just because.

there has been quite a bit of rain here over the past couple weeks.

it definitely makes it seem cleaner and fresher, but we are kinda done with the rain!

the forecast is showing nothing but sunny days ahead, and i am excited for that. i am actually ready for the disgustingly hot summer months to return!

yesterday, when the sky cleared in the afternoon, we headed over to the park by our house to burn up some energy.

i told the boys to come get a picture and holden complained that it always takes too long to take pictures because i always take too many. and then i explained that i wouldn't have to take nearly as many pictures if he would just smile at the camera on the first try.

... and look at these darling poses he busted out for me right away! oh man, i love these boys.

i swear, we play at a park almost every day.

i love getting those handsome boys of ours outside and watching them use their healthy little bodies to play, climb, ride, run, and be crazy. it will be a sad day when they are too cool for playgrounds and bike rides with their mom!

i am so grateful that our boys are healthy and that they are such good buddies.

a grandpa visit.

my mom has been over in texas for quite a while now, helping out my sister, so my dad decided to come on over to california for a little visit with us!

we have had just my mom come for visits before, but i think this was the first time we had just my dad. it was a fun switch!

the boys liked just getting to play with grandpa, but we did also go on a hike (that required us to forge a lot more water then we expected) and my dad took the boys to see the movie 'sing' (where he lost his wallet.. and then found it). we took grandpa to the park, he drove chet to and from school, and he treated matt and i to some time away without kids.

pictures from our hike:

and one of holden and grandpa watching a show :)

painting with tad.

it was messy, but it was fun!

holden was part of the painting party too but, since it wasn't his first time, he wasn't photographed nearly as much! sorry holden.

california winter.

on sunday, it was 75 degrees here. we spent our afternoon at the park in shorts and spent the evening sitting around our little firepit in our backyard, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows with friends. 

while a good chunk of north america is getting pummeled by hideous amounts of snow, we are sitting here in california enjoying completely acceptable winter weather - with a few days of light rain here and there. and words honestly can't even begin to describe how happy i am that i won't have to live through a sucky winter this year. (i know this isn't a surprise to anyone, but i am feeling especially grateful these days!) i look at all the pictures of people playing in the snow and i am honestly beyond thrilled to have NOTHING to do with it! 

chet does not share my opinion. which is fine. but chet also doesn't remember how cold the world can get. i do.


that is all :)

kidspace museum.

thanks to some friends that have an annual pass, we got to spend the day at the kidspace museum.

what a fun place!

our first rose parade.

we literally live just a couple blocks from the infamous rose parade route, so we figured we should probably take advantage of it!

we woke up early on the morning of the parade, bundled up, and walked down to the route.

we had heard that they were expecting 700,000 to attend the parade, and that people start camping out to save spots along the route 24 hours before it begins, so we didn't anticipate finding any great seats. but long story short, even though we only headed to the parade an hour before it began, we ending up snagging some front row spots at an intersection and had a great view!

the parade was really neat. i have never seen floats that big! chet and holden happily watched all THREE hours of floats and marching bands. tad.. was more squirmy!

i was kind of dissapointed in us for feeling like we needed to wear winter hats that morning - apparently we have gone soft!

fun fact: chet lost a tooth at the parade, and another one a couple hours later!

new years eve 2017!

on december 30th, i invited 2 families to come over for dinner at our house the next day.. not realizing that the next day was new years eve! it wasn't until one of the mom's messaged me, and asked if we were planning to keep our kids up until midnight, that i realized we had just offered to host a new years eve gathering. shoot! needless to say, it was a scramble to get everything ready! but, despite the fact that it was impromptu, it was so fun! we did a raclette dinner for the adults and pizza for the kids. the kids played LOTS, watched a movie, and rang in the new year with king julien at 10:30pm, thanks to netflix. and us adults just had the best time visiting.

thanks to chet going to school, we have made some really great friends here in pasadena. we are lucky!

christmas in arizona - 2016.

we got to spend a fun week in arizona with my parents for christmas this year.

it went by way too fast!

i suppose that just means that we had a real good time.

we kept our visit simple - that is what our boys like these days. and i love it too.

- we spent lots of time in the hot tub. chet and holden's favorite thing is hot tubbing at night, when they can see the stars.

- my parents heated their pool one day so that we could have a swimming party, but the boys were brave enough to swim in the not-heated pool most days too!

- dates!! my parents kept the boys a few nights so we could sneak away for some much needed date nights. we saw 'why him' and ate at some tasty restaurants.

- on nights that we didn't go out for dates, we played games with my parents after the kids went to bed. we do that a lot when we are together, and i really like it. 

- my dad took chet and holden out for 3 different adventures on his side-by-side. each time the rest of us adults took a turn riding along. it was fun to get out in the dessert and do some exploring. the boys were in heaven.

- on christmas eve, we ate raclette for dinner, played don't eat pete, and did some kazoo caroling. the boys got cozy-flannel-footed jammies to wear to bed that night. and, although they weren't as coordinated as i had imagined (that's what i get for being a christmas shopping procrastinator!), i seriously loved seeing them all wearing those pjs!

- christmas day was so exciting for the boys. they loved everything about it, which made it really special for us too. we spent the morning opening gifts, the afternoon playing with them, and the evening eating my moms tasty christmas dinner and playing games.

- the day after christmas, we drove around the neighborhood in the back of my dad's truck looking at christmas lights.

- it is tradition in my family, ever since i was young, to do a puzzle over the christmas holidays - and the tradition still continues! it sounds dorky, i know, but we all get obsessed with finishing the project. this year, we actually finished a few puzzles! 

- i was certain that tad would be walking by christmas, but he still hasn't totally figured it out. he did learn how to stand up on his own and take 3 steps while we were in arizona.

it was a very merry christmas!

oh, hello 2017!

2016 was another year of big changes for our family.

matt and i were joking that now that we are done having kids, and have a plan to not move for at least 5 years, life might seem boring to us. up until now, every year of our marriage has brought at least 1 move or 1 baby, or both! but, honestly, i don't think we will be bored.. we are excited to settle in. plus, i have learned that when you have kids, nothing stays the same for very long. (which i have mixed feelings about!)

some of the more noteworthy things that 2016 brought were:

chet turned 6, holden turned 4, and our baby turned ONE.

matt gave up his job with his brother's company and made the big move back to work for PCL.

matt's title is now project engineer for the LA district of PCL, currently working on a new professional soccer arena in LA.

we moved to pasadena, CALIFORNIA! - new home, new friends, new school.. new everything!

we bought a new truck - we have been in saving mode for so long and haven't made a big purchase like that in forever!

we started up an online shop, selling felt letterboards.

although our transition began before, 2016 was our first full year out of the church.

chet started first grade - FULL TIME, he has learned how to read, and is right in the thick of the awkward stage of missing teeth!

holden learned how to swim this year (that's a big deal in this family!), has learned all his letters, and has really matured into a little boy that is far more ready to head off to school then i am willing to admit.

and taddy.. well, he has learned to sit, eat, crawl, stand, and say a few words (you know, all the baby milestones!) but has somehow managed to miss learning how to snuggle.. 

see?! it's been a big year.

we are excited to see what 2017 brings!

gingerbread party.

we invited over a couple of chet and holden's friends to make little gingerbread houses, just before school got out for winter break. it was cute!