Happy Birthday Whitney!

Whitney turned 3 today! She wanted a butterflly themed birthday party. The kids and I made her a buttterfly cake. It was fun to make!! She invited two little girls from daycare. She also had both sets of grandparents at her party. We made a butterfly craft project, played, opened presents, and ate cake. Thanks to everyone that helped make her day so special. She had a great day!!

Grandma Peg made Whitney an ABC scrapbook. It is tradition that on the kid's 3rd birthday that they get an alphabet scrapbook. Whitney was so excited when she opened it.

Whitney with her butterfly craft project

Addison with her project

Emerson with her project

Elliot and Grandpa always enjoy playing Wii together

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we went to my parents house. It was just us and my mom and dad. The kids had fun making projects and helping Grandma cook. On Thursday night we all drove to Billings to get in on the Black Friday shopping. My mom and I were one of the crazy ones that went out at 9 that night and shopped unitl 4 AM. We did find some good deals though! While in Billings the kids got to see Santa. I came prepared and brought their Christmas outfits.

My kids are into "cheesing" during pictures. It is hard to get good ones of them when asked to pose. Thanks Grandma Sala for our outfits!

Making birthday cards for Whitney. Whitney loves to make birthday cards and since her birthday is coming up she thought it would be a good idea to make herself a card. Elliot also worked very hard on a card for Whitney. He is really into writing words and wrote Happy Birthday on the card all by himself!

Making a salad with Grandma. When my mom asked Whitney if she wanted to help her Whitney said "Sure because I am the best maker!".

Catch Up

I have a million excuses of why I haven't blogged in over the last 6 months, but I will spare you with the excuses and instead catch you all up on what we have been doing.

Easter

We spent Easter in MT at my parents. The kids had fun dyeing easter eggs, going to the Easter egg hunt, and opening their baskets.

Preschool Graduation

Elliot graduated from 3 year old preschool at Pumpkin Patch in Monticello, MN

Here he is with his buddy Andrew.

Spunk Days

We were at the lake for Spunk Days. We started out our day by going to the Art in the Park and the bouncy houses. Below is a picture of Great Grandma keeping track of the kids while I made a purchase. If only I had a cane!

The turtle races are a big part of Spunk Days. Elliot's turtle Tank won first place in his heat. Elliot was very excited!!

Whitney wasn't into the races as much as she was into keeping eye on the turtle bucket.

Of course we took in the parade.

Time With Family

We were able to spend lots of time with both of our families. My parents got a pontoon boat this summer, so we enjoyed lots of time on the boat. Of course the favorite activity to do on the boat is drive!

We got to spend lots of time Ryan, Lorelei, and Iona. Elliot and Whitney absolutely adore Iona. They make great big cousins!

We went to the horse races one afternoon with Ryan, Lorelei, and Iona. The kids had a blast!

We al spend lots of time with the Sala family. Nichole and Aidan came for a week or so this summer and while they were in the area we all spend sometime at the lake house. It was a nice and relaxing couple of days.

Aidan's first fish he caught. He was pretty excited, but there was no convincing him of touching it!

Gavin caught a nice sized fish.

The whole family

The kids taking a walk while we were waiting for our food at the Fisher's Club in Avon.

My attempt of getting a picture of all the kids in midair while jumping off the retaining wall. Oh well, at least I got one!

Grant, the kids, and I took Nichole and Aidan back to MN to fly back to Houston. We stayed in a hotel one of the nights. The kids enjoyed the pool.

Time with friends

This fall we met our friends Jed, Becky, Jack, and Finn in Fargo. We have really missed the Sager's since we have moved to MT, so it was great to see them!!

Baby Finner's (that's what Whitney calls him). He is such a good baby! I hardly heard him cry all weekend.

I had these monkey hats made for the boys

Halloween

I didnt have my camera on Halloween night, so I don't have any pictures of the kids in their costumes. I'm not sure what I was thinking with forgetting my camera! I do have pictures of cookie dcorating and pumpkin painting. The kids wanted to paint their pumpkins rather then carve them this year.

Well there you have it, a glimpse of what we have been up to in the past 6 months. We did lots of other things in the past 6 months that I didn't get on camera.......we moved, I started a new job, Elliot started a new preschool, both kids started at a new daycare, and I got to see some wonderful friends and their children this summer.