An ending of an era, a turning of a page: Goodbye 2009, hello 2010!

At the beginning of summer, the girls thought it would be fun to try to grow flowers. Each one had their own barrel and were responsible for planting and watering their own flowers. Each day they would check the progress but were disappointed how long it took. First there were just little green sprouts, then big green sprouts and finally after weeks of waiting, flowers! The girls were very happy with their "planting" but disliked the beetles the flowers attracted!



The summer ended quickly and found us once again at our condo at Smugglers' Notch. The kids love it there and we enjoyed ourselves as much as they did.

We spent hours in their various pools. One year older, Renee was able to master crossing the Lilly Pond and also graduated to the height requirement of its water slide.

Having a condo allowed us to relax a bit more and eat when and what we wanted. We experimented with Smores. Chloe declared them "deeeelicious."


The end of the summer found Renee riding a bike all by herself and Chloe swimming on her own. They are growing so fast...anxious to see what they will be doing by next summer.


The fall found us doing typical fall activities. Picking apples in our local orchard and pumpkins and potatoes out of Pepere's garden.

Carving pumpkins and eating seeds....

and trick or treating. Dominic really got the idea this year and ate most of his candy before we even made it home. Good thing we only go to a few houses!
The fall continued to fly by and soon we had our first snow. So far it has been a winter with little snow accumulation but helas, the winter is still young!

We cut our tree down like usual and decorated it adding many "shatter proof" ornaments as Dominic found the tree quite intriguing. The tree served as a great backdrop for Dominic's 2nd birthday. It is hard to believe the boy is two! He is so full of life and energy. He runs non-stop and has begun to talk non-stop too. His most recent obsession has been with Thomas and trains.
Santa was kind enough to bring him his first train set with which he spent all Christmas morning playing. He almost fell asleep next to it! It continues to be his favorite toy these days.

Prior to Christmas we visited Santa. The girls were quick to share what they wanted but Dominic regarded him with quiet hesitation. He didn't cry but would only stand at a comfortable distance.
Later we attempted gingerbread houses with good friends. Chloe's seemed to hold together well. Renee's kept collapsing. What a mess and Melanie, Nicole and I ended up doing most of the work because it took so long just to get them to stand up!

Just prior to Christmas Dominic received his first hair cut. He was not impressed! We kept his cut curls but soon found they would return after a bath and a few weeks of growth. He looks like such a little man now.
Not only did he get his first hair cut but Dominic moved into a big boy bed. Too bad he won't stay in it alone! Mommy continues to be his lovey and we spend a lot of the night walking him back to his bed.

We closed 2009 with Chinese food and a movie and looked forward to 2010. The new year will bring a new baby and a new nephew to the Carbonneau family. Two new Carbonneaus born in the year that Jeanne, Michael's grandmother, turns 100! How cool is that?

Here are the great grandchildren helping this wonderful and amazing woman blow out her candles.




Here's to 2010! A year full of surprises for us! Keep checking in on us!