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| The Wellhouse Boys at Pullen Park |
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| Griffy and Daddy on the Pullen Park Train Smile, wave and say "chugga-chugga-choo-choo"! |
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| Sawyer cheesing it up! |
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| Griffin takes on a spring-loaded dinosaur! Giddy-up! |
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| Lounging in the warm sunshine with fresh POPCORN! |
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| Little G on the carousel |
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| Sawyer going round-n-round |
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| Mommy and the boys under a HUGE oak tree! |
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| Spiderman stopped by to ride fire trucks with Griffin. What a swell guy! |
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| Sawyer and the big guy, Santa (Griffin wanted NO part of this action!) |
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| Griffy DID however dig the firetrucks! (How convenient that Santa visits the closest fire station!) |
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| Griffin and Grandma Heide on Christmas Eve |
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| The Wellhouse boys on Christmas morning. Madness and mayhem ensues.... |
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| Griffin flying his new helicopter. |
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| Griffin playing cowboys and Indians with Daddy (Or is Daddy playing and Griffy just gets to watch...) |
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| Sawyer's permanent pose. (Thanks to the STACK of Superhero movies he got for Christmas!) |
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| Griffy providing accompaniment for the Christmas carols. (The boy's got rhythm!) |
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| Johnny on the tiny drums. (Gives whole new meaning to "Little Drummer Boy") |
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| The extended Wellhouse (and Herman) family! |
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| Rounding out the season with another mess by the Monster Mess-Makers! Ooooops! |
The holidays flew by as usual. Grandma Heide and Grandpa Wayne flew to Missouri to visit my brother Roy and his family over Thanksgiving so we spent T-Day at the Hermans (John's sister's family) with a variety of extended family. Craig's mother and nephew were visiting along with John's Uncle Mike, Aunt Jean and cousin Paul. (As well as Paul's girlfriend, Jenny.) It was nice to see everyone and made for a busy, crowded T-day. (Exactly as it should be!) John grilled/smoked a turkey that turned out great. We had a fabulous array of sides, courtesy of the hosts and the many guests. All in all, an excellent meal!
After Thanksgiving (the following Sunday) we took the boys out to Pullen Park. Pullen Park recently re-opened after some major renovations and it is awesome! The city did a great job keeping the parts of Pullen that we all know and love (the train, the carousel, the BIG oak trees) and made it even better! The boys loved it and the weather was perfect. If you all live near here and haven't made it out there yet, we highly recommend it. They also opened a little cafe that serves only natural, local, seasonal fare. This was an especially nice treat for foodies like us!
Grandpa John and Grandma Jill arrived in NC around mid-December and stayed until early January. It was great having both sets of Grandparent's around. The boys reveled in the attention. They never missed a beat with their grandparent's from Pierre. You always wonder how kids will respond when they haven't seen someone in several months, but it was like they never left!
Unfortunately, my brothers didn't make it to NC this year. We were able to Skype my brother Kelly and his family in Alaska on Christmas Eve. They were out playing an impromptu game of ice hockey on the frozen creek behind their house with a role of duct tape! They are always busy finding some clever way to pass the time.
New Year's Day we hosted our traditional feast. John and his Dad brined and slow-smoked a fresh ham. John and I made black-eyed peas in a dutch oven on the smoker the day before. We served those along with mashed potatoes, cabbage and cheesecake for dessert. Yummmmmmy! Both sets of grandparents, the Hermans, and my Mom's sister, Ingrid, joined us. We welcomed 2012 in right!
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a fun-filled New Year!
Love,
The Wellhouse family
Andrea, John, Sawyer, and Griffin
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