1 Year Old

I can't believe a whole year has passed already. Kelly turned one on April 14 and unfortunately celebrated the day in the car. We were on our way back from Utah so we waited to celebrate a few days later with Pete. Kelly loved all the attention she got from her brother and sister and while she loved all her presents, her favorite part of the day was eating the cake.

Kelly is such a sweet little girl. She has loved the independance she's gained from walking and being able to be one of the "big kids". I have enjoyed watching her grow and develop her own little personality. She has been more clingy than my other kids and while at time it is a challenge, I have to admit, I love that she just wants mommy sometimes. Happy birthday Kelly!

Friends

About a year ago we made the move from St. Louis to Rochester leaving behind one of our best friends. Fortunately, we did this knowing that our friends were planning on moving to Rochester a year later. Abbie and Maddi have been friends since they were born just a few months apart. Then along came Josh and Spencer, and then again Kelly and EmmaLee. We felt like our families just meshed! When they came out earlier this month to do some house hunting I was a little worried about how the kids would react to each other. Would it take some time to get to know each other again? Would Spencer and Josh even remember each other? Well, I shouldn't have worried. They acted like they had never been apart. Abbie and Maddi just picked up where they left off and Josh and Spencer joined right in. I had forgotten how fun (and yes crazy) it was to have all the kids together. I am glad my kids will get to continue making memories with their best friends!

Abbie and Maddi on a walk














Decorating sugar cookies

Vacation

Last week we went on our very first, our family only, vacation. We went to the Wisconsin Dells which is about 2 1/2 hours from Rochester. It's an indoor waterpark. We were only there for a few days, but it was so nice to spend time together without any interruptions. The kids LOVED every minute and can't wait to go again. They had play areas for kids, wavepools, slides etc. The kids favorite was the wavepool and hottub. We stayed in a suite with a kitchen, living room area, and 2 bedrooms. We decided it was worth the $25 extra to pay for the 2 bedrooms so we could stay up without interrupting the kids sleep. Hopefully this is something we can make into a tradition. My camera died on me, so I don't have many pictures, but here is what I got.

Pete immediately relaxed by watching the plasma!

The kids discovered the bunkbed

Christmas

Let me start out by saying there is something about kids that makes Christmas completely magical. I think this is by far the best Christmas I have ever had. We started out celebrating a day early since Pete was scheduled to be on short call on Christmas day. On our Christmas Eve we made homemade pizza, acted out the Nativity, sang carols, exchanged gifts and watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". It was a wonderful night! Abbie, however, made our whole Christmas. Pete showed her a redlight that can be seen from our patio and Abbie started jumping up and down screaming "Rudolphs leading the way!" She ran all over the house saying this repeatedly. It was so fun to see how excited she was. Christmas day was just as amazing. The kids were so fun to watch and it was nice having a day with Pete home where we just layed low. My best gift came that night when around 9:00pm Pete got a call from a co-worker. Sahil doesn't have any family here and so he volunteered to come in and cover for Pete. I couldn't believe it! It was wonderful having Pete home 2 days in a row. I feel so blessed and am grateful Heavenly Father continues to be aware of me and my family's needs! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve Feast

The Nativity

Mary and Joseph

Christmas Pajamas

What, am I not supposed to eat this?

Daddy's Little Helpers

Abbie and Josh love using their shovels to help their dad shovel snow.

Kelly opted for a warmer climate!

FYI: Low tonight - 1 (that is not a typo)

Thanksgiving

Sorry about the Christmas picture, but it is the only one I have. Thanksgiving this year didn't turn out quite the way I would have hoped for. Pete was on call on Thanksgiving day which means he had to go in at 7:00 am and stay until 1:00 pm the following day. At first, we weren't going to do anything, but we decided at the last minute to celebrate Thanksgiving on Pete's day off which was Tuesday. I was really glad we did. Since my family is what I'm most grateful for, it was nice to be with them. Then on Thanksgiving the hospital had a dinner for those that had to work and I was going to have some friends over, but they ended up having to cancel at the last minute. This Thanksgiving has reminded me to be truly thankful for family and friends. So often I take them for granted and I now realize how special it is to get to have holidays like this where we can take time to spend with those we love and be thankful for all we have. So, Happy Thanksgiving to all! We hope you had a wonderful day and got to spend time with those you love!

Halloween Night

Abbie and Josh loved Halloween this year. They were really good about saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank-you". This was the only holiday Pete has off this year and I was glad. We all had fun walking around the neighborhood and seeing all the other kids in their cosutmes. I think it gave them some good ideas for next year. The weather this year was suprisingly mild. I guess in years past it's been quite cold. Even Kelly was a good sport and stayed nice and warm in her bee costume.

Abbie decided to have a pre-Halloween warm-up by playing drums on Halloween cups courtesy of Grandma and PaPa Anderson.

Spiderman, bee, and Sleeping Beauty

Abbie can never get enough of her sister!

The kids loved the fact that this lady was handing out candy by leaning "through" her door.