Snowshoes!

We got a crazy bug at the end of January and went snowshoeing at Mt. Spokane!  We have *mostly* fond memories...and lots of great white pictures.

G'ma Yancey Strikes Again!

Aunt Debbie's mom surprises the kids with fun packages every now and then...further proof that these kids are spoiled!  She is such a sweet lady.  "We love you, G'ma Yancey!"

Grace's Very First Piano Recital

Chester Chills Out and Silent Night were the two songs that Gracie made her piano recital debut with.  We thought she'd be nervous and shy, but she surprised us all with a calm, cool demeanor and confident playing.  She even looked out at us as she played, waiting to see our reaction.

Sarabeth had quite a few students...and Grace had quite a few supporters!  Granny and Pappy came, along with GG.  G'ma Colleen and Papa Scott were with us, and Papa Greg and G'ma Joan even came up from the farm to see Grace perform.  And don't forget the Van Sickle girls, and Gracie's teacher, Mrs. Whorton!  What a blessed girl.

We are so very proud of her.

In case I think our winter was without sickness...

...remember in January when we found out Grace is allergic to Amoxicillin?  Poor girl!  She stayed home with strep throat for two days, and then a week later, after she'd been on antibiotics for 6 days, she broke out in hives.  I just hugged her and hugged her.  She's so tough.

The Reading Tent

Precious times in the reading tent with Kaitlyn.  I love seeing only books and legs sticking out!

We love this lady.

We woke on the morning of January 26, realizing it was Granny's birthday, and started making plans.  A cake, an orchid, and several balloons later, we showed up at her door with cheesy birthday grins.  Granny was so surprised!  And we were glad we caught her--they'd already been out to lunch with Ellen and were on their way to dinner at Scott and Colleen's.  How fun for us to spoil this sweet lady who loves to spoil us.

Alea's Weekend

What better gift for this sweet thespian turning eleven...than to spend her birthday weekend being Mother Wolf in the Missoula Children's Theater's "Jungle Book"? 

This was such a fun program for Alea!  She worked hard all week to learn lines and rehearse with her schoolmates...and gave two performances on the day before her birthday.  We enjoyed every minute of this!

And then we celebrated with her while she was coming down off of the acting-high!

 We love you, Alea Girl!  We hope your 11th year is truly blessed.  XOXO

"I love the art center!" -skipping Josh on the walk home from Kindergarten

This one killed me!  I was dying laughing.

Papa Greg is holding tightly to his marbles...

Papa Greg has had many back and neck surgeries.  I think this was number 7 in 11 years?  In his back fusion last year, the top screws had become loose and were grating whenever he moved--so painful!  But when we heard he had "a couple of screws loose," we couldn't contain the giggles.  My pre-surgery gift to him were his marbles, and he was instructed to hold on tightly to these!

I was happy to go spend the day with mom while he went under...we talked, prayed, and ate our way through his 2-hour surgery (this was just a little one!)  We were very happy to see Dr. Dietrich come out with this bag of HARDWARE that he'd taken out of Dad's back.  (Of course Dad wanted them as souvenirs!  Our latest idea is that he makes himself a BACK lamp for himself!)

I left that evening after staying to see Dad come out of recovery.  He'd been instructed to "stay positive," and he was teasing my mom with this phrase over and over.  The surgery was a complete success!  The pain in his upper back is completely gone, and we are so thankful.  Now about that hip pain...

Whistle While You Work

This boy sings.  Quite often.  Today he was singing "I like to eat, eat, eat, eeeples and baneeeneees!" in the produce section at Fred Meyer.

1, 2, 3!!!

Cousin-Buddies, Nels & Micah

 

We got to have Nels for a couple of mornings in January.  I LOVE having these boys together!  We call Micah and Nels "cousin-buddies" and it is so sweet to see them start to play together.  We know that they'll be thick as thieves in the years to come...

Don't hurry to take down the holiday decorations...

So I told myself this year, don't put pressure on yourself to get the decorations down by a certain time.  Just enjoy them and take them down slowly.  But even though I said this, my soul needed to de-clutter.  And once I was in the mess, I had to have it done.  :)  While cleaning, I got quite a chuckle taking down our little advent tree.  The big kids can't stand Herod.  Gracie won't even let me read the little booklet ornament.  Well, this year Joshy said he'd take care of Herod...and he hung him on the very BACK of the tree, all by himself.  Time out for Herod.

First Week Back

Micah loves his books.  I love to snag pictures of him reading.  He really likes to go through all of his books...I am seeing a little bit of introvert in moments!

Micah also helped me shop the after-Christmas sales.  This is the toy that G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy are getting next Christmas!  (Shhh...)

Delicious food to perk us up...this was a mix from Jen!

And friends!  Ice cream sandwiches in January?  Whoever heard of such fun?

Goodbye Peppermint Creamer, Hello Routine

Ohhhh, going back to work was so hard!  Jeff had to send me this picture of his last cup of coffee with his Peppermint Mocha creamer.  (We may or may not have drove around town, looking for the remainder of this delicious stuff...)

The kids loved getting back into routine (once they were out of bed and had an hour to wear the funk off).  We had a two-week break from PAPERS ON THE CUPBOARD, but these little paper creations from our kindergartener brought a smile to my face.

We got the potty out of storage!  Micah thinks it's a great place to read.  Hmmm, I wonder where he got that idea?

And the kids DOVE into swim lessons during January.  Micah even got to get in with Dad.

Is that a horse?!?

A MOOSE helped us usher in the New Year!  The Midway neighborhood was enamored by a couple of these pets as we saw them show up on Facebook posts for a couple of weeks in January.  Linnea was still with us for the holiday, and she spotted this "little" guy..."Is that a HORSE walking down the street?"  At first glance!

And this is Gracie's sweet friend, Selah, who came for an overnight during Christmas break.  She has since moved back to Bellingham...boo, hiss.  We still have her penguin sock that was left under the couch.  (blogging in March, people)