January fun...

just a few highlights from January...miss a had fun cracking crab with dad!

ev showing off her crab legs!

we had a LOT of fog this month in the valley, so we will often escape to the higher elevations to get above the fog.  

miss amelia was in need of some vit. D! :)

then we discovered a new place to hike, we of course had to have hot chocolate and cookies too!

and sometimes when its cold and foggy outside we put on our swimsuits and dream we are in palm springs.  evelyn talks about palm springs all the time, in fact she often will pack a back for her and sis and their babies!  that girl has the most amazing memory!

the view of the three sisters from another escape the fog hike in the mountains...

miss e has turned into quite the little hiker these days and amelia walked over half the hike as well! 

my little ladies!  we dressed so warm for this hike and i think it ended up being 30 degrees warmer then it was at home!

fun in the leaves at the park...

love that sweet smile!

aunt sas got evelyn a book for christmas that takes you step by step on how to draw different animals...this was her first attempt at a turtle.  i was super impressed with her first attempt!

we celebrated brian's birthday...apparently we like to celebrate shirt less! :)

we spent a night at aunt sas's in portland.  as much as i love living in the country i always enjoy a day in the city every now and then!  we went on a super cold and pretty walk up to the Japanese garden.

and then we saw a play of Charlotte's Web with sas, keith (her boyfriend), and charlotte (keith's daughter).  it was awesome and the girls really enjoyed it!

 being silly with some of the photo props at the children's theater...

 evelyn's preschool class...last week the forth graders came and read to them.  it was so cute to see them with the "big kids".  i can't believe how much miss e has learned form preschool, i know they say they are a sponge at this age, but i guess i didn't really witness that until this year!  so fun watching them learn!

hope you all had a fabulous janurary, we are gearing up for another busy month of fun!  before we know it spring and summer will be here!!!

first haircut!

last week we got miss amelia's haircut for the first time...of course she wanted the airplane!

here is the before hair-do...

 she did good, but spotted the suckers mid hair cut and had to have one! :)

 the finished look!  

and then we had to sit in every other car..

 the back...this is where most of the hair came off, just evened it up with the front

of course big sister had to get in the airplane too! :)

potty training in style!!!

i can not believe i'm going to say this but, AMELIA IS POTTY TRAINED!!!  i think we have been changing diapers for almost 4 1/2 years!  she has already peed in several public bathrooms, in her potty seat in the trunk of my car and the canopy of the truck, and even in the woods while we were out on a hike!  this girl has got it figured out and we LOVE it!!!  i just love how cute their little buns look when their diaper free!

fun in sunriver with good friends!

i don't think we could have asked for a better weekend...sunshine and 60 degrees in January!  it was amazing and a much needed getaway with all the valley fog we have been having.  we stayed in an awesome house that gave us plenty of room for 8 adults and 7 kids.   i really only had my camera out for a total of 10 minutes all weekend, pat and ada were our camera buffs for the weekend so i should have more pics to share soon.  but here is a few to tie you over..

sledding in t-shirts...doesn't get much better then that! :)

these two are buddies...meet mr. knox and miss amelia

what a ladies man mr. knox is kissing my girl on the hand...

notice they are wearing each others sunglasses...

and he goes in for the real smooch!

i think she liked it! :)

we did a little bike riding...

in the sunshine of course...

super cute pic of this handsome couple...

we spent a little time in the village on our way out, pat was the lucky one that got to ride the train with the kids! :)

good friends!!!

thanks again ada for organizing a weekend away to celebrate pat's birthday!  good friends, good food, and lots of sunshine...doesn't get much better then that!!!

Surprise...Paul retires!

what a great time we had celebrating paul (brian's dad) retiring from driving log truck for 35+ years!  it was a surprise and it worked!  we had an amazing turnout of friends and family that helped us celebrate paul.  a lot of the guest i didn't know, but they were the nicest most thankful people i have meet!  just so excited to be there!!!

the party was held at kirks ferry restaurant in brownsville...it was a perfect location for the party.  they served a yummy prime rib dinner and then people treated themselves to drinks and yummy truffles made by a family friend.

here paul and tony are entering the restaurant...that's evelyn excited to say surprise! :)

chad with his parents...

our girls lovin' on grandpa paul!

the happy guests...

the inside of the restaurant is really awesome..if you haven't been its worth checking out!

the building surrounds a long cabin (see it to the left of the picture) that was the first building even built in brownsville...

my handsome hubby catching up with guests! :)

two of tony's closest girlfriends...both are very sweet ladies!

dinner time!

a few got up and told stories about paul...

and just a few detail pictures of the decorations...request by my sisters and a few friends! :)

thanks to all you came and celebrated with us!