Dusting off the ol' Blog

6 months. That's how much time has passed since I last blogged. That's way too long and one of my New Years resolutions is to update our lives on here more often.

I could blame it on our busyness, but truth be told it's a combination of that, the fact that I'm tired all the time, and the fact that I've let Instagram substitute for updates on our lives. Instagram is okay, but even though a picture is worth a thousand words, I forget that words are often times better.

In the last 6 months much has happened. I figured since it's the new year I should start it off right. I want to kind of recap our crazy, busy, wonderful fall and thank God for all he did to finish out our 2014. I'm also looking forward to 2015 and what God has in store for us. 

Since I last blogged, so much has happened. I'll begin with the kiddos, youngest to oldest.

Our Emsley began walking just before her 14 month. We were all so excited for her! She took her first steps at the Howard family cabin.

We also dedicated Em to the Lord at our church on Sunday October 12th. It was a special day and we celebrated with family afterwards. We all love having Emsley around. She is turning out to be quite a ham and has us laughing on a daily basis.

Ethan began preschool 2 half days a week and is loving it! He was very shy and hesitant at first, but preschool is accomplishing all that we hoped it would in him. We knew he was doing okay academically, since he loves to learn and is obsessed with letters and numbers. We just thought he needed a nudge socially and in learning to be a bit more independent. We've seen him grow up a lot this fall. He has several friends at preschool and although he still melts down when he's tired, he's a lot more mature and social! Praise God!

Elliana started kindergarten and is loving that as well. We've never worried about her since she is so social and loves to learn as well. She is also flourishing! The biggest change I've seen in her is the way she has taken on her role as a big sister. She amazes me with the way she loves and cares for both Ethan and Emsley. Another big milestone for her is that just before her 6th birthday she lost her first tooth! She was so proud of herself.

At the end of October, I got to check a visit to New York off the bucket list! As a Christmas gift from Caleb's parents, the four of us stayed with Caleb's Aunt and Uncle for 5 days and the trip was everything I dreamed it would be! We saw everything from The Statue Of Liberty, One World Trade Center, 9-11 memorial, The Met, Rockefeller Center, Top of The Rock, Empire State Building, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, etc.

The biggest highlights for me were ice skating in front of Rockefeller Center, seeing the fall colors, seeing Wicked on Broadway and going to the top of the Empire State Building at midnight with Caleb. It was a wonderful trip and one that I'll never forget.

In October we also visited California but not for a happy reason. Caleb's paternal grandmother, Jeannette Howard passed away and we went to celebrate her life at her lovely funeral. It was sad to be there for that reason, but also so good to see the rest of that side of the family.

In early November Caleb's volleyball team won State again this year and they completed another season undefeated! Their record is now 58-0!! There are no words to describe that moment, or how proud I am of him and his incredible team. They are so special, and not just athletically.

At the beginning of the fall Caleb and I finally joined a small group at our new church Mill City and we are enjoying getting to know more couples and families there. One of my goals for this year is to get on the worship team at church.

We ended 2014 with a whirlwind December. We celebrated Ellie's 6th birthday, my 33rd (gulp) birthday,

bought Ellie a betta fish as her first pet for Christmas (she named the fish Sophie),

and then took off to an indoor water park in South Dakota for a few days. It was a wonderful trip as well!

Whew! 2014 was so busy and so, so good to us. It's true what people say about the years going faster and faster. Here is my new favorite photo of my 3 littles on Christmas Eve.

We have much to look forward to in 2015 and I'm excited to see what God has in store for us. It's hard to believe that Caleb and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage already! We've planned a trip to Santa Barbara in March to celebrate! Stay tuned, I promise to not go 6 months again. ;)

I hope your 2015 is off to a great start!

Vegas Baby!

Once again, I"m the last sister to document something we all experienced together. I guess that's what comes with this stage of life though. 3 little ones leave little time for blogging and social media. Still, I'll take what I can get. :)

Jenn and Courtney already did a fabulous job recapping our fantastic time in Las Vegas last weekend.

Since I don't want to be too redundant, I'm just going to post some of the pictures that haven't been shared yet, and quickly share the highlights for me.

So, if you want a more detailed story, be sure to check out the sisters' blogs. :)

Oh, by the way, something that was NOT a highlight, but has to be mentioned, is the trip to DIA that almost made us miss our flight to Vegas. That was the MOST stressed I have EVER been when it comes to making a flight, and the closest I've ever gotten to missing one. I don't want to experience that again. No bueno!

I should mention that these are in chronological order, not in order of significance. ;)

Highlight #1, arriving safe and sound in Las Vegas. I didn't know if it would happen, but here we are in front of the famous "Welcome To Las Vegas" sign just happy to be on the ground and not running around like crazy people.

Highlight #2, eating at the delicious Gonzalez Y Gonzalez inside our NY NY hotel (the hotel with the most character, in my opinion). It was our first meal since breakfast, and it was already dinner time. Everyone enjoyed the delicious food and ah-mazing margaritas!

Highlight #3, the fountain show in front of the Bellagio. SO fun!

Highlight #4, the Soul2Soul concert with Faith Hill and Tim Mcgraw. I could listen to their voices all day. 

Me with the birthday girl, my little sis Alli. 

She (and her hubby Brian) were the reason we were in Vegas to begin with. :)

And of course, the 4 sisters. :)

Highlight #5, Vegas during the day, walking along the strip, and visiting the M&M store.

When I saw Buzz and Woody from Toy Story, I simply HAD to get a picture with them to show Ethan. 

He's obsessed with these characters right now. 

Highlight #6, lunch at Max Brenner's with my Aunt Dareth and her friends. Loved the food and company!

Highlight #7, dinner at the Stratosphere or "top of the world" restaurant. Maybe the most fancy restaurant I've ever eaten at. Here's the whole "gang". :)

And, last but definitely not least, highlight #8 is winning $100! Never thought that would happen.

Really, the best part was getting a little vacation with my mom and sisters. We had a wonderful time even if, like Jenn said, there was too much "naked" in Vegas. Did not like the naked or the smell of smoke everywhere. ;) The rest of the trip was a blast though, and it was a weekend to remember. 

And, Happy 30th Birthday to Alli and Brian this month! You two are great sports for letting us crash your Vegas party! ;)

P.S. Caleb and Jon are the best husbands for letting Jenn and I get away and for taking care of our babes while we were gone. As much as I loved this trip, I was happy to be home and hug/hold my babies.

Austin & Friends

This past weekend Caleb, Emsley and I flew to Austin, TX to visit one of our favorite families!

I mentioned in a previous post that Joe, Caleb's best friend, moved his family to Austin about a year and a half ago and it's the longest we've gone without seeing them. 

I only wish I had more pictures from the weekend, but of course we discovered our camera was dead as we were rushing out of the house to make it on time for our flight. There was no time to charge it. :( Any pictures you see of us on here are courtesy of Kim. 

We flew in late Friday night (midnight in Austin) but that didn't stop Caleb and Joe from playing games until 2 AM. 

It's always so good to see these guys reunited. :)

This picture was taken many years ago, long before Caleb and I were married.

The weather was GORGEOUS (upper 60's and low 70's) and made me even more anxious for spring to arrive here in Colorado.

Saturday Joe and Kim took us to The Salt Lick, a famous BBQ restaurant that has been on The Food Network. It was an awesome place. It's one of those restaurants that isn't just a restaurant, it's an experience. 

They have fresh squeezed lemonade, a winery so you can go and sample wine while you're waiting to be seated (no matter what time of day you go, you can expect to wait a minimum of 45 minutes), 

lots of land with outdoor picnic tables, an outdoor small stage for live bands to come and perform, 2 large fire pits and a playground for kids. 

The food was to die for! It was such a fun experience!

Other than experiencing The Salt Lick, we just spent most of our time enjoying being together.

We drove through and around Austin, seeing where Joe works and learning all of the Austin hot spots. 

In the evenings after the kids were down we spent our time watching the Olympics and playing lots of card games and board games.

Sunday we visited their ginormous (but awesome) church with them and then went to get donuts and coffee.

Really, the best thing was just getting to talk for long periods of time. Even though Joe and Caleb were the original friends, Joe's wife Kim and I have become great friends too. I have an enormous amount of respect for her and really just "click" with her. She is such a genuine person with a huge, servant's heart. She's one heck of a mama too! 

Their boys are the same ages as our Ellie and Ethan so it was fun spending time with them too. They are seriously the sweetest boys!

 This is our Elliana and their Ben 4 years ago when they were our only children. :)

We finally got to introduce the newest members of our families, our Emsley and their Madison.  

These sweet baby girls are only 2 months apart in age. Emsley is on the right in case you can't tell. ;-)

We headed home on Monday morning. As much as we wished we could stay longer, we were also ready to see and hug Ellie and Ethan. 

It's so crazy to me how much our relationships and families have grown over the years. I can't for the life of me figure out how we don't have any pictures of the 4 of us because we've done so much together! 

Anyway, we had such a fun weekend and it was hard to say goodbye. I can't wait to see these lovely faces again. You can bet we won't let so much time slip by next time!