Torrey Town USA

We had a fantastic Christmas this year!  Christmas Eve was spent with all the Ubelharts and Torreys!  We had a wonderul dinner at Mom’s new house.  On Christmas morning we were joined in the morning by Nana (Mary Pat), Boom Boom (Bill), LaLa (Kathy), Billy, Bethy, Claire and Emmy. Then we had brunch with my brothers, sister in laws and our nieces and nephews on the Ubelhart side of the family. We ended the day with a wonderul dinner at Boom Boom and LaLa’s house. We were truly blessed this year and so appreciative of the generousity and love in our family.  Check out some pictures from our awesome Christmas!

Nana with all her grandkids!

Mom, Bethany and Jennifer

LaLa, Emmy and Boom Boom

The kids table:)

The adults table plus Emmy:)

The Torreys:)

Mikey and Kara

Ricky, Mom, Kara and Kevin

Emmy and Maddie cracking up

Our sweet girls:)

IT’S CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!!

Stockings!

Mikey and his girls:)

Rounding the corner:)

Seriously Santa, what were you thinking?

Claire says, “Let’s Play!”

Mike, Bill and Kathy

The kids ready to open up presents!

Round 2:)

Maddie, Boom Boom and Katie

Boom Boom with all his granddaughters:)

Pals:)

Our family:)

Bill turned 35 on December 23rd and we had a party to celebrate his birthday!  Bethany made a wonderful dinner and then of course we had some cake to celebrate the old man’s big day:)  We love you Billy and we are so blessed to have such a fantastic 35 year old in our lives:)  Check out some pictures from Bill’s party!

Bill, Maddie, Emmy, Bethy, Claire and Mike

Katie and Mike

A very happy Emmy:)

Two little girls who really want cake:)

The birthday boy and his father in law Bob

Blowing out the candles!

Claire says Yay for Daddo!

December was a BUSY month, hence my absence on our blog.  From playdates to birthdays to football games, you name it, we did it this past month!  I have decided the best way to share our past month with you is to share some great pictures I took.  Hope you enjoy:)

ARMY/NAVY GAME

We went to the Army/Navy Game with Bill and Bethany at FedEx Field in the beginning of December and it was awesome!  Unfortuantely Army lost, but we had a wonderful time anyways!

Bill, Bethy and Mike pregame

Not your normal football game:)

B&B

BAT and KMT

The Brothers Torrey

Mikey and Kara

The President

God Bless America!

GO ARMY!

KATIE’S SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Time for Katie’s school Christmas program!  Our Katie Bear had a speaking part again. She was a star and she did awesome!  Maddie enjoyed the program and of course the cake after:)

What good boys and girls:)

Way to go Katie!

CAKE!

Sweet Girl:)

Sweet Girl:)

CHRISTMAS WITH THE TORREYS AND THE MICHLS

We celebrated Christmas a little early this year with our dear friends the Michls.  Cerissa and Kyle hosted a wonderful brunch at their house and our kids enchanged presents.  A great time was had by all!

Bethy, Claire and Caleb

The Crew!

Opening presents!

Claire got a cowgirl hat from Sabrina and Caleb, which Maddie immediately borrowed:)

And then Mike borrowed it:)

And then Billy borrowed it:)

Mikey assuming the position:)

We will seriously never get a good picture of the six of them together:)

Well I can’t believe it took me this long to post about Thanksgiving:)  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, filled with way too much food, lots of laughs and many memories made.  Dad’s absence added a bit of sadness to the day, but we managed to pull off a great meal even without Dad’s gravy expertise:)  What a wonderful day with such a wonderful family:)  Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving 2011!

Mom and Rick cooking:)

The fam:)

Mom and Jenn

Interesting picture:)

To the couches:)

LaLa, Katie and Mike

Playtime!

Bethy, Claire Bear, Billy and Emmy Lou

A full Torrey:)

Another full Torrey:)

Dear Maddie-

You are officially 2 years old today!  I’m not quite sure where the time has gone, I feel like I blinked and you turned into a toddler right before my eyes.  It has for sure been a crazy year.  I wish I could say it’s been an easy one, but we all know that hasn’t been the case.  Through it all you have been such a trooper and you have helped us get through this very tough year with your joy and laughter:)  When you laugh you laugh from your gut and you laugh LOUD!  When you cry, you cry HARD and LONG! When you smile you LIGHT UP the room.  And when you get mad, well you get MADdie:)  But we wouldn’t have it any other way:)  You are so sweet and kind, and you love your sister, Mommy and Daddy SO MUCH. You are such a wonderful addition to our family, and you bring so much joy to us every day.  I can’t imagine our world without you.  Happy birthday my sweet pea, Mommy and Daddy love you more than words can say!

We love your sweet face!

We love how fearless you are!

We love how you refuse to pose for pictures:)

We love when you dance and sing:)

We love your love of dessert:)

We love seeing pure joy on your face:)

We love how much you love Minnie Mouse:)

We love your hair:)

We love how you always say “hi” to PaPoo when you see his picture:)

We love how you love and support your sister:)

We love your sense of humor and how you crack yourself up:)

WE LOVE YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!!!

Halloween was a grand old time again this year!  As always we headed over to my brother Kevin’s house for the Halloween festivities and as always the kids had a blast:)  This year Maddie participated in Halloween, rather than just riding along in her stroller.  It took her a while to warm up to the idea (as is the case with most everything Maddie does), but by the end of the night she was good to go.  I was a little concerned that Katie wouldn’t be able to keep up with her older cousins while trick or treating.  Of course it turned out that I couldn’t keep up with Katie and her cousins:)  We had a great time and I’m so happy that we were able to spend this Halloween with our family.  Here are the pictures from our fun night!

Maddie Mouse says, “Mommy, I’m not so sure about this…”

Maddie Mouse still a little weary:)

Katie aka Princess Tiana is ready to go!

Katie, Caterina and Bridgitte

The Ubelhart cousins (minus Justin who was sick)

Maddie Mouse says, “I don’t want to wear these ears Mommy!”

Tiana and Rapuzel prance across a lawn

WE MUST RUN!

Maddie Mouse says, “I’m starting to like this Mommy!”

Maddie Mouse says, “Let’s give this trick or treat thing a try Daddy!”

Maddie Mouse says, “Mommy, I GOT CANDY!”

Maddie Mouse then became very focused on the candy:) And yes, I am wearing my wedding tiara:)

Pure Joy:)

Family Picture:)

Katie and Nana

Let’s EAT!

Like most kids, when I was a little girl my world revolved around my neighborhood. At the age of 10, my parents told me we were moving. Let’s just say I went kicking and screaming:) We moved to a house not too far from my old neighborhood and we settled in to life in a new place. Now mind you 10631 Summersweet Ct. was only about 15 minutes from my old neighborhood, but come on it felt like 9 hours. I had no clue my parents would be in that house for the next 24 years. And I had no clue a house would become such an amazing part of my life.

We bid farewell to Mom and Dad’s house this past weekend. Mom knew very soon after Dad passed away that she couldn’t stay in that big house all alone. So many wonderful memories were made in that house, but we all realized Mom needed to move on, we all needed to move on. The house gave our family 24 wonderful years and we would miss it dearly. By the grace of God and I know with a little help from Dad up in Heaven, a family approached us in April about possibly buying the house before we had even put it on the market. We asked them to patiently wait while we spent some time getting the house cleaned out and adjusting to life without Dad. It took months of blood, sweat and quite a few tears, but we finally reached a point where we were ready to let people in. The interested family came through the house and Mom had an offer within 36 hours. I’m pretty sure no house has ever been sold this easily before. It’s a great house and I’m so glad that the new family saw what an awesome place it is to raise kids. I mean seriously, who doesn’t want a disco ball in their basement?

Katie visiting Nana and Papoo’s house one last time

Mike and I on our last visit to Mom and Dad’s

The empty basement. All that’s remains is Dad’s disco ball:)

This past week Mom made the big move to her brand new house out here in good old Haymarket! She loves her new house, and keeps joking that she’ll be surrounded by boxes for months, but it’s okay because we’ll just drink wine and be surrounded by boxes:) I think that sounds fantastic! I know Dad is so proud of us and everything we have done over the last 7 months. And Mom, we are so proud of you and wish you all the happiness in the world in your new home!

Mom’s brand new digs:)

 

As most of you know, our Katie Bear has always been quite the performer:)  She loves to dance, sing, make up songs and generally do anything that involves dressing up in pretty outfits.  Total girlie girl:)  So we decided that we’d sign her up for a dance class to see how she liked it.  Maybe it’ll stick, maybe it won’t:)  We had our first class a few weeks ago and OF COURSE she loved it.  Maddie, Mike and I tagged along and got to watch Katie in her class.  We all had a lot of fun and can’t wait to take her to her next class.  Here are some pictures of our little dancer:)

Our Prima Ballerina

Strike a pose:)

Front and center ready to dance:)

 

Interpretive Dance

Maddie REALLY enjoyed watching:) 

 

So did I:)

“Wait, class is over? I still want to DANCE!”

 

Happy 70th Birthday up in Heaven!  We love you and we miss you terribly!