January

We had our first snow....

Charlotte explored her fashion sense...

We celebrated Keith's birthday (he's 6!)...

We celebrated Eli's birthday (he's 4!)....

And Maddi had her first basketball game!

I had to also share this photo from Eli's birthday.

You can't really see Char in the background, but when I zoom in, you see how impressed she was with Eli's gift:

AWESOME. I confess, I click on this often, just to laugh.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Blogger

That's me. My blogging skills have been atrocious. I did really well up until June of last year. Really well. I took pictures, I posted, I shared little cute tidbits of our life and I'm sure all of you that bother to read it were enriched, fulfilled and entertained. (right?) Then - summer happened. Four trips in 30 days. That's right - FOUR trips in 30 days. We normally don't go anywhere and then BAM, one summer we decide to pack it all in. We visited Washington, I went to a reunion in Myton, we went to McCall and the glorious Oregon Coast. It was wonderful. I have fun stories, great pictures and fabulous insights. But, I will not share them. At least, not on my blog. This is due to the fact that although the trips were GREAT, they completely did me in. School started a day after we returned from the coast, I flew to Portland 3 weeks later (another AWESOME trip - top 10 EVER) and then the holidays drew nigh. (some may say this is an excuse, but I impress upon your minds the FACT that the holidays are so great and awesome because of the MOM. She is the proverbial "man behind the curtain" each year. I am the mom thus the man behind the curtain. No excuses. Just Halloween Costume gathering, decorating, pie making, Christmas cookie elf magic producing happiness all in my little self. I was busy.) And so - the blogging was left behind. I am SO far behind, that I must start afresh and suffice it to say, our summer was busy, but grand, and the holidays were a cherished collection of memories. Now let's move on. I refuse to give up my hopes on being a decent and regular blogger - another way to stay connected to dear friends and loved ones and let them know what we are up to. (Because, honestly, my family is too great to keep to myself.) :) So - I shall try to monthly sum up what we did and how we are. This is doable. I think. January is in the making. Expect news shortly. I had to post at least one picture.

Here's to being a Wonderful, Marvelous, Awesome, Very Good Blogger!

Happy Birthday, Baby Charlotte!

I can't believe she's already one. This sweet baby has been such a joy - we all adore her! She has the sweetest disposition and captures the heart of everyone she meets. We had a special birthday party for her on Saturday and she was such a gracious little lady. It made me laugh how she gave each gift attention in her cheerful way. She loved the attention and was so sweet about it. It was so fun! Some fun facts about Charlotte: She loves bananas, peas, and mommy's bread. She loves music and will dance and sing along. She takes cuteness to an unbelievable level when she shrugs her shoulders and also when she raises her arms above her head and says "YA!" She loves her mommy and family and flowers. We are so blessed to have baby Charlotte.

Spring Piano Recital

Our annual Spring Recital was a success. Sammi and Maddi both performed on piano and guitar and did WONDERFUL. This was Keith's first recital and he was such a pro. He loves to play and it is so fun to see how talented he is. I love teaching my kids to play piano. We did take videos - but I need to figure out how to get it off of the DVD that Matt made. Until then...here's some photos. :)

Eli

Well, that pretty much sums it up.