Africa!

My parents had the wonderful opportunity to spend six weeks in Africa doing a measles vaccination mision for the Red Cross. What an experience! They sent home email after email filled with amazing stories and incredible pictures. It was such fun to live vicariously through them! They saw practically every big and small animal there is to see in Kenya right up close! We were especially jealous of the BIG CATS!!! Thank you so much for sharing this with us guys!!

A Christmas Full of Wonder...from the eyes of a little one

Christmas was such an exciting day!!

Last Christmas was really special having Jadeyn to enjoy, but this one was a blast!!!! He tore his presents open one by one, but would then play with each one for at least 20 minutes or more before he would be ready to open the next one. We have some great videos of his exuberance, especially with his new fishing pole! His favorite summer activity of course is fishing and we can't wait to take him again. Saddest thing though when he took Kevin by the hand, had his fishing pole in the other and lead him to the back door to go fishing! He really thought that we wold head right out to the lake!! He's a pretty cute kid.

His remote control car was a hit too. It has two buttons: backward and forward and it has already ran a few miles around our house. So, he got a fishing pole, remote control car, Lightning McQueen car, Blanket and outfit from grandma Pete, tool set from a neighbor, educational toys from Dr Trudell, Cars story book. Kev got the Dirty Harry Collection and a huge frying pan, and I got my Cricut machine!!!!! Fun Fun! (Yeah the Cricut was one I bought after Thanksgiving and had been hiding it until I could receive it from 'Santa'! We also got a CD set and a beautiful book about my parents recent trip to Africa. Our main present was our TV and BluRay which we have been thoroughly enjoying for a few weeks!!


Jadeyn opened one gift on Christmas Eve. A beautiful fleece blanket made by Grandma Pete.

Waiting on the stairs for Christmas to begin.

The fishing pole! Jadeyn's highlight of Christmas.
He can hardly handle the anticipation for summer!

Enjoying Christmas Goodies!




What's in this present!!?!?!?

We also got to enjoy a beautifully peaceful WHITE CHRISTMAS! The snow began to fall a few days before the big day and kept coming. We even got a fresh dusting on Christmas day itself to make it a Marshmallow World!




The rest of the day was a lazy relaxing one (well, as relaxing as you can get with a toddler!) Jadeyn finally crashed!!!!! He wore his little self out after all the excitement. (so did we!)

Jingle All The Way!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!

What a wonderful year 2009 has been. Who knew that it was possible for life to just keep getting better.

As you all know, Jadeyn, our little boy, joined the family in April ‘08, so this is our first full year with our little munchkin. He has definitely been the highlight of our year. His little creative mind keeps him into all sorts of fun trouble and he entertains us constantly. He hasn’t stopped us from doing any of the things that we love, in fact he has only increased them.

We camped & fished as much as possible this summer. We discovered that Jadeyn loves the outdoors just like we do, he relishes getting dirty & he LOVES to fish. In fact, one of his first words was fish, right after learning to say ball of course! We explored so many new campgrounds and have loved our new “family tent” which kept us cozy even above 10,000 feet. A summer full of fish, pine needles and fun. Rebecca caught a whopper of a Brook trout in a high mountain lake, which kinda put Kevin to shame, but wow!

We went on several amazing trips this year. We went to Florida’s three National Parks to continue our goal of seeing all of the National Parks in the US. What an marvelous trip! The Everglades were just as breathtaking & mysterious as we expected. Exotic birds & allusive alligators, & the noise of the swamps was amazing.

Biscayne & Dry Tortugas came with some incredible boat rides complete with dolphins & manatees. We’ve stood by our rule that whenever we find a dirt road at a national park: take it. You will never be disappointed! Then of course, we had to stop off at Key West and South Beach!

Hershey’s Park, PA was another fun highlight of our year. We couldn’t go through a whole year without visiting an Amusement Park could we? We flew to Pennsylvania with two of Kevin’s sister’s: Jessica & Stephanie and family, & had such a great time with them. Who knew & entire amusement park could smell like chocolate?

We stayed in Hershey Lodge where when you walk in the door, you just have to smile sweetly & you are given a full sized Hershey bar!! Rides, shows, roller coasters, chocolate & more chocolate!!

Life in the working world has been going very well. Kevin’s optometry practice is doing great. The office remodel is finished and is beautiful. His practice has continued to grow & thrive through the tough economy & he enjoys helping his patients everyday. Anyone need an eye exam: stop on by! Rebecca continues to enjoy working part time for a plastic surgeon/ENT & being able to spend the rest of the time with Jadeyn. Two days at work a week is perfect!

We truly have been blessed with a wonderful year. We hope that all is well with all our friends and family!

This year was great & we enjoy every moment that life gives us.

Merry Christmas!

Kevin Rebecca Jadeyn Dozer & Newt

Thanksgiving 2009

What a Hoot!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Ka-Pow!

Oh, the fun things kids can figure out. Jadeyn has had more fun with this collapsible cup: it has kept him entertained in many ways. Here he has figured out that he can catapult the lid across the room. Bot is he proud of himself!!

When the sun finally shines

After several dismal but crisply beautiful frigid days, the sun finally came out today! Nights well below zero and days not even reaching the teens: we were ready for a little sun. It practically felt like a touch of spring had reached us. Here in the Cottrell household we long for the summer: fishing, hiking, playing in the park, being warm, but most of all we long for camping! We are already planning our next national park trip and the anticipation helps the cold not seen so constant. :)