Yosemite

We have lived here for over 6 years...and we just recently made it up to Yosemite National Park. It's shameful, I know. One of the best parks in the country is less than two hours away and we hadn't gone yet. Well, Valentines Day weekend happened to be a long weekend and so the day after Valentines we drove up for the day.

It's funny...once you get past Fresno on 41, California doesn't look half bad. It was green, the cows actually appeared happy...and it wasn't long before you hit the mountains. Most of the park is closed because of snow, but we were able to see the major sites from the valley. El Capitan and Half Dome are magnificent. And there was actually water coming over Yosemite Falls (many times the falls are dry due to drought). After our tour by car of the valley, we headed to Beaver Pass to let the kids get in some snow time. This was Loyal's first snow adventure and he loved it. The snow was really icy, so our attempts at a snowman were futile. But the kids did have fun making snowballs and throwing them at their daddy.

We regretted the trip for about a minute or two on our way home--all three kids were exhausted and decided to show us through non-stop fussing. So the drive home was a little stressful, but all-in-all I think we're glad we did it. At least now we can say we've been!

Happy 10th, Buck Goulet!

We celebrated the best dog on earth yesterday! It was his 10th birthday. We sang to him, he had his own cake and he was forced to wear a special hat. He also got to go for a run with me and eat way more treats than any one dog should in a 24 hour period.

Happy Birthday Buck Goulet! We love you!

Wyatt's first loose tooth

No sooner than we got back from our trip, than Wyatt had lost his first tooth! It had been loose for a while but really started to break free while we were traveling home. Poor guy was pretty terrified that he might swallow it and worried that he might not be able to whistle once it was gone. But I am happy to report that he did not swallow the tooth and he can most definitely still whistle.  The tooth fairy even brought him a whole dollar!

Christmas

This year for Christmas we went home to Birmingham. Trey and Chelsea made it home too which made the holidays extra special!

On the way out, we took a red eye from LAX to Atlanta. We arrived at 8:30am and so drove up to see my dad for the day. After taking a much needed nap and having a nice visit with him, we headed for mom's house in Birmingham.

While we were home, we managed to get in lots of good food, a date night with Trey and Chels (which involved too many margaritas, Trey beating us at bowling while bowling left handed, and a late night meal at the Waffle House), and lots of needed time with my mom. We stayed in Alabama for right at a week before heading out. We were so sad to leave.

When we left there, we drove down to Jacksonville, Florida to do some work on our condo. Our tenants had unexpectedly moved out and we needed to get it ready for new renters. While we were there we stayed with Aunt Joy and Uncle Dan and managed to get in a visit with the entire extended family. It was so nice to get to see Papa right before his 87th birthday! Josh did days and days of work at the condo while I entertained the kids. Thankfully there are plenty of things to do in such a big city. Aunt Joy, Uncle Dam and I even took the kids to the zoo for the morning once.

After five days in Jax, it was time to head home. So we got up with the sun and drove back to Atlanta to catch our 3pm flight.

It was a great trip and a needed break from California and school for the kids. I was glad to get back to our own house and our own routine, but it never really gets easier landing here and knowing how long it will be until we go back. But at least we got some In n Out on the way home!

Our Christmas card

So this year I found out that one of my favorite websites would let you upload your children's artwork and turn it into a Christmas card! I knew we just had to do it! So I gathered the children and let them start drawing. Rea drew first, since she's our resident artist and then Wyatt said he would add in some details...little did we realize but his "details" involved a fighter jet. When the other two were done, Loyal scribbled on the bottom. Unfortunately the scribbles got left out of the final card but it still looked great! I chose a family picture from Thanksgiving for the back. We may be doing this every year!

Happy Birthday, Rea!

Miss priss turned SIX on December 18. It's just as hard to believe as the fact that Loyal is two and Wyatt is almost eight. The years are passing quickly! Rea is turning out to be such a precious little girl. She is kind hearted and sensitive, and loved by everyone in her class at school. She helps me to take good care of her brothers and she is most definitely still a daddy's girl. In fact, at the beginning of December she baked her daddy a cake for his 40th birthday, pretty much by herself. She loves to play Barbies and play her new iPad. She is still carrying bunny everywhere that bunny is allowed to go. The most amazing thing about her is that she finds beauty in absolutely everything. This also makes for a lot of little knick knacks stashed in every nook and cranny of her room. Her two very best friends are Millie Mackey and Megan Reitveld. All three of them are in school and ballet together and they are like a tiny blonde gang. Reagan brings so much balance to our family. Me, Josh and Wyatt are all very much type A personalities and I am so glad that the Lord brought us some type B in our Rea Rea. She keeps us on our toes and challenges me as a mother. I am convinced that if I ever wound up becoming a great mother, she will be the reason.

Happy Birthday, Loyal!

Our littlest guy turned TWO on December 10. I say this every year at each of their birthdays but it's true--I feel like I just had him! He has all of a sudden turned into a little boy. He's not a baby anymore. He still drags around the same old blanket, he's talking up a storm and he loves his brother and sister so very much. Although we do have a bit of a love triangle happening in our house right now...Wyatt wants everyone to just leave him be, Rea wants to love on Loyal and Loyal wants to be attached to bubba's hip. haha. Anyway, Loyal will eat pretty much anything we put in front of him but he especially loves pop tarts. He loves LEGOS and Star Wars toys of any kind. The phrase he is most often caught saying is "Mommy/Daddy, what's that?". He is full of energy, is extremely active and knows no fear. It will be interesting to see where his gregarious personality takes him in life. He has perfectly completed our little family and I am grateful every day for the Lord blessing us so.