Thanksgiving Weekend 2006We begged Keri to come to the cabin with us to relax and do nothing but sleep and watch movies. We did not fall through with that promise. I believe we watched 5 movies. Yeah for us.
We also made it outside for a little sledding on our favorite hill which is happily situated just outside the Welch cabin. Jeromy and Carrie I know you are thinking of putting off your visit to the cabin, but I promise it is so fun and relaxing. Are you sure you can't make it? We promise to provide yummy hot chocolate and biscotti.

Turkey Trot 2006Turkey Trot 2006 was put together at the last minute. Wanna-be runner, Sharalee Welch wanted to run in the Turkey Trot 5K but felt like she had lost her chance due to crazy circumstances. On the morning of Thanksgiving, her husband, Ben Welch urged her on, saying, "How many Turkey Trots are there a year? You don't want to miss out on this one." After some prodding, this is the great group that turned out for an awesome Turkey Trot. The wind was fierce, but it did not discourage this adventuresome group. Some biked, others were towed in a bike trailer, and the rest jogged their way to the finish line. All wore their entry numbers pinned to their backs. Notable mention was Aaron Welch, who sprinted into the finish line. There is no doubt of his athletic ability and strength.

Shane Dyer and Lauren Barlow To Wed March 10th 2007!




This just in. Shane Dyer decides to commit. His parents are phew-ing, her parents are gasping. His sister's are cheering, his brother's are beaming. As a whole we are happy for them. And for the rest of you who were wondering when Shane "the man" Dyer was going to commit you can quit holding your breaths. The deed is done. They have found each other.

For Shane's 27th birthday he gave 24 year old Lauren, g i r l friend since April, a gift and said all he wanted for his birthday was for her to say she'd marry him. This picture is at his Birthday Party/Engagement party later that night. She of course said, YES.

The two are delightful together and his sister's have noticed that Shane is becoming a better man. Just the other day he offered to do Sharalee's dinner dishes. WHAT? When has Shane ever offered to do the dishes after a dinner? This is the true sign that he is no longer a menace to society. Congratulations Shaner.

These Boots were made for walking and that's just what I'll do.


When we first got these hand me down boots Rosa refused to put them on. It took her a week to warm up to them. She would cry when I'd try to put her feet in them. One day I told her to go put her shoes on so that we could leave the house. I put a pair of socks out and the pink boots next to them and headed downstairs. Next thing I know Rosa comes running into the kitchen with a huge grin on her face, saying, "Sooz, sooz." Her word for shoes. She had put them on herself. She has learned to love the pink plastic boots and can be found wandering the house with only a onesie and boots on. There is something about the boots that give my precious 18 month old a bit of an attitude. I can't help but laugh when I see her put them on.

Civil Disobedience What is the solution for a little G I R L who can't keep her clothes on while in the crib? After what seems like months of laundry, (really it's only been two loads a day for a week) I am at my wits end with the undressing thing.

Method 1, all nighties are accompanied with leggings.
Method 2, multiple layers of clothing to make it trickier to get to the diaper.
Method 3, wearing footed p.j.'s with a zipper, until she mastered the zipper.
Method 4, footed p.j.'s w/ zipper and a t-shirt over the top to deter tiny fingers.
Method 5, footed p.j.'s w/ zipper & a safety pin on the outside to hold the zipper.
Method 6, footed p.j.'s w/ zipper & a safety pin on the inside to hold the zipper.
Method 7, cutting the feet out of footed p.j.'s and putting them on backwards.

Rosie does not just get undressed in the crib, but she also feels the need to U R I N A T E everywhere also. Leaving her mark or if she was a dog, claiming her territory. I used to think she would just get sick of wet diapers and remove them. But she removes perfectly dry diapers also. I'm so glad that I have two sets of crib sheets. We even tried the alarm thing. We thought that if we would run and get Rosie out of her crib the first time we heard her moving around that it would prevent the Claiming of territory but alas, she only makes the "I'm awake" sounds after the sneaky P E E I N G . She is sneaky sneaky. If anyone has other ideas on how we could get her to keep her clothes on we would appreciate it. We really need her to grow out of this before High School.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails That's what little boys are made of.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

That's what little Rosie's are made of.

Peter Pan returns
Rosie made a very adorable Tinkerbelle and Ben a very hairy Peter Pan.
Wiley played Captian Hook one night and Peter Pan for Trick or Treating. Sharalee played Tigerlily. Who is Tigerlily? Please go watch the movie, musical, or read the book. She plays a vital part, really she does.
Priceless. Peter Pan and Captain Hook are friends.

The Beautification of Rosa

I kid you not, my daughter has been called a boy more times than I care to mention. Do people not look for colors that are indicators? Don't her long eyelashes give it away? Nearly every time I take Rosa into public she get comments. "What a cute bouncing baby boy?" "Actually, Sir, It's a bouncing baby FEMALE." Don't let this last picture of her up at the cabin fool you. Even when she wears female related colors the problem persists. So what is the problem? The problem is her hair. She needs more bows and a style that lasts longer than 5 minutes. That would help. Shown here is the beautification of Rosa.
p.s. the non-gender-specific green jacket will only be used at the cabin.

Salem, MassachusettsWhile spending time with our beloved friends Rex and Natalie Nelson, we decided to start using an old word. Can you say "kitschy"? Let's start a movement and bring the word back to everyday use.

The House of Seven GablesIn Salem we toured this cute house in the back ground. It is called the House of Seven Gables. The inspiration for Nathanial Hawthorne's famous book, House of Seven Gables. It was neat-o, but it would have been more neat-o if either of us had read it. Ha.

Who you gonna call?We visited Salem Massachusetts. Strangely enough the city doesn't really focus on the Witch Trials. Instead, they had funny paranormal stores and Frankenstein Spook Alleys. Guess who else was there. That's right, the Ghostbusters. Check out this awesome car. Ben and Rex posed for several pictures in front of it also, but I thought I'd send the world the best view of this stellar car.

We visited Sleepy Hollow cemetery and we saw many famous authors tomb stones. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau. Interestingly enough, their grave sites receive regular visitors. Louisa's tombstone even had fresh flowers on it. The cemetery is one of the nicest we have been to. Perhaps Ben will be buried there one day.