5 Years and Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday was our 5th Wedding Anniversary.

To celebrate five years as husband and wife, Matt and I both woke up at six am. This was totally unplanned and very uncommon, but also super fun. We made coffee and enjoyed breakfast on the patio, admiring the grass that Matt had laid the night before. Since the little one didn't wake up until almost nine, we were able to have a nice long uninterrupted date in the comfort of our own home.  

When Addy did finally wake from her slumber, she was thrilled to play outside in her new backyard.

"I so cited have grass like Carcar!"

We've exchanged the traditional anniversary gifts every year and this year's gift was to be made out of wood. Since neither of us had time to carve up a piece of furniture, we stretched the wood perimeter a little; two bushes for Matt (the roots are made of wood right?) and a bird feeder that attracts Woodpeckers for me.

That night, we continued our anniversary celebration with "gourmet" hotdogs complete with homemade chipotle sauce on the patio. It was the perfect way to spend our special day, nothing fancy, super laid back and just our style.

The rest of the weekend was mostly spent in the backyard or at the pool. 

After asking to go over to Granmarie's house for weeks, Addy finally got to show off her moves from swim lessons in Granmarie's "big pool."

She also did a little golfing,

hosted a picnic,

and played and played and played, as she would say.

Who doesn't love a three day weekend spent with family and celebrating five years of love?

How did you spend the long weekend?

A Very Orange Birthday

Last Saturday we got to celebrate Adelyne's 2nd Birthday.

 She was recovering from a nasty little cold, but we were still able to have a fun filled day that was all about her. 

Over breakfast that morning, we asked Addy what she wanted to do that day. Her first request was to play the "Mouse Game" with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mousetrap is one of her Dad's favorites and sometimes the three of us will play a round on a Friday or Saturday night. She often asks to play during the week too so this was a special treat to play first thing in the morning.

 Next on the agenda was to pick out a Birthday gift. Matt had his heart set on getting her a new baby doll that she could dress, feed and do their hair. We came home with a cute little Cabbage Patch Kid named Kimber and a blue and orange football. Addy picked both of them out herself.

Our shopping adventure was followed by lunch at Chic-Fil-A and that evening we had a small family Birthday Party. I made an orange creamsicle cake, chocolate cupcakes with orange frosting and Grandmarie brought over orange ice cream.

Cousin Carter surprised Addy with orange and pink balloons.

Addy's homemade Birthday Dress

My first layered cake! I think I have enough patience to do this once a year.

After we sang to her I asked her what she does next and she said "Eat Cupcakes!" She forgot the make a wish part.

FINALLY time to eat cupcakes!

Sweet little two year old hands all covered in scratches from playing outside.

What a fun way to celebrate two years of life with Addy Grace!

Were so thankful she gets to grow up surrounded by great family and friends.

P.S. Thanks to Addy's Auntie Morgan for capturing our fun day :)

"Choo Choo Day!"

The other day Matt was feeding Addy and as usual, Addy was talking about a "choo choo." Matt asked her if she would like to ride on a choo choo, a big choo choo. He asked if she would like to ride the Rail Runner up to Santa Fe and if she thought her cousin Carter would like to go too. She of course said yes, "I wide! I wide!"

So we had a plan, on Saturday, which happened to be 3 days away, we would go on a little adventure. Carter was invited, his parents said "yes," and so we began counting down the days until Saturday when we would ride the big choo choo.

We loaded up the kiddos in time to catch the 9:20 train. On the way to the station, Carter kept saying "Choo choo day! Choo choo day!" We found out later that that was something he came up with all on his own.

Addy and Carter did great on the 45 minute train ride. They had snacks, and took turns spying horses, cows and trucks out the window. Addy would ask for "more" which is kind of her way of saying she likes something these days and Carter would say "all aboard!"

In Santa Fe we ate at one of our favorite places, the Rooftop Pizzeria. We took a similar trip to Santa Fe about a year ago and ate at the same restaurant. Addy wasn't even walking yet but it was a fun outing for our little family. This time, we enjoyed reminiscing and praising God for how far he has brought us in a year.

Carter was such a little trooper, going with the flow, as if he was one of our own. I wonder what people thought when they saw us with two kids, about the same age who kind of look a like. Brother and Sister? Twins? Cousins?

The next train headed back home to Albuquerque didn't leave until 3:20 and by that time these two were tired little kiddos. We ordered some coffee at Flying Star while we waited for the train and let them play in the booth. They quickly started to melt.

When we finally got back on the train, it didn't take very long for Carter crash. I'm a lucky Aunt and got to snuggle all the way home.

It took a little longer for Addy to fall asleep, but once she did, she was out.

She was pretty disoriented when she woke up, and who wouldn't be after sleeping folded in half like that?

We were all exhausted after our adventure to Santa Fe but we had a blast and made some very special memories. Weeks later, we're still talking about "Choo Choo Day."

A Very Merry Christmas

The big day has come and gone and I finally got to see what all was in those gifts under our tree!

We had a great Christmas. With my brother's family and my parents in town, both my grandmas, my cousin and Matt's family, we had a full house this year; full of love, laughter and even a few tears. 

The highlights for me were celebrating the birth of our Savior at our church's Christmas Eve service with my family(we took up a whole row!), putting Addy's kitchen together and watching her reaction on Christmas morning, my Dad's tears as he opened a calendar we made him, spending the day with my family and Matt's family and actually getting to wish my cousin, Jamie, "Merry Christmas" in person for the first time in years. Those memories and the following pictures, will be what I remember about Christmas 2012.

Getting ready for the River of Lights

All 3 of us, rockin' the homemade beanies

Watching the choo-choo

Reading with Mamaw

All dressed up for Christmas Eve activities

Getting into trouble

Playing Santa

Oh! These two kill me

 

Sweet ladies, I married into a good family

The sad reality of taking family pictures with a toddler; someone is always blurry

Aren't my parents cute?

Addy and her Christmas surprise

The sweet hat and apron were a gift from her Auntie Morgan

Grandparents and their Grandbabies

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did :)