Christmas in Spokane

Yay for toy stores in airports!  And funny faces =)

Nelli did great on the flight there and back.

Grandpa's toy train

We went on a Christmas light show cruise in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Gotta love Thayne's double chin and that smile is too cute!

Nelli loves Uncle Tyler and Aunt Ali.  Every time I'd put her down she'd go running to one of them.

Bath time in Grandma's baby sized sink...perfect!

Siri's amazing dinner

Nelli loved to give Thayne hugs and kisses

Twins with twin outfits

Daddies and breakfast

We had such a great time in Spokane being with family.  It is a vacation we will never forget.  Siri, Chris, Ali, Tyler, and Thayne were there when we arrived on the 24th and we just loved it.  We played fun games, did a puzzle, visited Coeur d'Alene a few times: once for a light show and once to go swimming.  Over all it was great to relax together.

Christmas Party at Park Forest

We won this ice cream maker!

We had a great time at the party Park Forest Apartments staff put together for us.  We got to spend time with the people that live in our comunity and enjoy the festivities of the season.  Nelli liked Frosty the Snowman and hustle and bustle of so many people.  Taylor has wanted to go on a carriage ride for as long as I've known him and we got the chance. The party was past the time Nelli usually goes to bed, but we decided to keep her up and she had fun, but now that I look at all the pictures she looks sleepy. 

Nelli and Marlee-Best Buds

I'm going to just stick all the pictures from that night at Marlee's house while Taylor and I went out and the Cheney's watched Nelli. These pictures demonstrate so well their relationship. Best night ever for the babies!

Meghann, Marlee's mommy, told me that lately that when she tells her that Nelli's coming over, she starts saying, "Ne, Ne" and get so excited. Nelli just goes straight for the door if I tell her Marlee's coming.

They've both been sick for the past few weeks.  I can't wait until they start playing like this again!

Thanksgiving in Iowa

We served the babies first.  We thought it was cute to see them sitting together, then when Nelli started grabbing Olie's binky and trying to feed him, I moved her away :) 

It was quite the feast...so good!

We went to a few places around Iowa; this is the city library.

The slide at the city library

I helped Leah cut up some shirts for a patch work dress she's making Cami.  Katie thought the scraps were rad.

It was cold!

It was so fun to be in Iowa with Leah, Jason and kids.  We just loved talking, cooking, playing killer bunnies (watch out for Leah...she's relentless), watching Cranford (a BBC TV show, Leah and I  couldn't stop laughing) and other fun adventures.  We went to where a group of Mennonites live and found some outrageous deals on bulk grains and overstock groceries. We checked out their cheese factory...did you know they make chocolate cheese?  It tastes like fudge.

Can I just say, Leah has the best breakfast breads ever! I was in heaven.

Mommy's Purse

Nelli found Martha's purse and tried to wear it. She's so fun to watch as she's learning how to walk, talk, and be a little person. We love this!

Painting



Family room (before)



Family room (after)

Dining room (after)

Dining room (after)

Let me just start out by saying that I forgot to take a before photo of the dining room and I am not the best photographer. Sorry, you don't get to see it in it's true splendor...