Baltimore Christmas with Family

On Tuesday night (Baltimore Christmas Day), we visited my Aunt Jean and cousin Leandra. It was SUCH a great visit. Everyone seemed comfortable and just really happy to be together. It was so good to spend quality time with family before we move.

Ben loved his Little People truck!

He also LOVED his second cousin Leandra.

Taco (the little dog), me, Aunt Jean and Bill

PopPop, MeeMom and Ben

We were excited to get this picture together. Just LOOK at what we had to see as Bill took the picture:

We could not keep a straight face for most of the shots:

I thought I would show my Aunt Jean just how funny she looked with Taco:

Love the smiles:

Sisters!

Baltimore Christmas!

We were in Baltimore on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning before Christmas. In typical MeeMom fashion, the days were packed and we all had a wonderful time.

We started the trip off by meeting at Arundel Mills for a picture with Santa and some last minute Christmas shopping. This shot is turning into a Christmas tradition:

Here is the "illegal" picture with Santa. PopPop Paul almost got escorted out of the mall for taking pictures:

Ben was even allowed to ride the school bus. Caleb NEVER lets him ride these:

He even give hugs to passengers:

On Tuesday morning, we celebrated Christmas. Ben has really figured out this whole present thing. He tore into everyone's presents.....not just his own.

Christmas morning....and presents waiting under the tree!

Uncle Andrew ("Ahh-Choo") and PopPop

Everyone but Caleb sports the Christmas hats.

Ben finally got his doctor's kit. This is a present that I have been begging to buy for Ben. Thanks, MeeMom and PopPop!

Finally, we managed to get Caleb to wear his bike helmet. Success- everyone was wearing a hat!

AND....the night would not be complete without a little (or a lot) of Guitar Hero!

We Rock! Seriously....

Another highlight of the trip was a much needed girl's night with my high school friends, Dawn, Rindi and Elise:



They all humored me and went to one of my favorite restaurants, Sabatino's in Little Italy, downtown Baltimore:

More to come from our Baltimore trip....

All This For Bacon?!?!

North Beach Highlights

It would not be an evening with the Weir's without Guitar Hero!We arrived in North Beach, MD for dinner on Friday night. After a Chinese dinner, the kids went to bed and the grown-ups enjoyed this MATURE evening filled with Rocking Out! Ben LOVES guitars ("g-tarrrrr"). We let him pretend that he is playing. He can usually last through 2 songs before he is too bored and moves on....

Abby and Benjamin took a "sit" on Caleb's old motorcycle. Ahh...memories....

The blizzard started Friday night at 10:00pm and continued all of Saturday. Joe and Caleb continued to go out during all of it to shovel. They had to really bundle up:

Joe with his paint ball mask.

We were underdressed for this weather....as modeled by Caleb. He borrowed over half of what he is wearing. Hey! What can I say? We are moving to the tropics in less than a month!

Shoveling in the snow.

As usual, we spent more time dressing Abby and Ben for the elements than the time we actually spent in it. It was still really snowey and gross on Saturday. But, we managed to get a few shots:

Pretty in pink!

All bundled up:

After we realized that the snow would just continue until Sunday, we settled for laundry basket rides around the house. Fun times!

On Sunday morning, we went to Joe's parents house for breakfast. They live two houses down the street, but it took a looong time to get there since we had to dig our way to them:

On Sunday afternoon, the sun came out. We spent the afternoon watching football, playing on the deck and giving our friends hugs:

Uncle Joe Joe has an awesome train. Ben wanted it to be turned on practically every minute. Uncle Joe Joe and Aunt Tina were VERY patient with his persistence.

Thank you Joe, Christina and Abby for putting us up for the week-end. We really enjoyed getting snowed in with you. We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you again around New Year's.

Date Night!!!!!!

As you know, we are now living with our friends. They have a son who is one week younger than Ben....so we have been having a blast. The boys are so cute. Ben calls John- "Dot". John calls Ben "Bee". Amy says that they sound like two old women talking back and forth to each other, "Hey Dot. Hey, Bee!"

We miss them already since we are traveling, so I thought I would post pictures from our most recent date night (SUSHI)! It is going to be so sad when we say "Good-Bye". I don't want to think about that, yet....so enjoy the pictures!

FUN TIMES! Joe & Amy

Dedicated to Revenue:

I visited my old place of employment the other day. I was a little late because I had to park- the parallel way! I was SO proud of myself. Granted, it took 8 minutes and I was up on the curb a bit to get it perfect....but VOI LA:

This post is dedicated to Stephanie who is going to miss me and my silly excitements!

Christmas in Wilmington

Last week-end, we enjoyed a great visit with Beach Grammy and Beach Grandpa in Wilmington, NC. While we were there, Ben decorated a Gingerbread House with Grammy. I was surprised at how focused he was during the whole decorating process. He carefully followed Grammy's instructions and only became a little distracted once he learned you could actually eat the gum drops.

While in Wilmington, we were able to watch Uncle Philip and Uncle Scott play a basketball game coached by Beach Grandpa. It was a close game...one that we will all remember for a long time since a fight broke out in the middle of it. Luckily, no one was hurt and my brothers were not involved.

During the game, Ben was holding onto a basketball. He dropped it and it rolled onto the court while the game was going on. He screamed bloody murder and all eyes turned to the "Boy Who Lost His Beloved Basketball". A nice man returned it to Ben, but he was so upset, he could not calm down. The crocodile tears were priceless.

Hope you enjoy the pictures...and that you are enjoying this time of the year...

Ben loves "Baby Ghee-Ghus". Whenever he sees a Nativity scene, he goes right on over and pulls Baby Jesus out. He then keeps Baby Jesus in his pocket or by his side for hours.

Family Photo:

Uncle Scott, Beach Grammy, Beach Grandpa, Ben, Caleb, Adrienne & Uncle Philip

Christmas is Coming....

LOOK! SNOW! We are currently in North Beach, MD where we are expected to get over 18" of snow! It is truly a winter wonderland and I am loving every minute of it.

We are visiting with our friends Joe, Christina and their daughter Abby. These pictures were taken this morning around 9am. It is still snowing and expected to continue until 6am Sunday morning. Good thing we are staying here through Monday morning! This is exactly what we needed....a snow day! There is something comforting about being "snowed in"....it is like God is telling us to take a much needed "Time Out" from the stress of moving.

Today....

....was caleb's last day of work.

(sigh)


Time to freak out??

It's a Bird, It's a Plane....No! It's a Wii...!

You can probably tell from this post, that I have become a little "obsessed" with Guitar Hero. Or maybe, that sentence should read like this: I have become a "little" obsessed with Guitar Hero. You can place the emphasis where you would like depending on how well you know me.

Both statements are actually a severe understatement. In fact, the first time I played Guitar Hero was on Halloween week-end with our small group. Over a month later, I was still talking about this game. I tried to rationalize how being a missionary and owning a Wii were not oxymorons. I thought that if we got tons of Christmas money, it would all be OK. I tried to come back down to reality over and over again.

But....then on Thanksgiving week-end, we played Guitar Hero for over 4 hours straight (full band style) and I was back to the destructive, depressing, one-track mode again. I really wanted a Wii, but knew that there would be no Wii for Mii!

THEN.....two Thursdays ago, our small group made an announcement that they had some housekeeping things to discuss. One of those "things" included an early Christmas present for us. Out came two (glorious) friends holding two boxes that looked STRANGELY close to being the box of a Wii and the box of Guitar Hero. I literally thought to myself, "Adrienne, you are OBSESSED. Not only do you really want this game, but you are starting to hallucinate. It is going to be a long Christmas if you keep thinking that every gift you get is going to be Guitar Hero." Our group knew that we loved the game during the beach week-end, but we had been obsessing in private and only with family about this. It couldn't be...

The rest is history. I opened the package that was placed on my lap (the other was on Caleb's) and I felt like that little girl who always wanted a pony and finally got one for Christmas. Our crazy small group bought us a Wii and Guitar Hero. CRAZY! We are going to be the coolest missionaries on the island. People are going to travel far and wide to come to our shows...

Ok, maybe that is a stretch....but I am SO EXCITED!

Christmas Traditions

Every year, we make a countdown to Christmas out of construction paper, markers and tape. This year, Ben was covered in "colors" by the time we finished.

Ta-Da!

We opted out of the live tree this year since we are moving. I found this pre-lit wonder as a Black Friday deal. Currently, it is already packed in the crate and will be used in PNG!

(By the way, I am married to a man who insists on multi-colored lights!)

My favorite childhood ornament (and now by far the ugliest):

And in case you want a comparison....here is a picture of Ben last year (after his first at-home haircut!)

Here's to old and new family traditions. I love this time of year...