Daddy Daughter Sweetheart Dance!

Marissa's school had a daddy daughter dance right around Valentine's day and Ryan was off work!! Marissa was so excited for the dance and loved having her hair done up all fancy. Ryan came home that night afterwards and was totally impressed with the event. They walked in and every girl got a rose made of cloth and a light up ring to keep. While there, they had snacks and lots of music for dancing. They came home a little before the dance ended and I was surprised to see them so soon, but Ryan said Marissa was tired - apparently, she had worn herself out dancing the night away! He showed me a video of her dancing and really getting into it and I wasn't surprised she was tired after that! They both had a great time while Devon and I got to stay home and make some valentine cookies!

Devon's a big boy!

This birthday was all about being a "big boy" for Devon. There are Devon's undies next to him in the picture that he was going to start wearing when he turned 3. He was super excited about his birthday, but not so much about those undies! Even though, according to Devon, he is always a "big boy" he still can't decide sometimes to wear those big boy pants. He had a great birthday, though, filled with legos and trains - every little boy's dreams come true!

Blessing Day!

Sawyer was 3 and a half months on his blessing day. It took a while before we were in town and Ryan could make it to church, but better late than never and Ryan did a wonderful job!


Ryan didn't want me to put on Sawyer's tie because he thought it made him look too old, but I thought it was too adorable to pass up!



Whenever I hold Sawyer, he has started grabbing the hair at the back of my head and using it for his hand-hold. The worst part about it is that he knows that he cute enough to get away with it!

Christmas!

For the second year in a row, we had Christmas at home with just our family. We are starting to get the hang of it and see if we can start some traditions of our own. I think the one of the toughest things about not doing Christmas with family is making sure that I have all the snacks on hand that we need for the holiday because no one else is providing them!



Here's Marissa set up with some snacks ready to watch a movie - this was a common occurrence over the holidays!


Here's Devon checking out their new tent/tunnel...I think he approves!



The kids' big gift this year from Santa was scooters - they absolutely love them and want to ride them everyday...we think Santa is brilliant:)!


Santa hit some sales at Target this year after Halloween and Devon is finally properly outfitted with some boy dress up clothes. Although we are proud to say that it's been quite some time since Devon has wanted to wear a princess dress - he says, "that's girly stuff"!

Snow time!

While out in California, we drove up to the snow with Angie, Clark, Kayla, Kaden, and Sue. While I still think it would be more fun if we actually had snow in our backyard instead of having to drive to it, I have to admit that the kids had a blast for a couple of hours and then we left the snow up in the mountains, which was nice. The kids especially liked the sled rides Ryan took them on and the hot chocolate Clark made them on his coleman stove! All in all, not a bad way to do snow!

Soccer Moms someday!

When we went to California in December, we took a little mini-trip up to Grant's Pass, OR. Emily drove down from Roseburg so we could meet up and see each other's cute babies. We had big plans to be soccer moms together one day...who knows, maybe it will still happen!



Sawyer and Ella

Family Fun!

Ryan's parents came out our way just before Thanksgiving. Aside from staying at the Starr Pass Resort and eating Mexican hotdogs, one of the highlights of their trip was checking out Tombstone. The kids watched a gun show, got cowboy hats, and ate in a saloon (kind of:)...what more could you ask for!


Here's Ryan and the kids with Wyatt Earp...and other cast members of the gun show!






The next week Jim and Sue went up to Sedona with Matt and Amy. The kids and I (and eventually Ryan) crashed the party and had a fun Thanksgiving weekend with them!


Here's Sawyer and Grandpa checking each other out!


Sawyer taking a nap in his favorite place...in someone's arms! Sawyer got some good Grandma time this fall and loved every minute!



Marissa and Taylor never cease to amaze us with how well they get along. Whenever we can get together with Matt and Amy it's so nice because our kids entertain each other!



The day after Thanksgiving Matt and Amy found a place to go bowling. Not only did we get a great deal, but the kids had a blast and I got to feel like my family tradition of bowling on Thanksgiving was kept alive!


Three weeks later, we followed Jim and Sue to California for a 10-day trip that went by way too fast. Among the highlights were a mini trip to Oregon where I got to see my best friend from college, a quick trip to San Francisco where we stayed in a luxurious Marriot (thanks to Dan),and we crossed paths with Dan and Elizabeth!



Here's Kaden, Marissa, Kayla, and Devon just hanging out at the end of Pier 39. Angie and Clark met us in San Fran and the kids had a blast at the hotel swimming pool that night!



Sawyer and me with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.


The kids with Grandma and Grandpa in front of the Exploritorium. Just minutes before this Marissa and Ryan decided to ride a mud slide on the hills just in front of here. You can't see it but Marissa was covered in mud from the waist down and Ryan's whole backside was caked in mud! Luckily, we had all our luggage with us so neither of them had to tough it out for too long!



Grandpa and the kids taking a stroll along the pier!



Devon and Uncle Dan - Devon was good at putting on his "happy face" for pictures...especially if we bribed him!