Buffalo Buckeyes

Mother's Day Chapel

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 May 2014 18:28:00 +0000

Our little Abigail did a great job in the Mother's Day Chapel this morning!

Happy (early) Mother's Day to my amazing wife Lisa and all the other moms out there!

Say cheese!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:21:00 +0000

As you can see, getting these pictures can be something of a process!

(If you're reading this in an email, you might not be able to see that these pictures are actually animations, so go ahead and click through to the post to see what I'm talking about!)

Easter/birthday weekend in Geneva

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:19:00 +0000

We visited with my parents in Geneva for Easter, and we fit in a bit of celebration for Bethany's birthday too!

(apparently taking selfies isn't something that needs to be taught...)

A trip to the zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:10:00 +0000

Lisa had the day of last Friday, so we took the chance for a trip to the zoo, always a favorite with the girls!

(the animals in this picture were engaging in some less than family-friendly activities; hence, the look on my wife's face)

Roller Skating

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 20:43:00 +0000

We took the girls to the skating rink last night. It had been quite a while since any of the girls skated, but by the end of the night, Bethany and Rebekah had gained a lot of confidence. Even Abby, who spent a vast majority of the evening on the sidelines with me, was starting to feel more comfortable in her skates!

(Abby wouldn't go out on the floor for the Chicken Dance, so she did it herself!

I can think of at least one thing our girls will be doing a lot of this summer!

Eternal Flame

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:29:00 +0000

We took the girls on a hike to see the Eternal Flame Sunday afternoon, and despite the hike being much wetter & muddier than we anticipated, we all had a great time!

A Couple More from the Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 21:20:00 +0000

I forgot I had some more pictures left on my phone, so here are a few more shots from Aunt Sarah & Uncle Duane's wedding day!

The Wedding!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 21:09:00 +0000

Our girls (officially) got one new uncle and two new cousins earlier this month! Here are just a few shots from the big day:

Congrats to the newly expanded family; we love you guys!

Abigail (our BABY) is 4!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 19:53:00 +0000

(This was alluded to in the catch-up post, but it seemed like it deserved its own post, too!)

I'm still not sure I've processed that fact yet, but it's true nonetheless: Abby is FOUR years old. Yikes.

As is our way, after it was all said and done, there was more than one official celebration, including a big party with Abby's classmates!

Abby told us several months ago she wanted a rock party, so there was gem mining:

Rock-painting:

Blarney stones with a prize inside:

And dirt cake!

It's hard to believe how fast this little girl is growing up!

The February & March Catch-Up Post

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 19:46:00 +0000

With March almost done, it would appear it's time to play another round of catch-up on the ol' blog.

The last time you saw us, we were celebrating the confirmation of now very-soon-to-be Uncle Duane. A month and a half ago (for shame!).

Since then we have...

Played in the sand at the mall:

Went to Michigan for Great Grandpa Brown's memorial service, and took a side-trip to Bronner's:

Took in the Maker Faire:

Celebrated Abby's birthday a couple times:

(more pictures to come in another post)

And joined with family for yet another memorial service:

As you can see, we've been busy, and as usual, I've been bad at posting. One of these days...

Catechumen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 18:58:00 +0000

I'll admit it: I did not know that was a word before yesterday.

Soon-to-be-Uncle Duane was confirmed at Trinity Sunday, so we attended the service and had a fun lunch in the school gym after to celebrate!

You will be forgiven for thinking the only things the kids did were pull each other around on scooters and swing from ropes, that's just all we managed to get pictures of them doing. There were also frisbees.

Cold in Collins

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 18:51:00 +0000

When we were about halfway to Collins Saturday, on our way to spend some time out in the snow with Aunt Sarah and soon-to-be-Uncle Duane, Rebekah asked what state we were in. Point is, it's a bit of a drive, but sadly, it is not so far away that February was any warmer when we arrived.

So we gathered our snow gear and headed outside!

(Duane pulled the kids around in tubes with the 4-wheeler)

(Lisa got in on the action, too!)

That was the last picture of Rebekah before she bailed out and went back inside with Abby and Lisa; she wasn't even really trying to look happy anymore. The rest of us took a hike to the creek!

Needless to say, the girls were all pretty wiped out that night. (Their cousin Hayden, on the other hand...)

Hide and Snow Seek

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 17:20:00 +0000

Over the weekend, we went to the park and played hide and go seek in the snow!

(Bethany's under that mound of snow somewhere...)

(Abby asked to be buried, too. She didn't care for it.)

(She managed to muscle out a smile this time...)

(...but by this time, she was done trying!)

We all had lots of fun, and on the way home, we had three tired, mostly happy girls!

Crafts & Games

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:24:00 +0000

Just some pictures from the last few days: lots of games and lots of crafts--specifically, making those loom bracelets that are all over the place lately.

Seriously, we are ALL ABOUT these looms in the Lafferty house these days. It sure is a good thing our girls were given two, because Bethany and Rebekah both LOVE them!

Pizza-Time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 13:51:00 +0000

The kids helped make our dinner last night: we had a white pizza and a pineapple pizza, and they were delicious!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 14:56:00 +0000

Just a few pictures from our New Year's Eve!

Game time:

Snack time:

Midnight! (Or 9:00pm. Whichever.)

Happy New Year from the Laffertys! We hope your 2014 is a blessed one!

Christmas with the cousins

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 21:00:00 +0000

We had a massive present-opening with Lisa's family on Saturday. How massive, you ask? I realized going through the pictures today that there were presents opened by my own children I didn't manage to see that day. The whole thing was huge, and pretty much a blur.

So I'm just going to dump a bunch of pictures here, now. Enjoy!

(Despite being the family that travels the most, somehow we were the last ones to own a DVD player for the car, and even then it had to be gifted to us. If you already knew it's because we're cheap, you win!)

(Don't let this picture fool you: she loves this loom and didn't even mind that it was the second one she'd gotten this Christmas. I just thought this picture was really funny, and I appreciate how well it accidentally captures the "are we done yet?" feeling with which I was growing more and more familiar at about this point.)

(We gave Jonas a Stomp Rocket, because they are AWESOME. I had one when I was a kid, and I still make my parents get it out when we're visiting them in warm weather.)

And with that, our holidays are complete!

Or are they...?

Up next: New Year's Eve!

Sledding

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 21:00:00 +0000

The day after Christmas, we went sledding for the second time this season. Who'd have thought that would be a surprising fact for a family living in Buffalo?

Up next: Christmas with the cousins!

Christmas Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Is there anything better than Christmas morning with little kids? (Answer: nope!)

(guess who wasn't quite ready for this picture the first time around...)

(...but she got there eventually!)

(Whaddaya mean, I need barrettes?)

(this game is surprisingly difficult, and Rebekah is surprisingly good at it)

(Lisa modelling her new winter hat)

(Beth with her new sewing kit)

(Bekah on her new beanbag)

(And Abby with her Tinker Toys)

With present-opening done for the day, it's time to relax and wait for New Year's, right?

WRONG.

Up next: sledding!

Christmas Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 13:07:00 +0000

In addition to the Christmas pageant, which includes only the Preschool through 2nd grade classes, each year Trinity has a Christmas celebration where all the grades perform a little reminder of what Christmas is about. It's always fun to watch, especially when your kids are as cute as ours!

(despite not going on stage again, Abby got a post-performance hug from her big sister)

And with that, we're all caught up and ready for the coming avalanche of pictures. Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!

Snow at last!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 13:01:00 +0000

I'm pretty convinced Abby didn't really have a good concept of what snow is until recently. The first couple winters of her short life were, to put it mildly, pretty wimpy. Last weekend, though, we visited Grandma Miriam & Papa Jon and the girls got their first really good snowy sledding outing in a long time!

Pre-Christmas Catch-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 12:56:00 +0000

As is my way, I'm way behind on posting here. Christmas is only 4 days away, though, which means my online photo albums are about to be exploding with pictures of presents and family and all sorts of things, so I thought I'd catch up a bit on what's been going on lately. You know, clear the queue.

Halloween

This year, we all dressed up together as Gru & his family from the Despicable Me movies:

Nailed it.

November

I can't lie, we took virtually no pictures last month.

(I call this her crazy face)

(Very cute, but we're still working on teaching this one how to smile in photos)

We spent Thanksgiving in Michigan with family, and while we don't have many pictures to prove it, we had a wonderful time!

Getting ready for Christmas

(Like I said, still working on the smiling...)

(And once more with the crazy face!)

(This broken ornament had about as rough a season as OSU did...)

Advent at Trinity

First there was the school Advent celebration, with food and fellowship and loads of games. Again, though, almost no pictures:

And then there was the school Christmas pageant, which featured 2 1/2 of our little angels:

(Kindergarten joins the fun)

(And finally, the preschool class jumps in for a bit!)

(But Abby stayed glued to this spot. Only one out of three with debilitating stage fright; not too bad...)

(Our angel)

The First Christmas

Sorry, not that one. We had an early Christmas with Grandma Miriam & Papa Jon, so now when Christmas day does come, our kids will be all warmed up and ready to go!

(As always, Bekah actually LOVED all her presents; smiling naturally in pictures is seriously not her best thing!)

(Guess who will be lots of magnifying in the near future...)

Merry (Early) Christmas!

SC & DC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 20:31:00 +0000

We took a trip to South Carolina for my cousin's wedding last month. We went a few days early and spent a couple nights in Myrtle Beach, and on the way back home, we stopped in Washington DC to visit my college roommate.

Obviously, the trip involved a LOT of driving, but the girls were real troopers, and we all had a lot of fun!

Myrtle Beach

(this was the last time Abby saw this restaurant awake)

Broadway on the Beach & Ripley's Aquarium

One last morning on the beach

The wedding

Washington DC

Our time in DC was very limited, so we hopped on the train...

...ran around the Air & Space Museum for an hour...

...saw some sights from afar...

...and took the train back to our car!

From DC we headed home, very tired, but full of amazing new family memories!

An a-maze-ing day!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 19:37:00 +0000

For the second year in a row, we took the girls to a local farm last month to do both a corn maze and a wooden maze. The weather was better than we could have hoped for, and the girls loved it!

Stay tuned tomorrow for more catching up!

Happy (belated) birthday, Jonas!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 20:46:00 +0000

So I've been working on some changes to the blog, namely moving it to my own domain and perhaps even changing to Wordpress, but without unlimited amounts of time to fiddle with that, it has proven more an annoyance than anything else. Point is, I've been ignoring this version of the blog, so my apologies to all who have missed seeing pictures of our girls on a slightly less infrequent basis.

Our nephew Jonas turned 7 last month(!), and while his mother has already blogged about the festivities nicely, here are a few pictures of the weekend from the Lafferty perspective!

Happy (very belated) birthday, Jonas!

I'm running low on time today, so stay tuned tomorrow for another post catching you up with what we've been doing lately!