January 2018

Our January was filled with playing with Christmas toys and travels to Utah. Mostly just me trying to survive the last little bit of pregnancy!

These are a couple of the new outfits the girls were given that they just love.

Grandpa Beutler gave the kids an airplane teeter-totter for Christmas. We put it together in the garage so they can play with it no matter the weather. Come summer we'll move it to the back, but right now they're loving it.

Happy Golden Birthday, Cole! He turned 7 on January 7th. We sure love this kid!

This year he wanted a Yo-Kai Watch cake (something like Pokemon - don't ask me), so I did my best. His favorite color right now is green, and some of his favorite gifts included books, puzzles,and things to build. 

Clara has been begging to take "bal-la-leigh" for quite a while now and I finally got her enrolled in a class. She absolutely loves getting to do a big kid class and is quite the little dancer. At barely 3 years old she is as tall as most of the 5 year olds in her class...

It was my goal to totally finish Clara's big girl quilt before our new little girl gets here, and I finally did! Quilting, binding and all. It is bright and happy, just like our sweet Clara. Now we just have to finish painting her furniture and decorating the rest of the room.

Our big adventure in January was traveling to Salt Lake City for Dave's sister, Melissa's wedding. The airplane ride sounded so exciting for the kids, but an early morning and waiting in the airport didn't turn out to be quite as fun as they expected. We made it through with lots of snacks and electronics relatively uneventful (especially considering I was 35 weeks pregnant and did not give birth on the plane).

We could not be happier for Melissa and James! Congratulations to them!!!!

The girls took a particular liking to Aunt Kaela after she cut their hair and made them feel like princesses.

The reception was so beautiful! Hopefully we'll have more pictures to share later.

December 2017 - Part 2

We had a whirlwind of craziness for Christmas. The very first thing the kids did when we got to Grandma and Grandpa Blacker's house was raid their dress-up closet and play with her kids nativities.

The second thing they did was make reindeer cookies with Grandma. All three of them are little bakers at heart and love to help out in the kitchen. Mom's eyes are really sensitive to light right now so she always has her dark glasses on.

The third thing the kids did was Grandma and Grandpa's bouncy house and slide. No shortage of fun things to do.

We also got to meet our new baby nephew/cousin, Bryce (Russ and Katie's son). Cole was particularly excited to have another boy cousin.

Uncle Russell can get Lexi going higher than she's used to on Grandpa's swings - she loved it.

Grandma Beutler gave the girls new church dresses for their birthdays and Christmas- they were the cutest little girls on Christmas Eve.

Boys and their cars.

Christmas Morning! Most of the grand kids lined up at the bottom of the stairs ready to go open presents.

We gave my dad a magic set for Christmas - I'm not sure if Dave was more excited to give it to him or my dad to receive it.

Baby Lily's first Christmas!

Dave was also pretty excited to give Russ his "Roto Wipe".

There were no shortage of helpers opening presents. It didn't really matter if it was theirs or not.

One of Clara's favorite gifts this year was "Harry" from her books. He does not leave her side now!

After all of the present opening the grand kids headed on a hike with Grandpa to climb some rocks. The weather in Albuquerque was absolutely beautiful the whole time we were there!

Cuddles with cousins and Grandma while watching "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas".

And of course crafts with the cousins.

Grandma busted all the goodies to make gingerbread houses with the grand kids. I think Cole ate more candy than he actually used to build his house, and Lexi definitely spent the most time and effort making her's painstakingly perfect.

Ta-Da!

Clara seemed to think that it was easier to eat the candy off of her gingerbread house by just chomping at it rather than using her hands. It was quite entertaining to watch.

The cousins spent a ton of time playing in the sand together over the trip - it was so nice outside!

Russ and Katie blessed baby Bryce right before they had to leave. Isn't he the cutest, happiest little guy you've ever seen?! It definitely did my very-pregnant momma heart good to get some snuggles in with this little guy.

Bryan, Aubri and Jadelyn weren't able to make it out until after Christmas, but these two cousins still had some fun play time together. Lily and Jade are only 5 months apart.

Grandma did a mini photo-shoot with our kiddos before we had to leave. Aren't they adorable?!

Cole loves playing "Ogre Croquet" with Grandpa (an over-sized version of croquet you play with large metal hoops and exercise balls).