Grossman family west

Happy Thanksgiving GFW fans! The Patriots are playing on Thanksgiving this year (woohoo!) so, even though we’ll be eating turkey, we thought we’d send along a couple of family pictures in the spirit of eating and football… which have gone together since well before the NFL made it official with Thanksgiving day games.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Avi and Daddy enjoy some pizza and football

We’re thankful for our family…

Gobble Gobble

Halloween is Grossman Family West’s favorite holiday of the year and this year we embraced a spooktacular week of events with lots of friends. We made Halloween cookies, visited a pumpkin farm (we got there by train!), dressed up in costume for various events (including a party for parents—can you guess what Holly and Joel are dressed up as?) and, of course, we went trick or treating as a family (Ezra’s first time)! We’re sad that Halloween is over but we have already started planning for next year.

We had so much fun that we had a tough time narrowing down the pictures and videos to share with you… but ultimately we succeeded and there’s a new Halloween 2012 album in the Photo Gallery just waiting for you!

Ezra the Spider catches a lift on Daddy the Wolf (in Grandma’s clothing)

Earlier this summer, Aunt Robin and Aunt Liz each took trips to our new house to visit us and we had a blast with everyone. As a special treat, Aunt Liz brought Cousin Carson AND our brand-new Cousin Parker, whom we met for the first time! The highlight of Aunt Robin’s visit was surely the hand-crafted Tow Mater costume that she made for Avi’s tricycle, which began a weeks-long fascination with towing things around the house. Meanwhile, Aunt Liz and Cousins Carson and Parker joined us for bike rides and a Sukkah party.

We’ve captured their visits in a new album now posted in the Photo Gallery.

Aunt Robin and Avi make bring Tow Mater to life

Ezra has made some impressive progress lately: increasing his vocabulary, improving his animal sounds, throwing balls around the house, and even riding a tricycle. However, we have seen (with increasing frequency) a sure indication that this 21 month year-old (well, 22 months now) is ready to turn two: perfection of the adorable temper tantrum when something in his daily life just doesn’t break his way. These aren’t overly frequent so, as “experienced” parents (thank you, Avi!), we actually find Ezra’s tantrums pretty adorable. Please don’t report us to CPS.

Seriously, you be the judge (also added to the Photo Gallery):

I AM TURNING TWO!

Back in MAY we had a blast with all our family and good pals in Seattle. We got to meet the highly anticipated Baby Lucien! We shared some QT with cousins Rebecca and Dan who not only hosted us at their house, but they entrusted their newest addition, Keeney, to Avi, who turned out to have quite good dog-walking skillz. Go Avi! We celebrated Addison’s 2nd birthday by decorating our own cupcakes, and even got some batting practice in on the same day. Cousins Carson and Jennah showed us one of their favorite parks where we shared a sunny Seattle day with friends and family.  Birgit, Adriano, Massimo, and Vivi, as always, showed us an exceptionally good time at their house and we cherished every moment. Overall, it was a phenomenal trip which reminded us yet again how blessed we are to have the whole Seattle crew in our lives.

We have posted a new album to the Photo Gallery.

Visiting our growing family in Seattle!

(Today’s post is a guest post by Gigi!)

Wow, is right!! Avi and Ezra met their Great Grandma Helen, Gigi’s Momma. At 94 she is still sharp as a tack and loves playing games and being social just as much as ever. We saw so many relatives; Mommy’s Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. We fed Uncle Chuck’s cows and he took us for a ride on his tractor. We played at Uncle Ron’s campground and roasted marshmallows for s’mores… mmm. We helped Uncle Chuck harvest kidney beans and squash beans. We toted them all the way home to Lafayette and cooked them. That’s what we call Farm to Fork! Whew, Minnesota in September is sure fun!!

Avi, Mommy, and Ezra having fun in Minnesota