Catch up -- other notes from 2016 - Paddy and skating

We got a dog! We went to the Humane Society and as soon as they brought in this dog, we knew she was just right for us.  Avery even said "She's a perfect dog!" and we just love her.  Her name is Paddy, short for Paddington (as in Bear).  She is maybe 5 years old and a Catahoula Hound mix.  She is quiet and gentle, and she doesn't get up in the morning until Caleb has snuggled with her.

 During the winter, Avery and Caleb took ice skating lessons at the Brentwood rink.  They both got really good at skating! Since I love to ice skate, this makes me very happy:

catch up -- Caleb turns 6!

Caleb is in kindergarten, and he is doing amazing! He is reading everything! We had a humorous conversation as he read aloud our "We don't skinny dip, we chunky dunk" sign, and I had to explain to him what skinny dipping means and told him about when Carolyn and I went skinny dipping (well, chunky dunking) with a bunch of old ladies from church!

We celebrated his 6th birthday in October.  Since his birthday is so close to Halloween, Carolyn made vampire donuts to bring to his class at school:

I read "Green Eggs and Ham" to the kindergarteners:

We had a backyard birthday party, with an obstacle course theme.  It was a hot day, but the kids had a great time.

Playing catch up!

No posts for a long time because I've been busy.  In 2016, we went to Disney World in January:

Sadly, my father passed away later in January.  But life got better in February as we closed on our house in Rock Hill and became homeowners!  We enrolled our kids in Webster Groves schools and love the area.

In 2016, we also attended two very special weddings:
Sarah and Chica (Michigan, August 2016):

Melanie and Chris (St. Louis, December 2016) at which Caleb was the ring bearer and Avery was an usher (Carolyn officiated!):

More recent-ish updates to come soon, hopefully!