Christmas

We were able to spread Christmas out through the whole week this year, starting and ending at our home.

I've gotten pretty good with taking pics of just Cassidy, but obviously I have a little more work to do to get pets and kids! Here's my best efforts to get all our kids under the tree.

We did get a good family pic though...

We also went down to the lights of Christmas in a neighboring community. It's 15 acres of Christmas and amazing light displays as well as food, music and "pony rides". We went down with 2 other families and our friends Cari and McKenzie. Cass was the youngest and unlike the other kiddos, wanted nothing to do with simply being pushed around in her stroller. Oh no, our girl was all about walking around and getting the true experience.

Sam and Cari came over for our exchange and totally spoiled Cassidy...although I think they had just as much fun as she did!

Christmas Eve found us up in B'town with Chad's side of the family.

Of course Cassidy had to help deliver all the gifts

G'ma Kit started a new tradition of giving the kids ornaments every year and it was a big hit!

The whole clan around the dinner table

Cassidy was thrilled about the yummy ribs!

After dinner was playtime with her cousins. The girls are awesome with her and they had a great time.

The other tradition is new Christmas PJs to end the night

We woke up in our own home Christmas morning and had a quiet Christmas day with just the three of us. It was a lot of fun making our own traditions and spending the whole day relaxed and together. Here's some pics of Cassidy putting all her new things to good use!

G'ma and G'pa K gave her a fun tent and tunnel system that has become her "club house" and usually no adults allowed...but lots of toys and babies get brought in!

The blocks are just as much fun as the tub they came in!

Taking her babies and Lulu for a ride in her new stroller. Cassidy loves playing with her babies.

Her big new towel is also a great treat! She loves twirling around and getting wrapped up and "cudde" with Mom and Dad

It was a great Christmas spending time with family and enjoying our new traditions with our own growing family.

Cass's True Colors

For those of you who think Cassidy is all sweetness; calm and well behaved I offer this series of pictures.

Ready....

Set.....


JUMP!





Yes, she purposefully stuck out her tongue for the picture.

She does get tired of jumping and says "nigh nigh", cuddles up and rests.....for about 20 seconds!

She was not happy about the "lifeguard" keeping watch, but after she bounced off the bed the other night she doesn't get a choice! This is her new favorite activity and even after 20 minutes of bouncing and tickling we still get "more?" when we say all done! If only she'd share some of that energy...although her laughter is pretty contagious

Too Cute

I haven't been very good lately about keeping up with the posts (although I'm making a strong comeback tonight!) so here are some pictures I think are just too cute not to share...granted I may be biased!

I'm not sure what to say about this one. I was trying to get a picture of her curls and she started muggin' for the camera....I think it's gonna be a wild ride with this one!

She has been doing really well. 3 out of her 4 molars have come through (yeah!) but we're still way behind on teeth. She is however quite busy and going full steam ahead with her gross motor skills climbing, running, and jumping. She continues to amaze me with how much she is learning and her vocabulary keeps expanding. She's now starting to put two words together (usually involving "no" or "more") and her personality is definitely coming out. I am happy to claim her adventurous spirit (we definitely have an adrenaline junkie on our hands) and her sweetness, and I'm pretty sure Chad gets to claim her love for books, humor, and intelligence, but neither one of us can figure out where she gets her temper and stubbornness. Comments are closed on this post by the way....

I probably won't get another post in before Christmas so I want to wish all our wonderful friends and family a joyous Christmas filled with all the simple pleasures of the "good stuff"

Mom's Play Day

I took a day off to enjoy the sun and snow and recharge....by kicking my butt with my girls! We had a glorious day with almost 10 miles covered and 2700 feet of elevation gained.
Here's where we started...

Here's where we ended up...

And here's how we got there...

our last push of course was simply up

The following weekend we continued our tradition of baking Christmas cookies

and of course tasting some of our work

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving found Cassidy and I over the mountains and through the woods at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a great time at the big family gathering in Spokane getting to see cousins that we don't get to see enough...Here are some highlights:

Cassidy and Grandpa sharing some snacks before the big meal

Cousin Samantha teaching Cass some piano...she was totally into making music. Check out that finger positioning.

This picture I didn't really want to show, but even I can't deny the cuteness. Maybe she'll teach me a few things

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's, Cassidy got lots of family time. Here she is having fun in the bathtub with Meg playing hide-and-seek

Grandma showing her how to blow bubbles

and just try to keep the girl away from her Nuk

Of course, Grandpa was a big hit again this year with the wagon rides for the town's Christmas Kickoff and Cassidy wouldn't miss a going for a ride

We all tried to remember some of our old piano songs, and Bryce got back to his Jazz roots. Cassidy would go from one side to the other adding to the improv

I'm not sure who was more curious, Cassidy or the cat outside

and some good quality time with Grandpa

It was a great trip made even better with Bryce and Meg's surprise arrival from Laramie. We hadn't been able to see them since last January. They were pretty surprised with their little niece and how much she has grown. We hope it's not nearly so long before the next visit.