Blizzard 2010 AKA Snowmageddon

Ethan is having a blast in the snow. He could be outside all day!
Good luck with that one dad!
Ethan's idea of helping out with the shoveling.
Ethan's snow cave.

So as you may have heard on the news, we are in the midst of the biggest snow storm ever recorded in DC history. I actually love snow and throw in the bonus of Jay getting off of work this whole week thus far, and this has been a great time! We lost electricity for about half a day, but other than that, have been having a great time sledding, shoveling, and hanging out inside playing games. Hopefully the snow ends soon though, because it's a little rough getting around. DC is just not equipped for this kind of snow and even 3 days after the big snowfall roads are still snowpacked and icy. The other issue is the fact that if you didn't have snow gear to start out with, you are out of luck - you can't find shovels, snow boots, snow pants, gloves, sleds etc anywhere in the area - it is all sold out.

First Taste of Food - not such a hit!

So Avery is really giving us trouble with sleeping at night, so I thought I would try giving her some real food in the evening to see if it stays in her tummy longer and she will sleep better. She's almost 5 months, so I thought she might be up for some yummy rice cereal, but I think she's not quite ready. I don't know that any actually was swallowed, it all just came back out, but she sure looked cute!

Not sleepy - part 2

So in the ongoing saga of Ethan's crazy new sleep habits, the other night he was really fighting us on going to bed. So finally we shut the door despite his cries and went into our bedroom to wait out the storm. He soon stops crying and as Jay and I are congratulating ourselves on our stellar parenting skills, I walk out into the living room and notice his door is open. So I peek inside his room - no Ethan. I search around. Still can't find him. I start to search the rest of the house and still can't find him. I am starting to get a little worried at this point and am going through the house, calling to Jay that I can't find Ethan. Then I happen to see something under this console table and realize it is Ethan fast asleep! He must have snuck out of his room and hid from us, then fell asleep! He is so funny!

Happy Birthday Dad!

When Ethan was asked "How old do you think Papa is?" he quickly responded, "20 bucks!". So glad we could share this day with you dad! We love you!

My First Christmas!

I just love this picture of Avery! She is so beautiful!

Avery's Baby Blessing

This was such a fun and special day. We blessed Avery on Christmas day at Rich and Jaime's house. She was a little, shall we say vocal throughout the blessing, but it was a very beautiful blessing and we were so grateful to have all of Jay's family there.

Malibu Beach

Here are a few more pictures from Malibu Beach. It was such a beautiful, fun day I had to post a few more pictures. Ethan, Kate and Sydney had so much fun playing in the sand and especially running up and down the beach chasing birds. The last pic is of Autie C with all the kids in the hole they dug.

Top 15 Moments of Christmas 2009 - New Mexico

I am so far behind on posting, the only way to catch up is to sum it up in a top 15 list! So here are the top moments from Christmas 2009, in no particular order. A few of these I will be posting additional pictures because one just isn't enough! For Christmas we went to California and spent time with Jay's family. Afterward, the kids and I went on to New Mexico to see my family. We had a blast in both places and enjoyed spending time with everyone! We love you all!

#1: This was the funniest thing ever - we had a blast pulling the sleds behind the 4-wheeler around this huge field behind my parent's house and Ethan loved it so much he never wanted to stop. So at one point I look down and he is asleep - completely out. The next day we are doing this again and we actually get into a crazy crash, all of us fell off the sleds. We look at Ethan sprawled out and he is asleep! He didn't even wake up for the crash. Misty and I were laughing so hard we couldn't stand up. This kid is a deep sleeper! Too bad we didn't have a camera with us for the sleeping crash!

#2: Seeing cousins! This is my niece Kammee, and her boys, Gavin and Mason. They live in Phoenix and we don't get to see them very much, but Ethan has a blast with the "big boys".
#3: Spending time with Papa - my dad is so great with the kids and they love him. Here he is with Avery.
#4: Honestly, this was the most fun I have had in a long time. When the kids got tired, Misty and I took over the sleds - these are being pulled behind a 4 wheeler by Tanner. We had such a blast! There were some pretty serious wrecks, but luckily no broken bones. Living in a small town you come up with some crazy and fun things to do. So we wrigged these sleds up to pull together. This is actually similar to how I broke my collar bone when I was younger - just on a tube.
#5: Here's Ethan and his cousin Addy (Tanner's cute little girl) on the tamer version of what me and Misty were doing.
#6: Ethan is quite the little dare devil! He was having a blast sledding down this hill and "catching some air". Here is a great pic of his mid-air stunt.
#7: Avery even got in on the snow action!
#8: Off- roading through the snow on the 4-wheelers. Ethan and Addi loved this!
#9: My dad built us this hill so we would have a great place to sled right at the house. It was the big hit of the vacation and we spend hours here sledding.
#10: Ethan and Papa getting some quality time - Ethan had a blast with Papa and probably wore him out!

#11: Here's the gang on one of the 4-wheelers. So much fun!

Top Moments of Christmas 2009 - California

#12: The trampoline was a definite hit! Ethan loves the "jumpy jump" and he and Sydney wore themselves out daily jumping!

#13: Avery's baby blessing - we had Avery's blessing at Rich and Jaime's house and it was just so sweet to have the whole family together.
#14: Christmas morning opening presents with Sydney, Carson and the crew. I love this pic of Ethan and Aves together! So cute.
#15: Another Christmas morning with the cousins
#16: Disneyland! Need I elaborate! The kids had a blast

#17: Malibu Beach - Just beautiful! This was such a peaceful, beautiful, perfect day. We ate at a fun restaurant then took the kids to play at the beach. More pics to come on this awesome day!

#18: The Polar Express: A train with Santa on it - what's not to love?

#19:Spending time with Nona and Pop-pop. Ethan and Avery are so lucky to have such great grandparents!