis matches and we saw Julia play in one of her soccer games too.
We enjoyed the very summer-like weather in the front yard.



We went to the beach to play!




We also went to 24th street park.



We even visited to the Cape May County Zoo. The zoo has great parks as well :)






When Chris came back to NJ, we ate breakfast at the Hot Spot on the boardwalk. It was AWESOME! On our way back to my parents' house, Chris spotted go-karts so he and Lizzie went for a ride. I only got two pictures because my camera died suddenly; the second picture is perfect--Lizzie had that smile on her face during the entire ride!



After a fabulous General Conference weekend, we headed back to MD for a day and a half before we once again packed our bags for another adventure away from home. Chris had some training to do up in Valley Forge, PA so we ladies joined him for the trip. While Chris was at training during the day, we kept ourselves occupied at The King of Prussia Mall and Valley Forge National Park.
Good morning from the Killion girls!

The best store in the mall was The Disney Store. Lizzie was in her element!



Cate slept during all of this but I had to put some Minnie ears on her!


We had a great day and a half exploring Valley Forge National Park because the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We loved the wide open spaces and the fall colors blanketing the area.









On Friday afternoon, we picked up Chris from the LMCO building and we headed into Philly! My mom, dad, and sister Julia drove up to the city for a day trip (Katie and Joe still had school) so we decided to meet up with them. I LOVE walking through Philly's historic sights district--Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Carpenter's Hall, etc.




We discovered a new museum with beautiful portraits and statues of early American leaders like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, etc.



Liz found herself a bonnet and a little Liberty Bell!


We made it over to Butler's Orchard this morning for Sophie's birthday party! The girls had a blast (before Cate became cranky, aka needed a nap). Happy Birthday to our dear friend Sophie!





We are happy to be home--see you next week!