Head on over to the other side...

Several months ago I decided it was time to resurrect the blog.

Mind you, I haven't done the best job at keeping up with it but, I'm giving it a shot!

 

So, if you'd like to keep tabs on us, visit us here...

 

www.thegrubefam4.blogspot.com

 

Enjoy! :)

Ok, ok...here I go...

 

Wow!

That was a reeeally long time in between posts...a record, in fact.

That just goes to show how busy life with babes can be!

 

Taylor is done with soccer, done with preschool, and still doing {and loving} gymnastics.  She has a new play set in the backyard and is on the swing every chance she gets.  Sometimes I just stand and watch her from the kitchen window while she sits there, singing at the top of her lungs, without a care in the world. Man, I love this little girl.  She sure can be a handful these days...there's always something...but she has the most tender, caring heart.  She loves everyone and everything and she doesn't mind showing it.  She makes fast friends with most kids she meets and I just can't wait for her to experience Kindergarten.  She's certainly ready! :)

 

Benjamin is growing like you wouldn't believe!

He's walking around the house now.  Still a bit unsteady at times, and still prefers to crawl when he wants to get somewhere fast, but everyday he's pushing himself up off the floor and walking more and more. His balance is incredible.  He doesn't need anything to hold on to when he stands...just pushes right up off the floor, stands up and takes off...usually with a very big, proud smile on his face!

He's a really good eater and aside from a few specific things, eats pretty much everything.  He's a wonderful sleeper just like Taylor always was and loves to go to bed!  If you even say "are you ready for nigh-night?" He smiles and heads for his room. If you're carrying him, he pushes away from you about halfway down the hall and leans toward his bed as soon as you walk into his room. And usually, once he's in his bed, you won't hear a peep until he's ready to get up 2-3 hours later.

At his 1 year check-up he was 18lbs...still off the bottom of the chart but growing right along his own little curve. He's moved up to the 10th percentile for height {woo-hoo!} and is a perfectly healthy, super smart, active little boy.

And he's a snuggler. :)

 

Here are some pics of the last couple months happenings...gymnastics, Peter's first communion, my birthday, the last day of pre-K, my cousin's bridal shower, Ben's first birthday, Father's Day and some other fun stuff in between!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The End.

♥

Dear blog,

 

I'm sorry I've been away for so long and I'm sorry I haven't written.

Honestly, I didn't think it would be this long until we saw each other again.

You must have thought that I abandoned you...

 

I meant to write...I really did!  But, time just got away from me and, before I knew it, it had been 6 weeks...and then 2 months...and longer.  The days just kept speeding by and every time I would think about sitting down to write, well...I just didn't.

And as badly as I feel that our time apart has been so drawn out, I cannot promise that it won't happen again.

I hope you can understand.

I still think very fondly of you.

I just don't have a lot of time for you right now.

It's not you...it's me.

 

Until next time, my friend.

 

XO

 

 

Daddy's girl

 

Matt and Taylor have always had a pretty special bond.

They both call each other their "best buddy."

So, when it came time to find a coach for her soccer team, guess who volunteered?!

Yep, we now have a soccer player and a soccer coach in the family! :)

 

She had her first practice and scrimmage a few weeks ago and loooved it.

It was hilarious watching the kids' different levels of interest and abilities and I'm looking forward to many more weeks of cheering them both on!

 

Coach Matt and the Gold team!

{he looks a bit different surrounded by 4 and 5 year olds, as opposed to high school boys ;)}

Running some drills

After a 30 minute practice, they have a 30 minute scrimmage against another team...it got pretty exciting!  I was a little shocked and so proud of how aggressive Taylor was...and there were no tears {from her}, even after getting kicked and falling down!

And, she scored TWO goals!!!  Go Tay! :)

 

And here they are this morning...enjoying some sunshine, cutting the grass and just being buddies. :)

 

 

♥

 

 

Happy Easter...finally!

 

I know it was more than a week ago, but this Easter weekend was an awesome one, so it deserves it's own blog post.  I think the best part of the weekend was the gorgeous weather!  70 degrees with a few fluffy, white clouds against a bright blue sky...perfect for all of the outdoor fun that was to be had!

 

We started with a neighborhood Easter egg hunt on Saturday that was put on by one of my sister's neighbors and spanned their entire cul-de-sac...7 houses/yards!

Then it was home to play outside, work in the garden a bit, BBQ and color Easter eggs.

 

 

Easter morning was probably the least stressful that it's been in the last few years that I can remember.  We were hosting Easter with my family {which we do every year} but I able to get most of my prep work for the egg hunt and dinner done the day before...which meant that I got to sit back and enjoy the morning with my family, without running around like a crazy person! :)

 

New kicks from EB ♥

My two little honey bunnies ♥

 

Our Easter service this year was another beautiful one.

Holy week leading up to Easter Sunday always leaves me feeling a bit somber and sad.  But the celebration of Jesus' resurrection into heaven and the everlasting salvation that God gave to us is a beautiful thing! Could there be a more perfect gift?!

 

I mean, besides this little guy, of course... ♥

Taylor and Holly at church looking so pretty and so grown-up! :)

 

We skipped the Easter egg hunt at church this year to get home and get ready for a bigger and better egg hunt in the huge yard that we now have! We were super excited for the egg hunt this year because we changed things up a bit...

Each of the kids had their own color basket and they were only allowed to pick up eggs that were the same color!  That meant the big kids' eggs were hidden in much harder places than the little girls' eggs, and everyone ended up with the same amount of eggs in the end, so everyone was happy! {Thank you, Pinterest!}

 

 

After a delicious dinner and more goodies from Grandma and Papa, we celebrated Abbie's 12th birthday!  Yes, that's right...she's 12.  I almost have to choke back tears just thinking about it.  She was the first little girl to steal my heart and it just doesn't seem possible that it was that many years ago that I was getting on a plane to Omaha, Nebraska to go see her for the very first time.  But, my what a lovely young lady she is becoming.  She is smart, respectful, musical, artistic, athletic, responsible, and of course beautiful...inside and out.  I love spending time with her. I love watching her play sports and hearing her stories about her friends and school.  I can't help but think it will be in the blink of an eye that I will be hearing all of the same stories from my own little girl. {That is, if she's still speaking to me by the time she's a teenager. Ha!} ♥

 

Hope you had a wonderful Easter celebration, as well!

Happy Spring, too!

Now, where'd the sunshine go?!?

 

With 2 days to spare...

So, Benjamin is technically still 8 months...for another 2 days...so its perfectly okay to do an 8 month post, right?! 

Oh, I tell ya...we have been BUSY.

Good busy, but busy!

Let's get caught up real quick.

Taylor started gymnastics {which she loves!}; is loving our big yard to explore; has mastered the skill of a 2-wheeler again after dusting the bike off post-winter; can throw a fit like a teenager when she doesn't get her way; loves her baby brother and is always looking out for him; does not have a quiet button {wonder who she gets that from...ahem, daddy...}; gets wound up every night about 30 minutes before bedtime and hates going to bed; still loves her 'toons; wants to put makeup on; loves to write and draw and color and paint and create; and is the best little cuddler around {when she can sit still}. She's so excited for Kindergarten and can't wait to get registered very soon. I'm excited, too...she's very ready to move on from preschool. She's still my little girl but it seems she's growing up at lightening speed. Every day she says something more grown up and hilarious.  Sometimes I just don't know where she comes up with the things that come out of her mouth...it's like Strawberry Shortcake meets Kim Kardashian! She's silly, smart, sassy, spirited, sensitive, sentimental and so super-duper stinkin' cute! :)
 

 

Benjamin is all over the place...standing all the time; starting to cruise the furniture; into the dishwasher the second it opens; eating lots of big boy food; weaning himself from nursing {sad!}; found his boy parts and giggles every time he explores them {so funny!}; is in 6-9 month clothes and finally growing out of size 2 diapers; isn't crazy about veggies but he'll eat the heck out of sweet potatoes and any fruit that you give him, and he loves yogurt; his 2 top teeth just cut yesterday/today so that makes a total of 4 teeth; loves to be outside; loves to be in the Ergo with mama {which is my favorite place for him to be...close to my heart!}; he's getting so much better about being away from me and I actually went out for a few drinks this weekend with my hubby and his buddy that we haven't seen for awhile; he loves to be naked; loves to play chase and peek-a-boo; his favorite book is "I Ruff You" with the cutest little puppy in it...he laughs every time I read the first page "I ruff you in the morning when the sun is shining bright, I ruff you in the evening when the moon lights up the night..." and it melts my heart every. single. time; he's a good napper and has been sleeping thru the night for several months; he's just an all-around happy-go-lucky, smiley, sweet baby that makes me with I could have another one...*sigh* :)

 

We had a visit from Matt's dad and step-mom and had a great time while they were here!  We went for walks, went out for dinner, BBQ'd tri-tip and yummy fish, visited NW Trek, had a few lazy evenings at home and they got some good quality time with the kiddos. 

 

We spent a couple days and a night at The Great Wolf Lodge with the Sutters and had awesome time!!  The kids had a blast and the adults did too...although we were all suffering from one thing or another that made for an awfully tame evening compared to what we had planned! I was 1 day post-stomach flu, Matt drove straight there from the airport after being gone for 8 days on a business trip, Joel had worked graveyard the night before and only got a quick nap before we got there and Tiff was battling allergies and a cold. So, even though we were all in bed by 1030p, we still had a ball! :)
We've also been spending more time outside, had a few play dates, celebrated a few birthdays, I'm working on getting things more organized inside and trying to get caught up and back on track with Scentsy {I've been a pretty big slacker since Ben was born!}. We watched the Yelm girls basketball team make an amazing run through Districts, but sadly didn't make it to the State Tournament. I've been doing a bit of shopping lately...Taylor has a whole new Spring wardrobe and a few options for her flower girl dress for my cousin's wedding this summer, Benjamin always needs a thing or two, and I've even gotten a few new things for myself! I'm really loving a lot of the styles that are out right now.  In fact, I really need to stay away from the stores because every time I go I come home with something new and it's usually for me...that never happens.

Makenzie and Taylor...BFF's ♥

 Benjamin and Tristen...trouble's a-brewin' with these two!! :)

Anyway, that about sums it up for us!
Lots more on the horizon...a Scentsy and Thirty-One Gifts party next week, Easter at our house with a bigger and better Easter egg hunt in our huge yard along with celebrating Abbie's birthday, Holly and Jake's birthdays next month and more fun times with friends, too!
I'm crossing my fingers for more blue skies and sunny, warm afternoons!

Missed you, friends.
I'll try not to be a stranger. :)
As Taylor would say...Peace out, Homey!
XO
 

And then there's the rest of us...

 

If it seems like all you ever read, see and hear about these days is the little guy, you're right!  I haven't forgotten that there are 3 other people in this family, but when I only get around to blogging twice {sometimes once} a month, it seems like he's the one that needs the most updating!  So, for those of you who would actually like to know what the rest of us have been up to, here ya go...

 

Taylor...my sweet, little sassy-pants. :)

She's becoming so independent and so grown-up.  The way she talks, her mannerisms, her words...she's really coming into her own.  She's always asking questions...about God, the Earth, geography, biology, time...anything and everything that comes to mind, she wants to talk about it.  I love it! Sometimes the grown-up concepts that she can grasp totally blow me away, and other times I giggle at her innocence.  She's constantly asking me to help her spell words and she's starting to sound things out on her own.  I can't believe that in a very short time she will be reading all on her own.  I kinda like having her all snuggled up in my lap, hanging on every word of every page that I read.  And now that I think about it, soon enough she's not even going to fit on my lap anymore... Oh, I just don't think I'm ready for her to grow up.  I have to say that I'm glad she didn't get to start Kindergarten this year.  Having her home for one more year is really a blessing to me.  We don't get to spend as much alone time together now, and I really miss that.  I think Kindergarten would have been really hard for me. I just want to keep her little for a tad bit longer.  However, she is getting older and with age comes attitude!  She's such a sweet girl most of the time, but when she's tired or hungry or just plain having a bad day, look out! I have a very real and justified fear of the teenage years...Lord, help me! I say this because you know what they say...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! :)  She had her first official sleepover last weekend for her best buddy's birthday and did awesome!  She's stayed away from home several times before at my parents and sisters houses, so I wasn't worried at all.  She's not one to get scared or homesick as long as there's fun to be had!  She's such a social butterfly and would rather be playing with her friends or cousins than anything else in the world! In fact, we're planning a little Valentine party for some of her friends and cousins in a few weeks so stay tuned for those pics...little girls {and boys!} and pink and hearts just seem to go together nicely, don't they?!  She's such a good kid and a total party girl so I'm really looking forward to a fun day devoted to her loving little heart and her lovely little friends. ♥

 

Matt...my hard-workin' man!

He's been super busy lately.  Between working his full-time job, traveling, moving, working a part-time job in the evening and on weekends, and finding time for his family and friends, he doesn't have a lot of time for anything else.  I have to say though, that he is so good at what he does and I'm so proud of him for wanting to go the extra mile to provide for his family, lessen our financial burden, and still allow me to stay home and do what I do best. He makes it look easy and doesn't complain a bit.  I love this guy. He's such a good daddy. He adores his baby boy and I think there's going to be a very special bond between the two of them as Benjamin grows up. Him and Taylor have always been really close...they're "best buddies" as Taylor says...but there's something different with a daddy and his boy.  I'm really looking forward to watching that relationship flourish. He's excited to be changing out a few things on his Harley this winter and getting it ready for Spring/Summer and that includes making it more comfortable for me!  Woo-hoo! Can't wait for those date nights, again...there's just something about a hot guy in dark sunglasses and a black leather jacket on a motorcycle, isn't there?! :)

 

 Me...I'm a work in progress!

Well, we're finally settled in our new house.  It took us the better part of two months, but the "old" house is finally empty and clean and ready to be occupied by it's new owners.  So sad.  I cried the entire time I was there cleaning.  Every room I went in held such precious memories for me and I couldn't help but wish that we could just move all our stuff back in and make it work.  Room by room, I said good-bye to our house.  I started with our master bed/bathroom and that's where the tears began.  We lost 6 babies in that room.  Every time I got in that tub I remembered each time...being in there in the wee hours of the morning...and oddly enough, it was comforting.  It helped me remember them.  It brought them closer to me and now that place is no longer mine.  The place where I said goodbye to my babies.  That was a hard door to close.  Next was Taylor's room.  Left in her closet were little fluffs from feather boas and strands of tinsel from princess wands. She had so much fun in that room!  I remembered her as a baby and her precious little crib set that we painted the walls to match.  Her walk-in closet that was always her favorite hiding spot when we played hide-and-seek.  And some of her very first drawings that had been on her door for what seemed like forever.  Ben's room was easier...he wasn't in there too long, but looking at his name decal on the wall in a room without a stitch of anything else in it made me so sad.  Sad that he'll never know that house as home.  And from his bay window I could look out and see all our neighbor's houses...people who have become dear friends that we shared many summer evenings in our driveway with, many dinners and many, many drinks with, and made so many good memories with.  The kids riding their bikes every day...knocking on our door and asking if Taylor can come out and play...taking spontaneous walks to the coffee shop in town and always having someone to borrow a cup of milk or sugar from when I needed it. I already miss them dearly...  But, now that we're officially done with our house I feel like I can finally move on and start to focus on moving forward, which is a good feeling!  And, we have some really fun stuff coming up this year, so I'm anxious to get this show on the road!  A trip to the Great Wolf Lodge and a visit from Matt's parents next month; 2 family weddings this summer, one here and one in Colorado; our annual family camping trip; two of our best friends' wedding in Vegas; my baby boy will be 1; Taylor will start Kindergarten...whew! 2013 is a big year already and it's only January! Not to mention I'm going to lose another 10 {15?!} pounds by summer!  Just putting that out there...that's my plan, but we'll see.  Having a baby that isn't old enough for the nursery, won't take a bottle and is still nursing makes it kinda hard for me to do much about going to the gym. I could work out at home, but I just can't find that motivation right now. I also need to do a cleanse/detox in a bad way because I'm seriously addicted to sugar right now, but of course that will have to wait until I'm one nursing.  So, as I said at the top, I'm a work in progress.  Only 2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight and all my clothes fit me, including my smaller jeans that I bought after losing 20lbs before I got pregnant, but I'm not where I want to be and I'm certainly not ready for swimsuit season! Yikes! ;)

 

So, that's what's up with us.  There's so much  more, but it's late and I like my sleep.

G'night. :)

 

Benjamin...7{ish} months

He's crawling!

He just got his first tooth..bottom, middle/right.

He {usually} sleeps thru the night...9pm~7am.

He loves to eat!  Bananas, applesauce, mixed fruits and berries, real carrots {not the baby food ones}, sweet potatoes, squash, baby yogurt and puffs are some of his favorites. He loves to chew {gum} apples and celery and gets really mad if you try to eat in front of him without offering him something, as well.

He gets into everything! Remotes, phones and cords are his go-to items.

He loves his binkie.

He's comfortably wearing 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.

He's adorable in hats and just recently started taking them off when I put one on...just in time for our coldest winter weather!

If you wave to him, he'll wave back. :)

He loves, loves, loves his sissy!  She always gets the biggest smiles out of him.

He loves toys and loves to play.

He stayed with my parents {at our house} while Matt and I went out with friends one night and he did great...progress!

He's still breastfeeding and refuses to take a bottle...which is really rather inconvenient at times.

He has the most adorable little belly laugh that sounds strikingly similar to his big sister's.

He takes one really good nap during the middle of the day and usually one other little cat nap at some point in the late afternoon.

He's still light as a feather...13.75lbs at 6 months. {haven't weighed him for a few weeks but need to do that.}

He has adorable baby blues.

His hair is growing in and I think he's going to have Matt's hair. :)

He still loves his toes.

He loves to be naked and will escape as soon as his diaper is off.

He's not crazy about his infant tub anymore...he much prefers the big tub with Matt or I, and Taylor.

He has a little temper and he's not afraid to use it when he sees fit!

He throws his binkie out of his crib when he doesn't want to take a nap...then he cries and pulls himself up over the bumper {yes, that's right, I have a crib bumper...*gasp!*} and waits for someone to come get him...and smiles and wiggles as soon as he sees us.  Suckers.

He's carried around a lot more than Taylor was and he loves the Ergo.

He likes to share my ice water.

He loves the vacuum and makes a bee-line for it as soon as it comes out...and then follows me while I vacuum.

He looooves his daddy! It makes me melt the way he wiggles and practically jumps out of my arms when he walks into the room. I have a feeling they're gonna be best buds real soon.

He had his first "bug" a few weeks ago...a bronchial infection with a nasty cough and chest congestion.  He was such a champ and it didn't seem to slow him down or bother him a bit.

He's smaller than all of his friends his age.  In fact, we have a few friends with babies a few weeks younger than him and they're almost double his size!  He's such a little pumpkin. :)

He's warming up to Lambeau, but still likes to look at him through the window more than anything.

He's a lady killer.  Seriously...all the girls adore him.

He's so. much. fun!

It seems he learns something new everyday and watching him explore the big world around him makes my heart so full.

He is everything I hoped and dreamed he would be...and more.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about what my life would be like without him.  What a blessing he is!  God has trusted me with this little person to love and nurture and provide for and I don't take that for granted for one second.  He is my perfect little gift.  The piece of me that has mended the scars on my heart and made it whole again.

Oh, how I love this little baby boy...

♥

 

7 months

 

 

Stay tuned for more pics and a little update on my sweet, sweet boy. :)



So blessed

This Christmas was a good one.

Having Benjamin with us and spending so much time with family and friends just made this Christmas feel so special to me.

We had family parties on Saturday and Sunday.

Christmas Eve was the children's mass at church where the kids had a special program and Taylor was an angel, then we spent the rest of the evening at Cheri and Jay's house with long-time friends and neighbors.

 

Christmas morning started at about 8am and was complete with stockings, screeches, goodies, giggles, coffee, toys galore, lots of playing and lots of hugs and thank you's.

 

 

It was a nice relaxing morning and early afternoon, and then we started getting things ready for my family to come over for more gift opening and Christmas dinner.

Grandma and Papa Claus certainly did not disappoint the kids this year, as usual.  I think they probably spoil the kids just as much as the real Santa Claus!  Our living room is always full of presents {for 7 kids!} and the kids can hardly stand to wait to open them.

It's so much fun to see them all open their gifts at once!  They're all yelling "mom, look!" and "thank you, Grandma!" and "oh my gosh, this is just what I wanted!" all at the same time and I love it.  The wrapping paper on the floor is something to behold with seven kids opening about 10 presents a piece...and then the boxes and packaging on top of that make for several trips to the recycling bin! We are extremely blessed to be able to spend our Christmas with family, and this year for some reason, I felt it more than ever. Maybe it was my recently relocated Hawaiian friends on my mind, or the emotions from my sweet baby boy's first Christmas, but the chaos and mess was just plain perfect.

Christmas dinner was delicious and the goodies afterwards, too.

The women talked, laughed and reminisced, while the kids played non-stop and the guys sat on the couch and watched hunting shows.

I ♥ Christmas.

 

Thank you, God, for sending your son to be born here on this Earth.

I pray that many more people will find you in their hearts this year and that the world will be a more loving and safer place for all of us.

 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Now, let's ring in a fantastic new year! :)

 

I'm a little late...

Oh, dear.
My sweet baby boy is 6 months old {6 months and 1 week, to be exact} and I still haven't taken "the" 6 month picture of him.  I've thought about it many times, but it's usually when he's already dressed and I don't want to undress him to put the other onesie on just to take a picture, so I think 'I'll do it the next time I change his diaper'...and then I forget.  But, we did have some professional {and I use that term very loosely} photos taken and I happen to really like a few of them, so I'll just post those instead.  But we'll get to that later...

First...let's get caught up on the who, what, where and everything in-between from the last month that we've been absent.

We started our December in sort of a disarray...we sold our beloved home and are currently renting another lovely home not far from our old house.  We actually really like the new place {alot!} but it just doesn't feel like home...and I don't know if it ever will since it isn't ours.  It's kind of an odd feeling going from being a homeowner to renting again.  Anyway, the house is about 350 square feet bigger and has a 4th bedroom which is soo nice since Matt works from home and now has an office space of his own, instead of shacking up in Ben's room.  The house is on 2 acres with an empty 2 acre lot between us and the road; the yard is huge; it has a nice fenced garden space in the back with raised beds and sprinklers; and it has most of the comforts of our old home, including a heat pump which I don't know that I could live without in the summer since I've been used to one for the past 5 years!  It also has a ton of storage space, which is great because our old house did too and we seemed to have accumulated quite a bit of crap to fill it up. {Did I mention I hate moving??}  The kids' bedrooms are really good sized and we just feel really good here.  Oh, and our rent is significantly less than what our mortgage payment was...go figure. So, we're pretty much settled now and just waiting to sign our final closing papers.  It's going to be a sad day, but I'm honestly just looking forward to getting it over with so we can move on.

After we moved most of our stuff, and before half of it was even unpacked, we drove the 1/10 of a mile down our country road to the tree farm where I've been going since I was a kid and cut down our Christmas tree! The tree farm is literally across the street from our house...we could've walked if we wanted to drag our tree all the way home, which we didn't.

Here's a little tree that Taylor reeeally wanted to take home for her room. Maybe next year...

This is the one!

 3 of my faves :)

Decorating the tree was so much fun this year!

It might not look like it, but I honestly really enjoyed myself. :)

 These two are best buddies. ♥

Taylor was really into decorating this year and wanted to do everything herself.  I convinced her to let me help too and then tried so hard not to move her ornaments after she put them on the tree.  Later, when everyone else had gone to bed, I was sitting on the couch enjoying the quiet and the coziness of the Christmas lights and the tree.  As I stared at it more and more it was like a little part of my brain started to twitch...I tried to tell myself to "leave her ornaments where they are...it's cute that they're all in once big spot on the front of the tree, right?  I mean, she's 5 and she's so proud of herself and all the decorating that she did by herself and..."...twitch,.twitch...I couldn't help myself.  I got up and moved almost every ornament she put on the tree.  Ugh.  The guilt still riddles me...









 

And then there's my sweet little Ben.  This kid has stolen my heart like I didn't know he could.  He is pure sweetness {to his mama!} and wants to be with me all the time. Every once in awhile I wish that I could leave him for more than two hours at a time and not worry that he'll be screaming the whole time until I'm in his sights again, but most of the time I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than nuzzling that sweet baby skin anyway.  So, if he only wants his mama, well that's ok with me. :)

 I mean, how could anyone resist that toothless grin?!

I KNOW!!!

 Just to keep it real, this is what he looks like when you take away his sweet potatoes. Ha!

Matt's mom came from Wisconsin to visit and had a great time with her grandkiddies!  She got to know Ben, and Taylor adored having another Grandma to boss around play with. :)  She even got to watch Taylor's Pre-K Christmas program while she was here!

Here's Tay with a few of her best buddies from school, Addie and Isabella.

 Going over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house!

 Super excited to introduce her friends to her TWO grandmas that were there, her Papa and her baby brother!

 

And...to wrap up this long over-due post that is really lacking any kind of substance but will have to do for now because it's 11pm and I have to go cut up fruit for the first of four parties in four days starting tomorrow...I give you our family photos.

 

 

 

WAIT!!!  I almost forgot...it snowed!!!

 

 I'm posting this one to show you our new back yard!  I had my zoom lens on and this is as close as I could get to Taylor.  It's pretty big...and awesome!  Can you tell Lambeau hates it?! :)

 

 

Ok, I'm really going now. :)