Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Already behind in the new year!

I have sat down time and time again to update the blog and one thing or another has gotten my attention instead! So, this is a long and random post, but has lots of fun photos and memories!

I think it is safe to say that Julia enjoys playing with all her new toys from Christmas.


And Max seems to be all better after his bout with HGE.


Somehow I did forget to post photos of Max's birthday! Happy 3rd birthday buddy!


Enjoying his popcorn, apples and cheese.


Exchanging gifts with Jenny and Emily Ridder.




We went to a movie and just happened to run into some of our cousins!


The girls and I at Christmas dinner.


Visiting Grandma Ann's grave.


Julia got a new car seat!


Julia and I clowning around waiting for Natalie in the pick up line.





Eating lunch with Natalie and some friends!


Amy's birthday!

Gifts from the family!


Lunch with Kendra.



Dinner with the family with a super yummy bundt cake!






Jami at my birthday dinner!


Julia using the new makeup app.


Julia and her friend Natalie making pizza's for lunch at a playdate.





Pioneer Day at Julia's school! So much fun and too cute.


Crushing corn to make corn meal.



Making butter.


Eating our corn muffins with the butter we churned!


Petting a baby goat.


Petting a pig.


Roping a steer.




Washing clothes.




Peeling apples.


Another lunch with Natalie and friends.


Julia "accidentally" hit Natalie right in the mouth/head with a swing. Poor girl looked pretty bad.




We went to the ranch for a long weekend and had a great time!

Chasing the girls with the Ranger to run off some energy.


The girls driving.



The girls and the cows.




The cows were very excited to see us.


Here is a photo of one of the ponds. It is named Valentine Pond.



Julia found a few turkey feathers.


Standing at the entrance sign.


Giving the cows some treats from the Ranger.


Julia the cow whisperer.


Natalie driving again!


A couple of panoramic photos I took.




Meeting with Abbie and Ethan to exchange gifts!






These are a couple of photos from Julia's gym class.



And here are a few videos.

Natalie acting in a class play - The Little Red Hen as the cat


Natalie as the narrator in her class play - The Three Bears


Natalie playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star


Natalie asking for Jump Rope for Heart donations. She was so serious about this!

Monday, January 4, 2016

Happy 2016!

I had a few Christmas photos left on my phone....

Julia and I Christmas Eve shopping at Target...getting a little craze with all the people!


Pa Pa getting into the Christmas Spirit!


Us on Christmas morning....loving every minute!!


During Christmas break the girls played bean boozled. It is a game created by Jelly Belly, where two jelly beans look exactly the same, but taste dramatically different! For example, the white might be coconut or baby wipe flavored. The green might be lime or fresh cut grass or booger flavored! It was too gross.


We celebrated New Years Eve with friends and family at a local bowling alley - bowling, eating pizza, dancing and driving go karts! It was a wonderful time!



Natalie dancing and bowling!


Mi Mi with her girls.


Jami and Ella.




Double blowers!


Julia bowling.





Natalie bowling.



Happy 2016!






2016 was filled with:
Really hard moments - moments that brought us to our knees and brought us closer than we ever thought to friends and family and our faith.

Moments that were so fun, I would want to relive them again and again.

Moments that had me catching my heart in my throat, with how much I love my kids and how proud I am of them. 

Moments we celebrated each other and our friends - which are so few and far between, yet so important when we do.

Here's to 2016, hoping that the happy moments outweigh the sad.

Puppy Love!

We just love our pup!