oh yeah, I have a blog...

So much has happened since the last time I blogged, I feel so guilty that I haven't posted. We were able to spend Christmas in Utah this year and we had a great time. But first, we sent a letter to Santa asking him if he could possibly come to Ohio early this year because we knew Elliot wanted a train table and there was no way that would fit on a plane. Santa, as always, came through for us! We had our own little Christmas Eve here. We made Santa homemade bread pudding and watched Bambi. We ate some of the bread pudding and hot cocoa and read books, it was such a fun night. Then our pretend Christmas came, and the gifts were a hit! Two days later we boarded a plane for Utah and it was quite an adventure. Mae is officially the worst flyer in the universe, she literally has no idea how to hold still which makes things very interesting. I have never felt so exhausted from sitting in one place, but she is so cute and fun that luckily no one minded (at least they didn't let on, if they did.) Elliot is a trooper in every way. There are times I feel like we treat him like a six year old, and expect so much from him and he always pulls through for us. Whether I am asking him to grab a diaper or give Mae a snack, he is right on it. And he proved himself, as always, during our trip. We got them up at 3am and he literally jumped out of bed in excitement. He didn't sleep a wink on the plane and when we arrived in Utah at 9:30am he was still, magically, doing pretty great. We had told everyone we were coming in a day later so we could surprise them all. We had Rand and Trev (who are amazing) borrow a car seat and pick us up and then we went around all day dropping into work and homes of our family and surprising them. It was soo fun! We would just send Elliot in and wait for the reaction. Honestly, it was the best. We were so sad we couldn't drive to Spanish Fork to surprise the Brinkerhoff's but we got to see them the next day and meeting their little man was one of the best moments of our trip! We were able to visit a lot of family, Jace got to snowboard a few times, we celebrated Mae's 1st birthday, my birthday, shopped, talked, stayed up way too late, fell in love with cousins, had a baby blessing, played in the snow had sleepovers with grandparents, did crafts, ate way too well, got spoiled rotten from some amazing parents and just got a lot of wholesome family time that we truly miss.  Even though leaving is so difficult, after 2 weeks away from home, getting back into the swing of things felt okay. We were able to get organized just in time for the kids to get sick with RSV for Mae's real 1st birthday. The kids are always so cute and sweet when they are sick, so it was nice to just hang out at home for some R&R and a lot of jammies and blankies. We did make cupcakes regardless of the sickies and it was so fun to spend the day with the kids! They have been a lot better this week and we welcomed it with fun trips to the Children's museum, the Rainforest, the Science Museum, library and having some fun play dates while Jace has been consumed with studying for his final anatomy test of medical school! We are so proud of him and always amazed at his determination and devotion in everything he does, especially us. So, January hasn't been too bad. In fact, we are looking forward to the new challenges and excitement this year will bring! We are so excited for summer to come ( even more right this minute, as I sit, watching a HUGE snow storm hit Cleveland) so we can visit Utah again soon, because we truly miss home and everyone that goes with it! Happy new year!

Elliot's letter to Santa

Elliot's gingerbread house

Mae's 1st Christmas!

Elliot's train table! He just kept saying "Wow!"

Loved it!

Little bug with all of her stocking stuffers!

Elliot took a small break to put on his stocking stuffers, then went right back to playing!

Santa was goood to me this year.
 He refinished a desk from our basement that was about a hundred years old (literally)
and got me the sewing machine I have been wanting our whole marriage!

I love it!

Waiting in the airport

Elliot being an airplane

Sledding with Pop and dad

Little snow bug!

Snowboarding for real, with Pop

Cutest snowboarders I have ever seen!

Birthday girl ha! She already has some attitude!

Adorable snowflake cake, thanks to my mom!

Eating cake

Gram and the grandkids

Getting spoiled

Real birthday!

Love the bed head, holding birthday girls hand!

Pretty girl

Being shy...

So funny, they weren't feeling great, but I love the face!