In February – Jared’s cousins made a quick visit to the northern tundra!

My boys and their – cousin – I can never remember what the relation is – but Jared’s cousin’s son!

Jared’s mom and her great niece!

ISN’T SHE THE SWEETEST BABY!

OH MY WORD!

The boys!

With crazy kiddos – that’s the best we could get!

Enoch & Fitzy LOVED their little baby girl! They both said she is the cutest baby EVER!

Alyssa & Zeke – it was SO GREAT to see you! WE LOVE YOU!

Vanessa spent one night in the hospital and then took her little bundle HOME!

I spent the morning with her only 4 days after she was born! SO TINY! It’s so crazy how easily you forget how small they were!

Vanessa is my first cousin – which makes *K* – my first cousin once removed – if you care about the actual relation!

I think she looks JUST like her daddy!

SO PRECIOUS!

I absolutely LOVE that shot!

Such a sweet moment that you so quickly forget!

MY FAVORITES!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE those two shots! SIGH!

Baby girl – you are so loved and so special! Vanessa – thank you for letting me snuggle with her and capture her teeny tiny baby days!

I know I say it a lot – but it’s still hard for me to see you any older than about 8 – like the little flower girl in our wedding!

Watching you as a momma – you are certainly a natural!

A friend posted on FACEBOOK about her FREE trial of BLUE APRON!

I messaged her and asked her how you go about getting one! Her friend is a member that uses it and had a few free trials to give away!

The first night – we made tempura fried cod and thai rice and salad! I don’t love fish – I’ve only ever liked it when my brother made it with about a stick a butter! But – it was YUMMY!!!

The second night – lamb and beef and mushroom stew with parmesan potatoes! Fitzy made most of it – and everyone but Enoch – ate every single bite!

The third night – grilled chicken and couscous – and I took some photos to document the process!

Fitzy wants to be a chef someday – so I encourage him to cook as much as he wants!

While the boys didn’t love the couscous – everything else was a thumbs up! And it was ALL a thumbs up for me!

BLUE APRON – we are LOVING this whole process and idea!

While I don’t think we will be weekly subscribers – from time-to-time we will probably sign up for deliveries!

The summer of 2016 was AMAZING! We swam and played. And swam. And ate ice cream. And swam.

Ashley & Max came over one day in August for some swimming and ice cream. And she said – we should go to Disney! I said. Yes. Sure. Disney.

Disney is CRAZY expensive. I’ve never been.

Flying. HA. Flying. NOPE!

So we looked – just to look. And found out that we could actually share a room if we went before Enoch’s birthday – November 19th.

AND Enoch wouldn’t need a ticket for the parks. And if we drove – all 7 of us in our van – we could maybe swing it. Maybe.

But we wanted it to be a surprise if we did it. From the boys AND our husbands! WHAT!

We called work and got the time off. WE BOOKED THE TRIP! WHAT!

I don’t do things like this. I mean – NEVER!

NEVER. And yet – I did! WHAT!

Ashley informed me that we would get receipts in the mail – I said – don’t worry! I’ll make sure to get the mail before he comes home!

And then I got a text from Jared – while I was at my parents – we got mail from Disney? I said – yes – it’s just junk mail! He said – it has all our names on it and confirmation of a payment received? SHOOT!!

So – it wasn’t a surprise anymore. And Ashley spilled the beans to Matt once Jared knew.

AND we decided driving would be CRAZY! And we might not stay friends after DRIVING to Disney with three children and packed like sardines!

I found some good deals on tickets and we figured out transportation and hotels for the days that we couldn’t get lodging at Disney!

BUT – we kept it a surprise from the kiddos! And almost everyone else!

I packed the bags while Fitzy was at school – loaded the car – picked him up and we headed to the AIRPORT!

We stopped and picked up Ashley and her boys – Fitzy asked what was in the luggage – just clothes that Ashley was giving me. And we were just headed to the movies! Even when we got to the airport – NOTHING! I got our little sign that we made out – and read it to the boys – and they were excited – but didn’t FREAK OUT like we thought they would!

We spent the few days before Disney at a WATERPARK HOTEL!

I don’t have all the photos from our trip to put in this blog – but if you follow me on INSTAGRAM – I’m sure you saw them!

And then! DISNEY! All the photos here are from the DISNEY photographers – which is TOTALLY WORTH IT by the way!

Max – he was NOT feeling good – and spent the rest of Animal Kingdom day at the hotel. Poor guy!

Tuesday – HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!

Enoch did NOT like Chewbacca without me being RIGHT THERE!

Kylo Ren was TERRIFYING!

Thankfully Max felt better for STAR WARS!

And our last day at the parks! MAGIC KINGDOM!

We were FIRST in line for Tinkerbell AND Mickey! SCORE!

So – this was my first trip to Disney – Enoch & Fitzgerald had never been either!

Jared & Ashley said – we MUST do Haunted Mansion! It’s great! SO FUN!

TERRIFYING! NOT FUN AT ALL!

You might notice that I am not in these pictures – it’s not because I don’t like Merida – it’s because I was waiting in line FOR 90 MINUTES to see Winnie the Pooh!

OH MY WORD! ADORABLE!

Matt & Ashley stayed at Magic Kingdom quite late! But we called it a night a night a little earlier!

While I LOVED Hollywood Studios – my FAVORITE part of Disney was breakfast at Beast’s Castle!

We had tried and tried and TRIED to get a reservation – but alas. No luck.

Tuesday night – we were lying in bed and Ashley said – THERE’S AN OPENING FOR BREAKFAST TOMORROW!

LET’S DO IT! So we got up early – and made it in to the park! Even got FIRST IN LINE for Mickey & Tinkerbell!

We made it to the Castle JUST IN TIME! And Ashley FOUND THE BEST TABLE IN THE WHOLE CASTLE! RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE WILTING ROSE! IN THE WEST WING! Fitzy did not enjoy the West Wing – it was dark and thundering and flashing with lightning!

We spent our last day at Disney Springs! Eating and a little shopping and EATING and building legos and EATING!

We had a GREAT time on our friendcation! And the BEST part – we STILL LOVE EACH OTHER after spending a week together!

We spent Christmas morning here at our house!

The boys surprised daddy with a STAR WARS t-shirt!

Fitzy asked for TWO things – Rogue One and a Maui hook! He didn’t get the Maui hook and he was very very sad!

So he thought!

How many times has he actually played with that Maui hook? Let’s not talk about that.

My parents came over to Jared’s parents house for Christmas dinner – I love that our families can spend holidays TOGETHER!

As much as I really really LOVE the warmer weather – Christmas is certainly a WONDERFUL time!

Almost makes winter worthwhile! ONLY ALMOST!

We spent Christmas Eve Eve with Jared’s parents – which was LOVELY!

We had a VERY relaxing Chrismtas Eve with our family!

My nephew Jack turned TWO over Christmas! TWO!

We didn’t get outside too much – and he’s a MOVER and a SHAKER but we got a few cute shots!

JACK JACK! You are SO LOVED!

My dear friend Megan Hampton stopped by one evening and took some photos for us!

It’s a LONG post – because I have a problem picking favorites!

Lifestyle photography is my FAVORITE and it fits our family so well!

About a year ago – at this point – our friend Jose came over and “helped” us build this fire pit. I say “help” because he basically built it!

My goal this year is to spend MORE time outside and around this fire pit!

We joke that there was a time when he was a tiny baby – that he wasn’t really that cute. But. My word. He’s a gorgeous child!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that shot on the left – it might be my favorite!

YUM!

Can I just talk about this guy for a minute. I’m kind of intense. A little bit. OKAY – A LOT BIT! And this guy. He saw something in me. And we are complete opposites. On a personality test – almost exactly polar opposites. But oh my word. How we need each other. And fit together as perfectly as we can for two non-perfect people. He’s my calm. He’s my rationale. He’s my logic. He’s my cheerleader. He’s my dearest. I don’t believe that any other man on this Earth could love me like he does.

We found a little tiny froggy – he attached himself right to me!

And a wooly-bear!

Megan – thank you SO MUCH for giving us this gift! I am so thankful for your friendship and your gift!

THANK YOU!!

 

 

 

Over Thanksgiving – we took the boys – OKAY OKAY – we took ME to Jurassic WORLD!!

IT WAS AMAZING!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PICTURE – and yes – I was a sucker and bought it! It’s hanging on our wall with our family pictures!

IT WAS SO AMAZING!

Growing up – my sister and I shared a room – and I’m so thankful that we did! Don’t get me wrong – we had our times (when I say we – I mostly mean me) when we didn’t get along. Or when I went after the guy she liked. Or when I just spoke for her – pretty much her whole life. Notice the pattern here …

Thankfully she loves me and is one of my best friends!

And our little guys love each other SO much! I can’t imagine life without her!

I’m so thankful that I can give them wonderful memories!

LOOK AT HIS LITTLE FACE!

OH MY WORD! That black & white shot – THE BEST!

And those – MY FAVORITE!

Samm & X – I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! AND JACKIE BOY TOO!