Thanksgiving at Grandpa Grilz's House

We had a fabulous time at Grandpa Grilz's house for Thanksgiving. Grandpa decided to live on the wild side and make prime rib instead of turkey. Everyone loved it. Here we are trying to get everyone to look in the same direction at the same time.

The prime rib took a little longer than planned, so by the time Mary Kate got into her high chair, she was ready for supper. Here she is wondering when some food is going to show up.

After supper while everyone over 3 feet tall was cleaning up, MK found a bag of mini marshmallows and decided they would make a good dessert.

After cleanup, we put together and decorated a gingerbread house.

The finished masterpiece.

3D Glasses

On Wednesday night, Mom and Dad went to the new Beowulf movie and it was in 3D! Here's Ethan checking out Dad's 3D glasses. He doesn't really understand what 3D is, but he thinks the glasses are cool. because they are very large and make things look a little blurry (probably not good for the eyes!).

The Pooh Puzzler

Ethan has really gotten into doing puzzles over the past couple of weeks. Here's the proud puzzle assembler with his biggest puzzle yet...the kid sized Pooh.

Another birthday milestone...MK celebrates 18 months

Mary Kate is 18 months old already. Can you believe it??!? We celebrated with a walk to the park...which is hard to do after supper since it gets dark at 5 o'clock.

Mary Kate pushed/rode her scooter most of the way.

Dad makes us take a break for a picture with Mom...the kids weren't too happy about stopping.

Especially since there was a huge dirt pile within sight at the park. The ice skating rink is being put in. Ethan and Mary Kate climbed the dirt pile for a long time. Boy, I really wished I had changed their clothes before the walk!

Ethan is as tall as the basketball hoop!

We managed to pry MK off the dirt pile for a ride in the car before heading home for baths.

Dad's Big Party!

We had a huge party at the Chatterbox Pub to celebrate John's 40th birthday. We were so busy celebrating that we didn't take a lot of pictures...but here are a few that were snapped by friends.

John, Ethan and Mary Kate with John's cousins Julie Sowatzka and Jenny Holbert. Jenny designed and produced the retro t-shirts everyone is wearing...a tribute to the resort Norby's Hide-a-Way Bay Resort that the Grilz and Jones families grew up visiting every summer.


Mary Kate and Ethan spending some quality time together.

Mary Kate helped Dad watch the photo slide show and open presents.

Julie and Jenny won the 'coolest retro outfit' prize (a lava lamp) for their shirts.

What a great night!

Happy Halloween!

Here are a couple pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes. Earlier this year, we decided that both kids would dress up as frogs. I got Mary Kate's costume mid-year and then in September when we went to the fabric store for frog costume material for Ethan, he changed his mind (about 7 billion times) and finally decided that he wanted to be a prince.

So, we have a frog and a prince! If you're wondering what that cardboard thing Ethan is holding in his right hand is, it's binoculars made out of toilet paper rolls that he made about a year ago in ECFE. Princes need binoculars, he says, in addition to sceptors (what he's holding in his other hand...he calls it his prince wand).

Mary Kate really liked wearing her costume!




Pumpkin carvers in action.

Glowing Jack-o-Lanterns!