So much to do in Colorado....

As you can see we took advantage of ice skating and playing in the snow. The kid also enjoyed making a gingerbread house and gingerbread train with grandma and daddy! Here is a link to more pictures, and I have more to get off my camera still!!

http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/December+2009/Christmas+2009/

Christmas in Colorado

Well, we have just returned from a fabulous time in Colorado and I think we all need another week to catch up on sleep! The kids had a fabulous time playing with their cousin Charlie, getting to enjoy the snow and outdoors as well as the fun of opening their presents on Christmas morning! Here are a few pictures with more to follow!

Hanukkah Bunny Brought A BIG Gift

Hanukkah Bunny Brings a BIG Gift from Alexis Soucie on Vimeo.

Lillian's Christmas Play

This past Saturday Lillian's School put on their Christmas Play, it was adorable! Lillian was a shepard and sang her heart out! She was a little shy at first, but did a fantastic job. It was just amazing for us to watch her up on the stage with the other kids, performing!! I have put the video on our web site, it is about 14 minutes long, and there are more pictures as well. ENJOY!

http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/Videos/?g2_page=3

http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/December+2009/

Happy Hanukkah!

We started Hanukkah last week and the kids are really getting into it this year. William is facinated with the "fire" and candles, and Lillian loves singing the prayer each night!

Marine Corps Ball Picture

It took a little while, but we have finally gotten our Marine Corps Ball picture, yeah! I am very happy with them!! I have also finally uploaded a bunch of pictures to our web site. Enjoy!

http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/November+2009/

William's New Running Shoes

William got an early holiday present from Grandma and Granpa O'Brien: his first pair of "running shoes" as he calls them. They are very snazzy and he can now go super fast!!

Thanksgiving Visit Cont'd

After returning from Dallas we had a great rest time on the rest of our visit with Stef. We took her to the Wildlife Refuge, where we didn't see any buffalo, but we did see many longhorn cattle and spent some time in the Visitors Center. As you can see we ALL enjoyed ourselves =o)

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a great Thanksgiving with good friends at our home along with Grandma Soucie! We enjoyed too much food and watching the kids make a mess and just having fun. The next day Bill, the kids, Stef and I traveled to Dallas to visit Stef's parents. It was a great opportunity for the kids to meet their Great Grandparents, and us to get away for a few days!

My First Loaf of Fresh Bread

As our love for fresh bread has grown, but the cost has gone up, my sister gave a suggestion for a great book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day", so I gave it a try! Amazingly it is as easy as it says! So easy, I could even do it!! I am so excited at the results, and to be able to make fresh bread for my family, I cannot wait to try other varieties!! Stay tuned for more pictures =o)

Gardening with the kids....

After having dinner with friends of ours who have a fabulous vegetable garden at their home; the kids and I were inspired to try a little gardening on our own! I found these great small pots that came with dirt, seeds and a shovel! The kids helped me plant miniature sunflowers, basil, and zinnias, and as you can see they are really growing!! The kids have just loved helping water the plants and watching them come up and grow a little more each day!! We did have one incident where William pulled one sunflower out and I shouted "you killed it" and he looked at me and tried to re-plant it!! =o) We now supervise him a little more near the plants!

Halloween

The kids had such a good time today with Halloween. We began the day attending Lillian's school party where they played outside (it was near 70 here!) of course got lots of candy and got to jump and play in a bouncy! Then this evening they had an absolute blast Trick Or Treating around our neighborhood, where there were tons of kids out. They were both so cute and Lillian really got into going to the houses and ringing the doorbells. When it was time to stop, neither kiddo wanted to!! William came home ate most of his candy and wanted to head back out for more =o) It was a great day and we all had a fabulous time!!

Here is a link to more pictures: http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/Halloween+2009/

New Bouncy

Well, we gave in and purchased a bouncy for the kids to have at the house! It is by far the best purchase we have made to date =o) It has also stopped them from jumping on the furniture since the movers broke their trampoline! I will get video up once I get a cord that works with my lapp top!!

For more pictures:

http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/October+2009/

Caught Napping

Bill got done with class early one day this week and found Lillian, myself and Pixel passed out on the couch! William was napping in his room =o)

Rainy Day Painting Pottery

We've had our share of rainy days recently so this week on one of those days Bill and I took the kids to a local store that lets adults and kids paint their own pottery pieces.

The kids each picked out a pumpkin that can also be an ornament to paint and got to pick their own colors! They enjoyed this so much and it was great to watch!! Lillian kept asking for more to paint so I picked out a plate for them both to do which they also enjoyed. Now we just wait for the store to put them in their kiln, and we'll pick them up early next week!! Stay tuned =o)

For more pictures: http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/October+2009/

Dallas...

Last weekend we took the kids to the Dallas Aquarium along with a stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. They both loved the aquarium and all the animals especially the turtles and fish. They enjoyed the indoor water park at the Great Wolf Lodge, although it did take some warming up to for Lillian, it is VERY loud inside!! She got her nails done just like us big girls do and she really enjoyed that. Even getting flowers on her thumbs!

Spirit of Survival Half Marathon

Sunday morning, bright and early in the rain and cold, my sister, her husband Will and myself ran 6.55 miles into the Wildlife Refuge up many hills, and 6.55 miles back! It was a much better half marathon than the previous one in Boulder and our results were much better! I posted just over 1:52 and am quite happy with that, and finished in the top 25% overall! It was great having Bill and the kids at then top of this last hill (in picture) to cheer me on the final tenth, it was a killer hill right at mile 13! I am already looking to my next half marathon to do even better (crazy yes, and I NEVER thought I would utter those words!). I am so happy that both half marathons are over, and I get a few days off, but also very proud that I completed both of them with good results!

For more pictures of the whole weekend including Lillian's race follow the link below:

http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/October+2009/

Lillian's Race!

This past Saturday Lillian participated in the Spirit of Survival Kid's Marathon. We logged her 25 miles the past few months and then on the day of the race with Grandma and Grandpa O'Brien and Daddy by her side she sprinted, walked, and ran (repeated many times) the final 1.2 miles. She did a fantastic job and had it not been for the Buffalo in a costume that scared her to death, there would have been no tears! Afterwards they had a kidzone for all the participants and their families and William and Lillian fully enjoyed the bouncies along with the kids!

3 1/2, 18 months old and Where are We Going.....

Today Lillian is 3 1/2 years old, wow, hard to believe!! She measured at 39 inches (grown one since 3 years) and is weighing in at 31 pounds, about 2 pounds more than her one year check up. She is loving school and comes home everyday with something new she learned. William had his 18 month check-up yesterday and he is weighing in at just over 25 lbs and is 34 inches tall (grew another inch since 15 months!), that leaves him in the 90-95% for height and between the 25-50% for weight. They said he is doing great and commented on his verbal skills and all the words he can say. Overall the kids are doing great! Follow the link at the bottom for more pictures!

Where are we going???? Well, the monitor came back with 2 spots Camp Lejeune, and 1 spot Okinawa. Now, any other time we would jump at an opportunity to go out of the country, but Okinawa is not our top choice for Battery Command time because it doesn't have firing batteries, that being said, thankfully one of the other Marines who has fulfilled his command time stepped up and took the spot for Okinawa. So...that means.....while our hopes for heading some place different and new may be gone, we will be heading back to Camp Lejeune upon Bill's graduation on March 16th 2010. We are very excited about returing to our friends and familiar surroundings!!

For LOTS of pictures from Colorado, and 18 month and 3 1/2 pictures of the kids:

http://lexiandbillsoucie.com/photos/main.php/v/family/September+2009/