Bowling!

Yesterday, we took Carter bowling for the first time with his cousins, Adyson, Dylan and Brandon. It was such a fun time. Of course, all the kids just loved rolling the bowling balls to each other. It was an afternoon well spent! Carter scored a 95 for his first game of bumper bowling!!

"This bowling-thing is tiring!"

Christmas time...continues!

Christmas was extra special this year with a visit from Trav's parents from South Dakota. They stayed for a week long visit and it certainly made Christmas more special. This was the first year that Carter really started to "get" the whole Christmas thing. He was SO excited to receive his Tow truck from Santa (check out video clip). It was our best Christmas morning yet. We also left Santa cookies (of course) and Carter thought Santa made a quite a mess!! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did! Happy New Year!

Love,
The Bantons



The classic..."I'm all pictured-out" face!!

Spending time with Grandma and Papa Banton.

SO excited to get his Tow truck and Police car from Santa.

Santa sure made a mess with these cookies...

Christmas time!

We had a very festive weekend before Christmas with a visit to Santa and decorating a gingerbread house. It was the first time Carter did a gingerbread house. He loved it.



Carter asked Santa for a Tow truck for Christmas.

Getting ready to build the gingerbread house.

Putting the icing on the roof.

It's complete!

Carter's 3rd Birthday!

Carter turned 3 on December 8th. We had a Thomas themed birthday party. It was a hit!!

The Thomas cupcake cake...yummy!!

Mommy with her big boy!

The three of us!

I'm 3!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was very simple this year! We enjoyed spending time with my parents and staying close to home. My birthday is always near Thanksgiving and fell on the day after Thanksgiving this year. It was a quiet birthday this year, which I enjoyed.

The Christmas card photo!

Saying Goodbye...Saying Hello!

On Friday, October 30th (the day before Halloween), we had to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Charley. Charley only lived a short 6 years and passed away due to kidney failure. The decision to put him down was one of the HARDEST things Trav and I have ever had to do. We cried the entire weekend and continue to become teary when we speak of it. Charley was a wonderful companion and best buds with our first kitty, Chance. Through the loss of Charley, we realized we are not "solo" kitty people. Our other cat, Chance was lonely and needed a new friend. SO, here we are with our new buddy "Marco" (Carter named him). Marco was only 6-8 weeks old when we adopted him from the Benzie county animal shelter on November 7th. What a lover he is! He will never replace our dear, Charley but we all certainly feel more at ease having the additional companion in our home. We know Charley is in a better place now and he will never be forgotten. We love you, Charley!

Meet Marco!

Fall FUN!

Here are some classic "playing in the leaves" pictures...

Halloween!

Well, here I am...the day after Christmas and I am now posting about Halloween. The days and weeks have raced by. I guess better late than never, right? We have all had a very busy fall. Carter dressed as Thomas the Train for Halloween this year. He really enjoyed "trick-or-treating" too.

Choo-Choo!

candy time!

Pumpkin Carving FUN!

Carter and his cousin, Adyson had a great time carving their Halloween Jack-o-Laterns...

Adyson digs in...

Adyson is very proud...

Carter and Daddy with the carved pumpkins (2 of 4)!

Day two of pumpkin carving...Mommy did these ones!

More pictures from Pahl's...

Carter runs through the maze...

Corn Maze

Family

The orange pumpkin

Pahl's Pumkin Patch

We visited pumpkin patch #3 on Saturday. We've decided to try to visit as many pumpkin places as possible this year. So far...Pahl's was the best!! It was a great place for some photo opts...

We took Carter to Robbins Farm to pick out our pumpkins.

Boo!

Carter and Mommy