CATCHING UP

Van turned 6! He had a lego/angry bird party with some friends

It was a very long, cold winter with  lots of snow, many frigid days and too many school cancellations. So we had lots of quality time to just play together and have fun

We spent lots of the winter checking off house projects to get it ready to sell like new carpet! Goodbye blue floral carpet!

We had many winter viruses at our house

Lots and lots of indoor snow play and snow smoothies!

A short visit from Grandma and Grandpa when they came to help after cousin Rhetta's was born

We have the perfect sledding hill right in our back yard. Ward really got into sledding this year and loved it!

Christmas

 Our Christmas Nativity

Santa dropped by our house for a surprise visit on Christmas Eve

Reading the Polar Express

Christmas Morning with cousins. We are sad this is the last year we will live close enough to do Christmas morning together.

Christmas morning mayhem

Merick loved her special bed made by grandpa

The girls, their dollies and their new beds!

Lowe's Build and Grow

Family Pics 2014

It is great to have a close friend who is an amazing professional photographer....but she is moving so we had to take advantage of her one last time and get our family pictures taken.

Fall

           At our favorite pumpkin patch with cousins

                                               

Hayride to the pumpkin patch

Luke Skywalker an Handy Manny

It was fun to have cousins to come trick or treating with us. They were the only kids in the whole neighborhood, they got bucket loads of candy!

Merick is old enough now that she adores her girl cousins and loved playing with Gracie.

We took a trip to Columbus while Jared was at a conference there and went to the zoo

 We love fall hikes here!

Merick and I have had some special days when the other two are at school. 

The boys LOVE helping out with the leaves whether it is raking, using the leaf blower, or stuffing them in sacks. It provided hours of entertainment this fall.

Van lost his first tooth earlier this fall and has lost another since

I had a perfect 35th birthday consisting of kids out of school and absolutely perfect weather so we took a trip to a gorgeous park area and spent the day riding bikes, throwing rocks in the stream and enjoying the sunshine. And it was topped off by apple crisp made by Jared and the boys for my birthday cake.