Yard (March/April 2011)

last spring, we dan spent forever working in the backyard.  he raked bags and bags and bags of leaves, shoveled a pickup full of dirt into our grow boxes, tied up the pampas grass and cut it down with the chain saw, hauled debris away and planted strawberries with the girls.  i love seeing him tackle a project and our backyard had plenty.  he even planted dozens of flowers in our front planter right before jake was born so i wouldn't have to bend my super pregnant body in half to do it myself. 

what can i say - i'm a lucky girl!

ps- the pictures at the bottom? sweatpants, princess shoes, high waters, costume jewelry, and goldfish.  hilarious and adorably unstaged.  so glad i caught those moments of sisterly love.

St. Louis Trip (April 2011)

last spring we had an awesome 36 hour vacation as a family.  one last hurrah before jake joined our family.   i mentioned it here.

we:
attended the st. louis temple while some friends watched the girls at a nearby chapel
explored forest park
treated ourselves to Ted Drewes - twice
stayed at a hotel overlooking the arch and mississippi river
and swam in the pool
met up with friends from college
stayed up half the night watching william and kate's royal wedding
dinner at zia's at the hill (best italian i've ever had)
day at the city museum - the girls LOVED it.  at 35 weeks pregnant i was mostly an observer so dan got quite a workout

we loved every minute that we spent together and can't wait to do it again!  

the girls tried out their cute new swim suits from aunt lindsay.  we forgot a swim diaper :)

just looking at these pictures make me claustrophobic.  they climbed in and out of these re-bar tunnels, stories above the ground.

so, so pregnant.

Piano (Feb 2011)

what do you get when you combine birthday money from your parents, in-laws, grandparents, and grandparents in-law?  

enough for a piano on craiglist!!  

do i play? 

barely.  

but i love it.  

so do the girls. :)

Madi Turns 4 (Feb 2011)

madison's 4th birthday party:

preschool friends- hallie, jackson, brylee, cohen, lauren, and parker

pin the the gold coin in the pot under the rainbow

duck, duck, goose

lunch

pinata

spin the bottle (to choose who gives their present to the birthday girl next :)

and rainbow cake, same as the year before

Lindsay's Visit (Feb 2011)

we LOVE getting visitors!  lindsay came out and we did all our favorites - cosmo park, the carousel at the mall, the MKT trail, and bonkers.  it happened to be madison's birthday and she was a huge help with that too.  we miss you lindsay!

The Blizzard (Feb 2011)

we survived and even enjoyed our first and only blizzard last winter.  we stocked up on food and water, bought a camping stove in case the power went out, and weathered the storm at home.  after it snowed 18 inches or so, Dan's clinic was canceled and we enjoyed time as a family for a couple days.  dan spent hours and hours shoveling our driveway and helped the neighbors afterwards as well.  it was an adventure!

Firsts (Feb 2011)

first snowball to the face.

first walk in the snow with boots and pants.

first snow angel.

first time sledding.

love the homemade sleds!

and first snowman!