Sadie turns three and random pictures

This little lady turned THREE!!!!!

 We had lots of cupcakes at Auntie Esperanza's house over the weekend so we made brownies and ice cream for her birthday. 

 She was all set to go,

 got one blown out and in snuck Cole and blew out the rest! Haha! She thought she did it until we got after him.

This little girl is spunky and full of life. She knows what she wants, and knows exactly how to get it. She is goofy and silly. Walks and runs on her toes, is always daintily prancing around. Devin calls her our woodland sprite. She can laugh or cry at the drop of a hat. She is loving and kind. She is a sucker for hugs, will give you a smile in return for anything good. And just wants to be with everyone. We are so blessed and happy to have her in our family. Life definitely wouldn't be the same without her. 

WE catch a lot of things around here. Lizards, beetles, moths, bugs, worms, geckos....they live in a jar for a day and then are set free. I loved this picture because Eddi got down on his belly and sat and 'talked' with Cole about the bug for a good long time while I got ready for church Sunday morning. 

Before Christmas the Young Women in our ward  did the 12 days of Christmas for a girl who hasn't been coming a whole lot. The kids and I had purchased the gift we were going to give early in December. Every couple of days they asked when we were going to take it. Well our day came, and it got late. I was going to put these two to bed and then go but I remembered how much they wanted to do it so we all went together. I am SO glad I did. They were chatty and full of excitement as we drove to her house. they snuck up to the door and placed the gift on the step. Before we knocked I gave them a head start to get across the yard. They are fast little runners and we made it to the car giggling and excited. It was such a fun experience to share with them. 

 I was misinformed on when Lucy started back to school. We luckily had Monday off too! So we  went to the park, ran around the lake and fed the ducks and geese, and played at the playground.

We spent a good two hours there. It was so fun and so nice. I ran around like a little kid and did everything they did. Trains down the slide, ninja sneaking around underneath the playground, and of course the dreaded spinning. 

We have a little time out bench. Since Eddi doesn't really do time outs he hasn't figured out that this is not a place you WANT to be :) But that is a good thing for the older three because he follows them every time and keeps them company. 

While we were having lunch with Esperanza's friends we got to have the most AMAZING macaroons I have ever had in my life. I don't really like macaroons but I could have eaten every. single. one. They graciously sent some home with us. Sadly I was not the only one who liked them. I couldn't hide these for mommy's nap time snack :( 

We couldn't find the cinnamon one day...searched the whole house, thought we were crazy....i was cleaning up that dirty rug the next morning and look who I found hiding out under the sink and dishwasher.....i took a picture and walked away. I didn't remember to go back and get it until that afternoon....I guess I am a little crazy! haha!

Brothers....they are so funny together. Cole has successfully taught Eddi how to wrestle and throw balls. Eddi will come up to anyone sitting on the floor and drop himself on them and growl! 

Chipmunk faces, they put grapes in each cheek! 

The Holidays - Part 2

We took the whole crew to church on Sunday. We took up the whole first row with pretty much no wiggle room :) We may need to become double rowers. Haha! 

 We were welcomed home to an uncommonly warm house hat didn't want to cool down. So after church Opa and Devin investigated. They found this! 

An inch of ice, at least. 

They took,a couple of hair dryers to it and then set up a space heater to finish off thawing the elements. 

It finally worked. We had no idea that was a possibility so we will be better about checking on it. 

Before Patrick and Whitneys family left we took some pics

 

. Here is the gang with Opa and Nana. Saide, Leigh, Lucy, Opa with Wyatt, Nana with Eddi, Cole, Alden, Caelyn. Love all these hooligans! 

We never get pictures of the adults (I guess Opa and Nana aren't adults!) lol. It's nice to be closer to family. We sure are soaking up as much as we can whenever we get a chance! 

Monday Devin took half a day and we took Opa and Nana frisbee golfing.

Cole found this huge leaf!

Lucy found one too :) 

Action shots! 

The kids did awesome. They excitedly went through 7 holes. Then we hit the playground and they wanted to play. We took everyone to Jonas for seafood! It is such an amazing place, I LOVE their shrimp and grits. Since we had more people this time we go to sample some different dishes too. It was all very tasty!

We finished off our break by driving up to Auburn to visit Auntie Spwanza. 

I had to take a picture to prove Eddi slept in the car on the way up--for an HOUR! none of our babies like the car until they are about 2. This guys is no exception. 

We got there early in the morning, played and visited and headed to her good friends house to have some lunch. It was AMAZING food and they are really good people. I'm so glad we got to spend time with them (and that our kids didn't break anything!)

After lunch we headed back to Esperanza's and had the kids nap while we made the food for our New Year festivities. 

Dressed up

Attacked Auntie Spwanza with these thingys

blew up a bazillion balloons

Cole enjoyed her library of animal books

And set up a photo booth!

I think this was one of my favorite parts

He didn't think so. 

It took him a while to come site with us and then he didn't even grace us with smile....All because I took him away from his beloved books. 

So funny!

Ok so this was my favorite part. We filled up the photo booth area with all the balloons. Had the adults block the door way, and let the kids go crazy playing in all the balloons!

They had a lot of fun!

There were minimal injuries ;)

We partied later than the kids have ever been up. It was well worth it and lots of fun. In the morning we took it slow, then went to a park and played.  We recently discovered that Cole gets sick from spinning too much. It happened over thanksgiving and it happened again at the park. We were telling him he looked green and to sit down for a while. Sadie came up a few minutes later, sat by him and said, "Cole, it looks like my belly is turning green too." Love the things they say. 

We made a pit stop on the way home to see the foster girls Esperanza had last year. It was a good trip!

This was the look I got as he fell asleep on the way home....just incase you were wondering how much he truly hates that carseat! haha!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Holidays (part 1)

 We decided to go to the beach this year for Christmas! It was a different feel, but we all enjoyed it to the max.

 It was too cold to swim in the water so we played in the sand and splashed in the waves. 

The water was cold, and it was windy so this day we told them we were going in our clothes and just playing in the water. The waves were too tempting, they ran from them and splashed in them and got thrown around and laughed and had a blast. 

When we first got to the water, Sadie started dancing. It was so precious. 

Funny quote  pay Leigh, "mom, my teeth won't stop chewing." Referring to her chattering teeth. 

There was an indoor pool at the condo so the kids had plenty of swimming time. 

They tried their hands a synchronized swimming (guided by the dads) it was really funny. Videos to come....

There was a hot tub (aka "hot bath") that wa as nice reprieve from the "heated" pool.

We colored and read books...

Played games...

Played with toys....

Ate food....

Tried to make gingerbread houses but it was so humid the gram crackers broke (and I got weak sauce icing) BUT there was plenty of candy for them to eat 😉 

Watched the waves....

Slept a bit...

Eddi doesn't sleep in, at all. And decided it would be fun to wake up early every morning. The second day I decided to take him for a walk on the beach. It was dark, foggy and quiet. It was beautiful. We walked along listening to the waves we could barely see, making footprints in untouched sand. Watching the world wake up. 

Devin took him down the next morning, when he got back he discovered the kids had locked themselves in their room 😳. It was the only room with a real lock so he had a time explaining to the what they needed to do. 

Saturday morning we headed home. We were all surprised and excited to find that Santa had come even though we weren't home. 

Eddi took this time to bond with Opa. He sat by him and smiled and talked and pointed, just happy to be sitting next to him. 

We had taquitos for dinner and spent the rest of the day playing and enjoying each others company. 

....to be continued....