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!

I'm not sleepy!

So we took Ethan's binky away completely, which he had previously been using strictly for sleep and he has been having a bit of a rough time getting to bed. It was a very rough two weeks and after one particularly difficult night Jay and I checked on Ethan after and hour or two of him intermittently whining and peeking out the door to find him completely passed out in this position! So funny. One night he also made his way to the living room and sat behind the sofa insisting he wasn't tired. Two minutes later I peeked out to see him fast asleep in a sitting position. Crazy kid! Luckily he is pretty much back on track now with sleeping, except naps are a thing of the past!

The First Snow of the Year

We had our first big snow storm at the beginning of December so we rushed out, bought some snow pants, boots and a sled and Jay and Ethan headed to the sled hill. I stayed behind with Aves in the nice warmth of home sipping hot cocoa and reading Jane Austen, but they had a blast! Nest year me and Avery will be out there!

RJ and Court

Jay's sis Court and her husband RJ came to visit from Philly for Thanksgiving and we were so glad to have them! It just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving without family and now that Eric and Brooke have sadly abandoned us for the warmer Cali climate (I'm wiping away a tear as I type - we almost had them convinced that the 4 seasons are a necessary part of life and that Virginia hams are better than In 'n Out) we are glad to still have Court and RJ so close by! So here are just a couple of my favorite pics of them with Avery while they were here! I love the picture with RJ imitating Avery's funny sleeping position - so cute!