New Years Eve

December 31, 2015

         Every night while in Fairfield we played "Personal Preference" once the girls were down.  It was so much fun! I am convinced that there is no better game to get to know someone than this one. The only night we didn't play was New Years Eve.  My parents stayed home with sleeping Joanne while we went to Hailey and Evan's.  It was such fun! Of course we didn't stay up till midnight (we aren't crazy! With a newborn, that's torture!) but it was still great!

I sure love Hailey!

This baby is a party animal!

Evan is so sweet with our little girlies.

The Batteries

December 31, 2015

        One of the things Lance REALLY wanted to do in California was to visit Battery Mendell in Mill Valley. It seems like it is in San Francisco because you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and other San Francisco landmarks.  We went with Papa (Mom had a horrid cold that day) and had a great time.  It was a perfectly clear and beautiful day - but BOY was it cold! It's a good thing I had brought along Joanne's warm clothes! We had such a great time!

I sure love this family of mine. 

Showing Jody the ocean.

Climbing the treacherous stairs at the batteries. 

Jody LOVED the attention she got from Lance and Papa during this break!

So cold! WOW! My man looks GOOD!

At one point on the batteries where it was the windiest, Lance suggested to Jody that they go explore a part of it.  She was so cold that she answered "We already saw it!"  Ha! Smart girl!

So much graffiti.

We went to Rodeo Beach after exploring the batteries.  It was Joanne's first time at the beach! 
She loved it until she tried to run away from a wave and fell in the water. Poor kid. 

I love my girls! 

What a fun day!

Visiting Hailey

December 2015

           I love that we are able to visit Hailey when we are in town.  I don't know if I have talked about our friendship on the blog, but I'll do it now. Hailey and I met in our Sophomore year of high school in a few of our AP classes.  We quickly became kindred spirits and stayed best friends through all of high school and still to this day.  I love that we have remained so close even after all this time! I sure love you Hailey! 

Our family at Hailey's house.  

Sorry Joanne is blurry - she moves around so much it's amazing we get any good pictures of her!

Look at that smile! Marian is smiling so much these days!

Hailey and Marian

I was so glad that we also got to see Hailey's sister Adrienne and her mom. 

So sweet!

Jody crawled under the couch looking for Hailey's cats that were hiding.  

Those poor cats!

Jody sporting her new fairy wings.

Jelly Belly

December 26, 2015

        We love how close the Jelly Belly factory is to my parents house - we visit it every time we are home! This time we went with Hailey Doyle and it was so much fun! Mostly Joanne just ran around the halls and got her energy out.  It was great! 

Hailey and Joanne

A bear made entirely of jelly bellies. 

Christmas in Fairfield

Christmas 2016

                  We had the greatest Christmas! It was full of dress-ups, mandarin oranges, luminaria, books, birthday candles, and gratitude.  It's such a wonderful thing to celebrate the birth of Christ with a 2 year old.  I see things from a child's perspective, and I try harder to keep it simple.  Joanne knew for weeks before Christmas that it was all about Jesus' birthday and that we would have cake and candles and sing happy birthday.  She was so excited about that.  She understands so much more than I expect her to, and she teaches me so much.  From her thoughtful prayers to her noticing in pictures of Christ that "Jesus has owies", Joanne is one observant special girl, and it's an honor being able to raise her.

Riding her bike in the usual outfit. 

Wings, dress, gloves, crown, necklace - the whole package.

Reading with Grandma.

Opening her "ducks" from Grandma.

When I was little we called our pajamas "ducks" because Joseph had duck pj's when he was young with ducks on them. That started a tradition that even carried to when I was around.  So fun that now Jody and Marian have their own ducks. Thanks Mom for making them!

      Do you see the wardrobe change? This purple dress is the best present ever given in the history of presents.  A few weeks ago we were skyping Lucy and her girls.  Jody started crying about wanting Elna's purple dress (we had no idea what she was talking about) so Elna went and put a purple dress on to see if that would make her happy.  Jody just cried and cried wanting that dress.  I heard about it long after the skype conversation was over.  Little did we know that Lucy and Elna talked and decided to send Jody the dress for Christmas.  To say Joanne was happy in an understatement.                                                                                THANK YOU, Elna! 

Grandma made diapers for Jody's dolly.

All wrapped up in the dog blanket Lance got me.

Looking fabulous with one of Joanne's new tu-tus. 

Marian and Papa

Happy birthday Baby Jesus!

What a wonderful Christmas! Thank you Mom and Papa!

Roadtrip

December 23, 2015

           We decided to spend this Christmas in California with my parents.  We were careful about when we left due to weather - and we left at the perfect time.  We hit a few hours of bad roads and some snow, but they only slowed us down a bit.  We were so grateful that the weather was good enough to get there safely.

           My oh my, Fourteen hours in a car with a toddler and baby is long.  But I planned the trip to a "T".  I had a lot of DVDs I borrowed from Lance's sister Andrea - a fun treat that doesn't happen at home.  I also bought toys from the Dollar Tree and wrapped them - so Joanne could open a present when she  needed a boost. I had treats and games and high hopes that she would at least take a nap. We left at 4:00 am to ensure that Jody would go back to sleep.  Ha. Yeah, that didn't work.

That girl didn't sleep until 9 hours into the trip! 
It was a lot of work to keep her entertained and not whining.

Sweet Marian - on the other hand - was perfect. She slept almost the whole time.  I sat in the back for part of the time to keep her entertained, but she was definitely the easy one on this trip.

Lance drove the whole time.  He was a trooper.  
Needless to say, we were SO happy to finally make it to Fairfield!

Christmas With Grandma Shelley

December 22, 2015

       Because we were going to Fairfield for Christmas, we had a mini Christmas with Grandma Shelley the night before we left.  

It was so fun! 

Grandma Shelley got Jody a Y-bike! 

We are obsessed! 

She also got princess cookie cutters for play-do. 

Thanks Grandma!

Joanne helped Lance open his gift.

That's the sign of a good gift!

Look at that smile!

This is a "Bug-a-Salt" and is a gun for shooting flies.

It's hilarious and works like a charm.

Look it up on youtube for good videos of it in action. 

Meanwhile, Marian was happy as a clam.