Christmas 2013

We headed south for Christmas and went to stay with my mom and my two sisters and their families in Georgia. I had not seen my older sister, Katie, or her husband and two kids in so long! So it was really fun to get to spend time with them. And the kids had a blast together!

On Christmas Eve the kids got their pajamas from Christopher, our Christmas elf, who went back to the North Pole and they were SO excited for Christmas morning. Every day they asked if it was Christmas yet and Ryder kept going to the tree if there was a new present under it and saying "Presents for Ryder? Santa brought presents?" Then later that night after the kids were in bed we had a white elephant exchange and ugly sweater contest with adults only. My favorite thing we brought to the exchange was butt/face soap. It was a bar of soap that was white on one side and black on the other and one side said butt and the other said face :) It was pretty funny to see what everyone brought for the exchange. And I definitely underestimated how ugly some of the ugly sweaters would get :) I thought OURS were ugly with flashing lights, tinsel, and santa heads, but winter birds nests, holiday beads, and ugly wreaths made an appearance and definitely beat us! My brother-in-law, Cameron, took first prize with a sweater so full of beads it probably weighed 10 pounds.

This Christmas we had all the sisters and my mom together for the first time in many years so as a surprise Christmas present (with the help of my brother-in-laws and Brad) I set up a girls day out. We went shopping, got massages, and I took us out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. It was SO much fun and that was the first time I had had a professional massage and it was so nice to relax and just have some girl time. I am so grateful for my mom and sisters and I am so happy we got to spend time together.

The rest of the days were filled with playing games, going hiking, and just hanging out.
(And of course eating tons of delicious food too.) On New Years Eve we counted down to midnight with balloons that had the time of each hour on them and an activity inside when you popped it. It started with kids activities for them to do before bed time. They made party hats, wore mustaches, played glow in the dark hide and seek, played with balloon punching bags, and lastly ate oreos and milk before bed. They had SOOO much fun :) Then the adults started popping the balloons and we played celebrity charades, card games, and then opened up the sparkling cider at midnight.

We are so excited for 2014! This year has a bunch of big, exciting things happening like having a baby girl, Brad graduating and becoming a doctor, Aiden starting school, and moving to who knows where! It is going to be full of adventures and we can't wait. For now we are headed off to Idaho to visit Gigi and Poppi for a week! Brad has his last residency interview in Spokane next week so we decided to all join him and make a visit out of it.

Catch Up

Holy Cow! I didn't realize how far behind I had gotten on the blog! I haven't even posted Halloween pictures! So here goes nothing...I am going to TRY to be short and concise in order to get through it all.

1. So let us start from the beginning of the school year which was August...Aiden started going to preschool  this year, which he absolutely LOVES! No matter if he starts out with a grumpy day he gets SO happy when it is time to go to preschool. And he now asks me all the time if he can do his homework. He is able to spell his name now really well and has improved so much with his writing. He loves preschool!

2. Next in September Brad turned 29 this year! He told me this was the first year his age made him feel old :) I got him a really nice down North Face jacket and of course we celebrated with dinner out and his favorite cake- Better Than Sex Cake. I am so so grateful and proud of my husband. I love you so much.

3. Halloween! We had so much fun going to a trunk or treat at our church and then going trick or treating on Halloween night with Gigi in town! Our wonderful friends hosted a Halloween dinner (to which we brought dinner in a pumpkin of course) and then we went trick or treating together. Aiden was the transformer, Bumblebee, and Ryder was a ninja.

4. We had so much fun with Gigi and Poppi the beginning of November! We played games, went to a movie, went out to eat, and got to go walk around some beautiful, historic Kentucky. We love you SOOO much Gigi and Poppi!

5. And of course, Thanksgiving! We went to see Aiden in his preschool Thanksgiving program and eat a feast there as well. And then my sister, Amy and her husband Mike stayed with us during Thanksgiving week. It was so fun to have them with us! We went to see Frozen together, played lots of games, and had lots of fun cooking delicious food together :)

6. And in the midst of these happenings Brad has had a kinda crazy schedule traveling around all over for residency program interviews. He started traveling in October and finally just in the last week or two has he gotten a good break. But he is heading out again this next week to Texas for more interviews! I am so thankful for all his hard work. Here are some pics of all his travels away from home.

6. And FINALLY!  Also in the midst of all these things we found out we are expecting a little baby GIRL! She is due April 7th and we are so so excited. We found out I was pregnant at the very end of July and we just barely found out over Thanksgiving it is a girl.