Emily is ONE!

On December 31 our little Emily turned one!! It is hard to believe that she is already a year old. Our first year with her has been simply amazing. She has been such a joy in our lives and such a blessing. She is the perfect little one for our family. She can now walk, say a few words (such as, mama, dada, grandma, grandpa, cracker, yummy, and bye bye!!), she waves, claps and has quite a personality!! She loves to be chased down the hallway and play peek-a-boo, especially with her brother!! And her favorite thing to do is LAUGH!!!  Garrett has been such a big help with her also and he just adores having a baby sister. He loves to teach her things, play games with her and just cuddle with her in the early mornings and evenings!! It has been so much fun watching the two of them interact with each other and get to know one another! They are quite the pair together, that's for sure!! They are our world and we love them both so much!
We celebrated Emily's first birthday on January 1, 2011 and we had such a nice time! We gathered at our house for sloppy joes, cake, ice cream and presents! It was wonderful!! Emily had a ball and loved all the attention that she got that day. She laughed so hard when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her!!
On the 5 of January she had her one year well child check up with the doctor. We took her in and she weighed 20 pounds and was 30 1/2 inches long!! She is in the lower percentile for weight, which the doctor said is just perfectly ok, and she was 95th percentile for height!! Tall and skinny!! The doctor said she was perfect!! Love to hear that, but we already knew that!!
Well that is all for now, I will have plenty more updates (and pictures) later, but for now I will post a few from Emily's party!!

Our very Merry Christmas!

Well I am hoping that everyone had a very merry Christmas this year! I know we sure did. Andy was off work for the weekend of Christmas, which was so nice!! We spent Christmas Eve relaxing and getting ready for Christmas day. We drove around and looked at Christmas lights, Garrett got to put out cookies and milk for Santa, and then both kids went to bed early. By Christmas morning Garrett and Emily were thrilled to see that Santa came!! The kids opened presents, we had breakfast and then started getting things ready for the day. Andy's parents came over from South Dakota and my parents were here for dinner as well. It was sooooo nice, and the food was delicious. The kids got lots of fun toys, but their 'big' gift wouldn't quite fit  under the tree. Santa will be making a special delivery this spring....he is bringing the kids a swing set!!!!! We are super excited, and I'm sure they will be too, once they see it. Andy's parents chipped in some for the swing set as part of the kids' present! The only thing that wasn't perfect was that we were missing my brother and his family. They traveled out of town this year for Christmas. So when they got home we were happy to have them stop over for the evening. Then it really felt like Christmas!! We all  had such a nice time visiting, playing with the kids, putting their stuff together!! After everyone went home, we had a nice, quiet evening. The kids were exhausted and so were we!! The next morning we headed to Gillette for some day after Christmas shopping and then home again to exchange gifts with Brian, Shanda, Cole, Tyler, Cody and Heidi, and my parents. It was another fabulous evening with good food and fun times, and even a little bit of wii!! I am posting a few pictures of our Christmas. Hoping that everyone had a fabulous Christmas and wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!

 

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Thought I'd share a few pics of our Christmas season so far!! I'm sure there'll be more to come!!!

Gingerbread train decorating!!

The best presents ever!!

The sweet smell of Christmas!

Hello everyone!! Hope you are all having a merry and bright holiday season so far!! I thought I'd share a few pictures of our weekend. Mom came over and we baked Christmas cookies ALLLLLLLL day long!! It was so much fun!! Once the cookies are baked, frosted and decorated we know that the season is finally here!! Wouldn't be Christmas without them!! Also, Garrett was able to help this year, which made it even more fun. Andy was home and helped watch the kids, but once Garrett got in the kitchen, we couldn't get him out!! He had fun rolling the dough, cutting the cookies, frosting them and making his very own masterpieces! How fun is that?! I find Christmas to be even more special now that I have kids of my own. And I hope that I can pass on some of the same wonderful memories and traditions that I have of my childhood to our kids, especially at Christmas time!! Well that is all I have for now. Please enjoy the pictures!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well here we are....officially in the midst of the holiday season!! I just thought I'd share a few pics. I know this post is short. There isn't a whole lot of new news to share. We've been busy decorating for Christmas, but I have a feeling that we will have quite a few pictures within this next month or so! Enjoy!!

A year to be thankful for!

With Thanksgiving a little over a week away, I thought I'd post my "Thankful" blog now!! And boy do we have a lot to be thankful for this year!!
We started off our year 2010 with a beautiful new addition to our family, one day old, Emily Esther!! Weighing it at 7 pounds 1 ounce and 19 inches long on December 31,2009 she is such a wonderful blessing to our family!! And I can hardly believe she'll be 1 in 6 short weeks!! Shortly after Emily was born, we bought a camper and have loved using it already!! We went camping in it and have spent many afternoons eating lunch in it at our house!! One of our best investments yet!! And speaking of investments, we were able to sell our townhouse and buy a different house for our growing family!! We bought a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom  home just south of Wright on about 5 acres!! Now that is the best investment yet!! Life can't get any better out here!! We absolutely love our new home and have enjoyed every minute of our life in it!! We spent the summer getting un-packed and enjoying our new space. We even had time for a camping trip with my parents this year!! We had the funnest time EVER!! While our summer was coming to an end, we got a phone call that we've been waiting for! A lady in Lander, Wyoming had a boy pug puppy for sale and Andy has been wanting to get one forever! The price was right, the color was right, the gender was right...so we took a road trip to Lander!! He was instantly a welcome addition to our family and fits right in!! Andy named him Ruger and the name fits well!! He is growing every day and finally (!!!!!!!!!) getting the hang of going potty outside!! Now I am super thankful for that!! Our fall began and so did our busy schedule!! Andy spent a lot of time in the Black Hills hunting for  his elk and he FINALLY got one!! We were all super excited for him. Also, Emily took her first steps and started walking this fall. She is getting really good at keeping up with her big brother now. She walks everywhere and enjoys it as well!! Then, on November 5 our little boy turned 3!! So excited to see him growing up, but a little sad at the same time. It is unbelievable how fast time flies by and we are so lucky to have Garrett as our own!! He is such a joy and SO MUCH FUN!! He has developed quite a personality and sense of humor. We can't imagine life without him!! He's perfect!! And now here we are, a week and a few days away from Thanksgiving!! This is my favorite time of year...and now we're finally getting some snow!! Garrett and Emily both love playing in it and when Garrett sees that it's snowing he can't wait to get bundled up and head outside!!
Well, that sums up just about our entire year!! We've had a great year filled with some incredible memories!! I would have to say, this is one of our best years yet...and I hear it only gets better and better!! We would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the rest of 2010!! We know we will!!
Please enjoy the pictures of our year!!

Garrett turned 3!!!!

On November 5 our little boy turned 3 years old!! Hard to believe how fast time has flown by these past three years!! He is such a joy to have and he is the funnest, most entertaining little boy on the planet!! We love him so much and I thought I'd share some pictures of his party. We celebrated with friends and family on November 6 with chili, cake and ice-cream....and LOTS of fun presents!! Also, thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us. This was one of his best parties yet!! Today we are relaxing and cleaning up the aftermath of his party. And Andy is putting together Garrett's train set and Car Garage!! (Click on the pictues to see them bigger).