Happy (super belated) Birthday Elle!

Since our last post, our little girl turned two.  We celebrated by wearing masks and eating Ellie's favorite food, french fries.  While Anne was pregnant, we worried that Beckett would destroy her.  We had no idea that little sis would give him a run for his money.  She wants to do everything her brother does, still takes long naps and talks all the time.  We love our baby girl.

Colorado and Easter (post 1 of 6)

We moved to Colorado March2 20th (and I drove 30+ hours in 2 days in a minivan with 2 kids all by myself!). We've loved it here so far but still miss our friends in CT. One of the wonderful things about living here is we are 15 minutes away from the LDS Temple. This last Monday we were able to take our kids there and have a family home evening lesson about families being able to be together for ever. You can find out more about this at mormon.org.

Here we are trying to get our kids to sit by each other

elle at 23 months (she'll be 2 the end of May!)

The Easter bunny made a visit bringing a movie, puzzle, princess phone and treats.

Easter egg hunt. I'm quite proud, Elle is a natural egg hunter

B is pretty good but mostly liked to run around. I guess he got caught up in the Easter excitement.

We're renting an apartment while we get ready to buy a house (actually possible out here!!!). Our apt complex has a pool so the kids have loved getting to enjoy swimming in it and going to to hot tub.

The best thing about Colorado is we are closer to Family. We were able to spend Easter with Dan's brother Ryan and family and Dan's parents. We loved it!

Good bye Connecticut

Dan had been wanting to change companies so we went out to Denver so he could meet with some and hopefully make some connections back in February. We didn't hear anything and dan had a few interviews with companies in connecticut and ended up getting 2 offers out there. We prayed about which one to take and really didn't feel a strong pull in either direction so Dan picked the company he liked best and told them he would come in the next week to fill in paperwork. That Monday (march 5th) Dan got a call from a company in Denver offering him a job. He initially told them no but I told him lets think about it. We went over the numbers and it just made sense to do it. We prayed about it and felt that confirmation. Apparently it didn't matter what job he took in CT because he really wasn't going to take it. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways.

We have loved living in Connecticut. Our ward became our family and it broke our hearts to leave them. It happened so quickly too. We started packing Tuesday night and were out of our apartment on Saturday night. Some friends threw us a going away party Sunday night and that is when the water works came out. We have never been in a ward where we've felt more welcomed and loved. Please know that we will never forget you and miss you all sooooo much!

Good bye little house... we will miss your crazy spiral staircase and kitchen on the upper floor. :)

Denver

At the end of January Elle and I went to SLC to visit my sister Mindy (no pictures apparently) and Dan and Beckett went on to Denver without us. We joined them the beginning of February and had an extended stay there. Not many pictures but it was a great trip!

B man enjoying pizza at his cousin Isabel's birthday party.

florida

In December we bought a mini van (honda Odyssey) and decided to test it out by driving it down to Florida to see my parents (Chuck and Judy) who were gracious enough to let us stay with them in their timeshares. while we were there we stopped at the zoo. (also got a new stroller in December and I love it! Our terrible double stroller is now a rarely used thing)

Pretending to be a cheetah

The kids love time with grandparents and were so sad to leave. Elle just cried when we pulled away.

It was beginning to look a lot like christmas

We did in fact celebrate Christmas! Here are the kids in Christmas outfits:

New Kitchen which was their favorite toy!

First glimpse

Before picture after having just woken up.

We made cookies and also enjoyed them

This was the first (and last) year we went into NYC to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. My brother Todd and his Fam came into town so we ventured out. It was crazy trying to get through with a double stroller...

Halloween

elle 18 months

Beckett 3 and 9months

This last year Halloween was canceled because of a huge snow storm. We were also out of power for 10 days! Here are some pics of the kids in their costumes. We did get to go to our ward halloween party and have some festivities before the storm came. One bad thing of a canceled Halloween is that Target marks 3 entire rows of candy that hasn't been bought to 70% off and someone may or may not have bought $30 worth of the stuff (= $100 of candy). It's a miracle we did not go into a diabetic coma.

Updating

I'm attempting to update my blog after over a year of not doing (Dan has been our updater!). It's a good thing my password is the same as my email otherwise that too would have been forgotten. Here we go...

Christmas

When Beckett screamed "Hey Santa! Hey Santa! I want a kitchen for Christmas!" from the upper level at the mall, I thought he would be ready once he got to sit on his lap. Instead of talking to Santa, he made this face and whispered to him. And Ellie just gave him a stink eye. Neither of them cried, so I think we call it a success.



Elle was grateful for the box Santa brought for her.


Who's the boss?


This is from October when the folks came out to visit.

Spokane and Family Reunion

Do you know where the 1974 World's Fair was? That's right. Spokane, WA. That is only one reason you should be jealous of our recent trip. Add to that a giant Radio Flyer slide and an amusement park in northern Idaho... that's a vacation.


Here is Grandpa Chuck, showing the kids how to do it.


I think this young man's shirt says it all.


Beckett's been hitting the gym.


Not the whole family, but this was the Spokane group.


Grandma Judy and the kiddies.


Name me one other city that has a trash eating mechanical goat.


Once we did get all the family together, the only time we remembered to take pictures was at Silverwood amusement park. Beckett almost nailed the Red Baron.


Anne and the baby.


We had a great time with everyone, seeing all the cousins together, eating Zips, swimming at the lake and sitting around the campfire.

Where did the time go?

Our little girl turned one and to celebrate her Grammy came out to visit her and spoil the family. Beckett now thinks presents are a necessity of every SINGLE day! Thanks grammy!

We've had really rainy weather this spring but the sun came out so we could have a little bbq for our little girl. Here the B-day girl is with her Grammy.

Ellie opening presents...

My friend Jen made this adorable hat and Shirt for her special day and Elle loved the hat, but honestly who wouldn't?

First cup cake, it does look good but does it taste good?

Don't get the fingers dirty...

Face plant is just so much better right?

"Was that for real?!"

Yes, yes it is. Awesome!

I think she got her fill of cake for a while. :)

This year has flown by to quickly. Elle is the perfect baby, sleeps 12 hours straight, still takes 3 naps, eats pretty much anything I put in front of her and even knows how to make her brother cry! She is my sweet girl but she's starting to show some sassy personality. We love this girl so much and are so lucky to have her in our family. Happy Birthday Elle!

ps. She's now 20lbs 5oz so big girl seating for her!