My flight experience!

So, we had a girls weekend planned in McCall and I got to start the weekend off right with a sweet ride on Jamie's airplane! Jamie is a new friend who is the mom of a preschooler I see for speech therapy and we swapped services. The pilot and the therapist! It was awesome and the kids (and dad) loved seeing and playing in the plane before Jamie and I took off.A view of Boise downtown as we flew by. The boys were in hog heaven! Tanner was sooooo disappointed that he wasn't going. Even Elise go in on the action! Jamie was sweet enough to to a "fly by" our house. The kids and Matt are standing in the driveway waving....can you tell?

Here is just some of the spectacular views as we climbed into the mountain ranges. And down to the unmanned runway in McCall 35 minutes later (a 2.5 hour drive!). It was incredibly fun! I only wish I had the brains (and money) to learn to pilot myself. Opens a whole new world!

What a little personality we have!

Elise is beginning to show her little spit fire personality and we love to laugh at her everyday. Today just happened to be throwing a ball and grunting as she did. Exerting so much effort, I guess. We also like to capture this funny crawl that she is using. One leg out....looks much like what Tanner did as a baby! Tonight, she was standing on her own, letting go of the couch and laughing. I'll capture that next time!

We've spent many weekends working on this cabin to get it finished. Well, I should say, Matt has spent weekends working. The kids and I enjoy playing, making videos, setting up forts and relaxing while watching the snow fall. We love it. Although we are technically not supposed to move in. You'll see we have much furniture in already and are making ourselves at home. We should have the occupancy permit next month. Daddy and Tanner working on the stove outlet. This is the small galley kitchen in rough form.Nice flip, Tanner!And Alex is next!

Queen of the castle is what we say.

Sweet music

Alex, Tanner and Elise singing for you!

A nine month update

Alex and Alaina after their preschool Christmas program.

One of his favorite christmas gifts.....stormtrooper. Too bad the costume only endured one day. It was ripped to shreds after one wear. Rough play or cheap material? Probably both.

What is our sweet pea doing at nine months? Well let me tell you....this was her month! She is now babbling a ton, rocking on her hands and knees ready to crawl any day, smiling at strangers (even flirting a bit while riding in the grocery cart) and so much fun! This has been a fun month for all of us. She continues to wake in the middle of the night, so we're working on that next.

We'll update you on a "teach your baby to read" program we are testing out. A christmas gift from Nana that says Lissy will be reading possibly before she walks......hummmm.

We love her little peacoat from Aunt Katie! Years ago, when Brian, Kate, Matt and I were in Paris, Katie bought it for her unborn child and we get the benefit years later! So sweet....

Christmas day in Idaho

We made it over to Aunt Shannah and Uncle Beau's house for brunch where we got to see Mia, Dillyn, Grammy and Papa and Breezy on Christmas morning.

Our sweet cousins, Mia and Dillyn

Grammy and Papa should have been in Hawaii today. They were booked on the flight two days ago, but due to the winter storms in the western states, all flights were cancelled. We made many jokes about warm beaches to make them feel better!

Aunt Breezy cuddling with sissy

So, Tanner started out in our room at 5am, whispering, "can I go down, Mom?" It had been snowing all night and we had forgotten to close his blinds, so it did look "light" outside, but no, he did not get to go downstairs yet. He was able to fall back asleep, but Matt and I were up. Waking to jingles, the boys ran excitedly down stairs to find that Santa had really shown up! The electric slot car track was a huge hit among ALL the boys....Dad included.

New underwear and a new scooter. What could be better?

Elise just loved watching the excitement and finding any bit of chocolate on the floor to rip into.

Granmimi and Granpa always find the latest electronic gifts....the boys loved the cars this year!

Cute for Christmas

So, this is the thing. Baby girl clothes are so much fun. Elise had more christmas outfits than I could fit into this season. Last year, it was a must on the list for the child I was carrying, so we ended up with many sweet dresses ready to be worn. Then, she got this sweet "first christmas" outfit from her great grandparents in Texas. We'll be wearing them well into January!

Ready for church on Sunday and I had to capture them all spruced up!