It begins...

Whew... what a whirlwind! We are back in VA after a quick trip all around the southeast. I have a TON of pictures and have been trying to decide how to post them all. I think I'm going to try to stick with simple chronological order, even though that puts Christmas off for a few posts (sorry!). Just think... Christmas pictures in January! :)

A few days before meeting up in Atlanta, Nicole and Brayden went to The Florida Aquarium with Aunt Jen and Ethan! They saw fish, sharks, and stingrays (among other things). Brayden has taken to calling Ethan "Eee!" He had such a great time with his cousin (and I think a little of the "Eee" rubbed off on Ethan -- Ethan's started saying it when he sees pictures of himself). Too funny! Here are some pictures of the boys around the aquarium:

On a bench, getting ready

Aunt Jen, Ethan, and B with the rays

Ethan and Brayden at the BIG tank

B - a quick photo op

After all the watching, it was time to play!

Time for play

"Watch this, Ethan!"

Ride 'em, sea cow!

My, what big teeth you have!

Ready for Christmas

Thank you all for your prayers on Friday. We had a safe and wonderful trip to Atlanta and wanted to show you that everything came out well!

The Reverend

I haven't had a chance to edit together a nice Atlanta spread, but it will come. I'll likely have Christmas out first, but I'm sure we can get more from this past week (with Brayden and Nicole in Florida, too!).

We wish you all a very blessed Christmas! We love you!

Party in Atlanta!

I'm sorry to report that I haven't been sent any pictures of Brayden from Florida to post. BUT, I'm thrilled because I get to see my family tomorrow!! We'll be reunited after a VERY long week and a half. Why, you ask? For my ordination! I'm getting extremely excited now. We had a day-long retreat today in preparation for the ceremony tomorrow. I'm sure there will be pictures, along with many of Brayden from this past week. Until then, here's my ordination announcement for your pleasure. Be thinking of all of us over the next two days of traveling!

Diaconate Announcement

Down in Lakeland

Nicole and Brayden have been down in Florida for almost a week, with many fun things to do! While Nic was in a wedding over the weekend, Brayden hung out in Lakeland with the grands and great-grands. Even though Gigi (my mom) setup quite the play room - a bunch of things from her kindergarten classroom of old - they still took Brayden to the local Children's Museum, Explorations V. He had such a great time!

Steering the ship

Peek-a-boo!

"Shopping" at the museum

Mmm... plastic fruit. That won't work out too well!

Lakeland's mascot, the swan (sorta...)

Lastly, a quick jet ride!

As if the Children's Museum wasn't enough, B got another ride with Gido on the lawnmower. This reminds me of being a kid (I used to do this with him, too). Maybe I can get a picture of it...

Riding with Gido

I miss you, family!! See you on Friday!

It's still Advent

I preached last Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Advent, and wanted to share it with you. If you have a chance to read the sermon, please let me know what you think! As always, it's better heard than read (so perhaps you can read aloud to yourself!). ;)

Dinner with the Fischers

A couple nights ago, we got together with our friends, the Fischers. They're also from Atlanta and just had their first son, Charles IV, 3 months ago. We saw Charles right after he was born, but haven't since. It was about time! We went to one of their favorite restaurants, Faccia Luna, with fantastic Italian food. The pizzas are cooked in a wood-burning, stone oven that made the crusts perfectly crispy. Yum!

We love pizza!

Here is a picture of Charles IV with his dad, Charles III. Charles the Elder is a 2nd-year seminarian at VTS.

IV and III

The "New Baby" -- what a cutie!

As the caption above indicates, we've been working on teaching Brayden about "new babies." He has a great book about a big brother welcoming home a little sister (perfect!) and it's all about "what you can do with a new baby." I think he'll enjoy looking at Charles IV on the blog and yelling, "Baby!" ;)

It's Cold!!

It snowed! ...a bunch! We were supposed to have "up to an inch" of snow on Wednesday, but it snowed more than 3. Beth, one of our friends from upstate NY, said that she thought about sending out an email to all of the shocked and awed southerners on campus saying something like, "Since it'll be cold soon..." Haha -- yes, I'm from the south, but 3+ inches in a few hours is still a decent amount of snow.

But... I don't have any pictures of it. Sorry about that. Instead, here are two final pictures from the Thanksgiving trip. I'll have some great ones soon of tonight's dinner with our friends, the Fischers (especially of their 3-month-old, Charles).

One happy boy

Relaxing with Daddy, B's favorite arm chair

Other holiday happenings

Plenty more happened in Pittsburgh than what's been shown, so here we go with a long photo-show:

We had lots of fun with Gido and Gigi, including fountains at the mall

Playing in the fountain with Gido

The Christmas Train

Before the weather turned, here is what was happening in the backyard.

Playing with Aunt Nancy

Then this happened... and we weren't playing in quite the same way.

...later that week

Inside, it was still nice and toasty. Even though this was Brayden's second Thanksgiving, this was his first Thanksgiving MEAL! He ate up, oh yeah...

Brayden's first REAL Thanksgiving meal

...and when you don't have everyone together all the time, there comes a point when one must take the obligatory family photo. There was actually one that was taken of EVERYone, but this was the first -- just the cousins.

The family photo

The end of the holiday trip closed with Nancy and Matthew's Engagement Party, thrown by Sito and Aunt Annette (et al!) for an estimated 100+. It was a great time, and included, of course, gifts. I thought this pic was great -- catching Brayden in the act!

Opening engagement gifts