baby blessing

baby Benjamin was blessed at church by his daddy on the last weekend of December. It was such a special day because grammy and grandpa were home from their mission AND all seven of my siblings, except for Andy, were able to be there. We missed you Andy and KayLynn!

Grammy and Grandpa with their 13th grandchild. Benjamin is mesmerized by grammy's watch.

Grammy and grandpa with all of their grandkids! A couple of weeks after this photo was taken, grandchild #14 (Andy's baby) was born!

i really wish we would have thought to take a sibling photo! that just means we all need to get together again this summer :)

fun with family (part 2)

A few days after Christmas, my brother Mark and his family came to town for a visit. They drove all the way from Minnesota! We had so much fun having them here. During the week and a half that they were here we went to the park, the Museum of Natural Science, the zoo, the beach, Chuck E Cheese, Jump n Jungle, and the movies. Here's a few photos from our trip to the beach. It was an overcast day with a high around 63. Saige was the only one brave enough to go in the water.

She loved it! It was so much fun to watch her running back and forth

collecting seashells

riding skateboards at the park

aunt courtney and lolo

evan and colby

and a few family pictures from a really quick photo shoot at the end of the street

we miss ya'll! wish you lived closer so we could play more!

fun with family (part I)

We had such a wonderful christmas and new years! It was extra special because of all the family in town. First, Grammy and Grandpa came home from their mission in New York. We are so happy to have them home again! Then, a few days before Christmas, Dan's brother Andy and his family stopped by for a visit on their way to Florida. The kids haven't seen their zalit cousins in over three years!

on one of the days they were here we took them to the Battleship Texas and San Jacinto monument for some Texas history.

my brother Philip and sister Emily and her kids came along too. Uncle Philip is a big help with Lorelei

Lily manning the guns

andy and dan

the guns were a big hit with the kids!

even baby Ben got a turn

elayna getting ready to swab the deck

we also went to the san jacinto monument...

that's avery standing on the steps of the monument. Avery's birthday, March 2nd, is the day Texas declared her independence.

happy new year!

i am so behind on my blog. lots to post from the past month. hopefully i can get caught up this week.

three months

this little guy turned three months old last week. he is so smiley and always laughing. i wish i had a sound clip to go with this photo. his laughter is the cutest thing ever.

gingerbread houses

oranges

grammy and grandpa's orange tree is loaded with oranges! evan is my little helper when i go out to pick oranges. he eats them like they're candy!

evan is obsessed with his coonskin hat! it belonged to his daddy when he was a little boy:)