January 2017

Another great month in the books. January blew by in a flash. Here is what we were up to.

The kids have been the best of friends lately (and sometimes the worst of enemies). Nothing makes me happier than watching the three of them play together. I sure love these crazy kiddos. In this pictures they were dancing in a train around the house. 

The St. George City Commerce had a gala were they award local businesses with different honors. Inn on the Cliff and Cliffside Restaurant won for best customer service. The interviewed my parents before hand and played the interview as part of the presentation. They did an amazing job. It was a fun night to dress up (even though I am super pregnant) and do something a little different than our typical date nights. 

I really don't like being in pictures while I'm pregnant but considering this is probably our last baby I thought I would snap a picture of my baby bump. I feel a lot bigger than I look in this picture. 

Another picture of the kids playing away together. 

We woke up one very cold morning to a bit of snow on the ground. It was really more ice than snow. In fact, it was so icy that they delayed the school start time so the kids got to go out and play with friends before Cason had to leave. I've never seen kids have more fun in an inch of snow. 

Cason finished up his first basketball season. Basketball can be a tricky sport for first and second graders and there was plenty of traveling and double dribbling but it was so cute. Cason did great and had a lot of fun. It was pretty fun for us to watch, too. 

Cason and Dan shooting the BB gun in the back yard.

Cliffside was trying out some new steak options so the girls and I got to meet Dan and my parents in for a steak testing one day. We tasted a ton of different kinds of steak prepared different ways and voted on which ones we liked best. Not a bad lunch! It was all really delicious! 

My parents went to Provo one weekend and brought back Riley for a couple of days before Erin brought down the rest of the kids for a visit. Riley and Cason are the best of buddies. Cason LOVES Riley so much so it was fun to have him around a little extra. Cason was in Heaven. He even got to sleep over one night, which was a big deal for Cason. Kami felt a little left out so she wanted to join in the fun too, and of course then Ellie needed to be involved. It turned into a big slumber party which then turned into tears, haha. Life with kids is always an adventure. 

Ellie turned two! Here the girls are helping me make her birthday cupcakes. They are good little helpers. Kami especially loves to help me with anything and everything. 

Two year olds get a bad wrap with the whole "terrible twos" thing, but two year olds are my absolute favorite! We could not love our Ellie Rose any more. She is a ball of fire and never stops being absolutely adorable. She is talking nonstop and says the funniest things. She was so much fun to watch on her birthday. 

So, we bought the kids a little trampoline for Christmas but made a last minute decision on Christmas day not to give it to them because they were so happy with all the smaller presents. We decided to give it to Ellie on her birthday instead. Cason and Kami were sure excited about it, and all the kids were very hands on in helping Dan put it together. We have it set up in the garage and they have been playing on it nonstop since. 

Blowing out her birthday candles! Grandma, Grandpa and Ellie came over to celebrate with us. 

St. George Children's museum never disappoints. They even added a fun, new dinosaur room. 

We finally got to meet the May's newest addition. Allison Sky was born in December. She is so so sweet and we had fun passing her around for a few days while they were down here. Cason was especially taken by her and didn't want to put her down. It made me excited to add another little baby to our family. 

Ellie was excited to hold her, too. Kami, on the other hand was a little too shy to hold her. 

So I turned the big 30 this month. Dan and I thought it would be fun to go on a little getaway for my birthday. We have never been away from the kids for more than one night since Cason has been born and with a new baby coming soon be figured we better go now or it would be a long time before we got the opportunity again. I was so so so excited. We looked at all sorts of different vacation options and settled on Catalina Island because it wouldn't take too long to travel there, was inexpensive, and seemed like a nice, non-stressful weekend. Dan and I don't have the best of luck traveling together and it turns out this trip was no different. As soon as we landed in Los Angeles we got an email saying that due to bad weather the ferries out to Catalina Island were canceled. So we ended up renting a car and driving up the coast toward Malibu. We looked for places to eat and stay along the way  and found some nice places. Planning a last minute vacation in a storm and being pregnant kind of tied our hands but it was still really nice having a few uninterrupted days to ourselves.

This is the only picture we took to document the trip, we are at the Santa Monica Pier. We did get one sunny day (albeit it very cold and windy), so it was nice to walk around and explore a bit, 

We tried to go on a Sunday drive to the Hollywood/Beverly Hills area but the rain was so bad that the roads to get there were block by mud slides, So, we decided to just grab a bite to eat instead which resulted in food poisoning for me. Needless to say, our weekend definitely did not go as planned but we did make lots of memories haha. 

We were excited to get back to the kids. Being away from them always makes me realize how much I love being a stay at home mom. Christie and Cory were nice enough to watch them for us while we were gone. Watching three little kids for three days is no small task and we were so, so grateful they were willing to do it for us. Our kids had a blast with them. This picture was taken on our drive home, Dan rolled the window down for Ellie on the freeway in the freezing cold and she thought it was the funniest thing ever!

I sure love these three! Our neighborhood is right across the street from the church so we walk every Sunday. Sacrament meeting with these three is always an adventure. I'm pretty sure our family is just the entertainment for all the teenagers that sit around us. We try really, really hard to keep them reverent but are very rarely successful. I feel like I have run a marathon when sacrament is over.

The girls building a pretend campfire in the back yard. They love to play together and I love their little imaginations! 

We finally finished our office addition and got new soft carpet in there and replace the carpet in our family room. The kids loved it way more than I expected them too. They ran around on it like this forever. 

Our kids favorite activity to do with Grandpa is to wrestle! He is a good sport to get down on the ground with them and let them crawl all over him. This picture only has Ellie in it but usually it is all three of them attacking him at the same time.