yay for family!!

melinda (russ's sister) and eliza came to visit us last week. we had the BEST time and did a ton in the time they were here. we played outside with sidewalk chalk, played a ton in our backyard (eliza absolutely loves to slide and swing), went to the park to take pictures of the kids, played at the park, saw the bellagio botanical garden, ate pastries at the paris, swam in the jacuzzi, made crafts, ate out and just had a plain ol' good time. we REALLY appreciate them making the effort to come and visit. it's so great to be together, which made it hard to say good-bye.

georgie is seriously intense with chalk (and crayons). i'm hoping he'll be an artist :)

eliza's first experience with sidewalk chalk

my pretty little lady

what a cutie

stud

cute cousins!

eliza only really smiled when she found this pine cone

so grown up!

i love this kid

this picture cracks me up!!!

mama and daughter

these are george's new favorite pajamas. he wears them EVERYWHERE. he loves to push the button and then pops his arms out like wings.

melinda was tickling george's toes, and he was laughing hysterically!

rub a dub dub...

cheesy grin

we have thin blood...george had to bundle up in 60 degree weather.

bellagio botanical garden

making a wish...

making a wish...

this chihuly ceiling is one of my favorite pieces of art. i think it is incredible.

i was letting eliza kick me in the butt while she was swinging. she thought it was pretty dang funny. i don't think i've ever heard her laugh like that. she kept saying "kick katie!"

egg garden

i do a lot of crafts with the kids to keep them occupied, especially when mia is on track break. one of our most recent crafts was an egg garden. the kids planted grass and sweet peas. my original thought was that we could transplant the sweet peas to the flower pots in our front yard, but i had no idea these things grew to be 5' tall! i guess that's what i get for not reading the package. if anyone wants some sweet peas let me know :). after the plants had grown for about 2 weeks i told mia and george i wanted to take some pictures of them with their garden. george flat out refused to be in the picture, and mia went upstairs and put on this get-up. how are my 2 kids so completely different?

itchin' for spring!

we absolutely love warm weather! by the first of february (sometimes sooner) we start cleaning up the yard, fertilizing the grass and buying swimsuits. a few weeks ago we re-stained our play set to get it all ready for spring. we dug out all the old, nasty sand that had somehow grown mildew. today we finally filled the sandbox back up with fresh, soft, awesome sand! even though it was drizzling and cold, the kids had a wonderful time digging, building sand castles and feeling the sand between their toes (my personal favorite thing). russ and i even got a game of H-O-R-S-E in while the kids played (i lost...barely).

mia kept her feet buried for about an hour!

george did NOT want me taking his picture. i listen so well...

i love little toes in sand

st. george

we headed to st. george for president's day weekend to visit russ's parents at their second home. the house looks out on a pond, complete with swans, ducks and turtles, so you can imagine the fun the kids had throwing stale bread at the swans and ducks. i say "at" because a few times the poor things got pelted with a roll. at one point we looked over to see george peeing through the fence into the pond, which had russ and i about rolling on the grass with laughter. we stifled it, though, so as not to condone such behavior! we went swimming a few times at the indoor pool, which, i must say was fabulous since we are water people.

the valentine lady managed to track us down, even though we weren't at home. i assured the kids that i had emailed her the address so she could gps it. the valentine lady is very technically savvy! she arranged a scavenger hunt for the kids to find their gifts, which were ultimately hidden in the clothes dryer. they had such fun running about looking for their clues. george was surprised with a superman sleeper blanket, and mia was delighted with a heart-shaped pet bed for all her animals. russ and i got the kids marble run, which they played with for hours, and i made them a photo book of all the family who loves them. and of course george and dolores gave them fun valentine goodies.

there were a few hiccups in the trip. the first hiccup was george didn't sleep very well on his new blow-up travel bed, which meant russ and i were pooped, and george was cranky. the biggest hiccup, though, was we were in the emergency room with george for several hours the afternoon we were supposed to travel home. george had been breathing kind of fast and funny on sunday, but by monday his chest was popping and he was intermittently wheezing. after several breathing treatments and being on oxygen for a few hours, he was doing much better, so we were able to get home about the time we thought we would anyway. we suspect he has a cat allergy, but we won't know for sure until he gets tested in a couple months. i'm soooo glad he's doing better! he hasn't had any problems since we got home!

despite the hospital visit and lack of sleep, we had a fun time and look forward to doing it again sometime :).

this is the best shot we could get of our family on valentine's day...pathetic!

a cute one of grandma and papa with the kiddos...

mia personally requested this photo be taken since she absolutely adores flowers

yeah...he doesn't like this thing at all!

some valentines from grandma

grandma jill stopped by to give the kids their valentines before we headed out of town for president's day weekend. mia got 2 very fancy feather boas and some beautiful pink jewelry (what girl doesn't want feathers and jewelry for valentine's day??). george got a plush buzz lightyear and plush woody, which he drags around everywhere and even has to sleep with! the kids' eyes sure lit up with delight when they saw the awesome valentine's day goodies that grandma brought them!

russ's new office!

yesterday the kids and i went to visit russ at his new office. russ's new boss and his sons LOVE to hunt...i mean, they LOVE it. all over the office are taxidermy animal heads of animals that they killed...the only other place i have seen so many taxidermy animals is at bass pro shops! we saw a giraffe, gazelle, water buffalo, wart hog, zebra skin, deer, elk and a lot of animals i don't know the name of! mia and george were both running around saying, "mom, come look at this!" russ has a very nice office that looks out over a train track, which the kids thought was cool. the train comes by 3 times a day, but we didn't get to see it. after we had the office tour we went to capriotti's for lunch. it was fun hanging out with daddy for an hour!

my friend, missy

when i worked at the university of phoenix as an academic counselor, i had a financial counselor that i was paired up with to make it easier for the students. this is how i first came to know melissa. melissa was very easy to work with; she was always friendly and helpful, and as time went on we became friends. she found out she was expecting her first child a month before i found out i was expecting mia. it was so fun to have someone i could share my pregnancy with. there were many days where i did very little work because i was at her desk chatting about anything but work! since i quit my job right after mia was born it meant that i didn't get to see melissa very often. over the years we have only seen each other a handful of times, but i still consider her a good friend. right around christmas i found out that she and her family were moving mid-january. i didn't want to pass up an opportunity to see her before they left, so george and i went over to visit and to say good-bye. it was SO nice to catch up and to see how her family has grown. she now has 3 beautiful children. i will miss them, but i wish them the best of luck in their new adventure!

georgie started preschool!

yesterday george started preschool at the same place mia went to preschool. he was so excited to go when he woke up. he picked out his coolest outfit (jeans and a lightning mcqueen shirt with a matching jacket). we pulled up, and he was confident and cool. the garage door went up signaling it was time to go in, and the waterworks began. then the screaming began..."i don't want to go to preschool!" repeated over and over. after assuring him i'd be there to pick him up and giving him a kiss, i peeled him off my body and handed him to miss janie. i then stood in the garage with my ear to the door to hear george GAGGING! i thought he was going to puke! after about 20 seconds, the crying stopped. i peeked in, and janie was holding him on her lap and reassuring him (one of the many reasons i love this woman...she is so warm and loving). when i went to pick george up, he was nothing but smiles! he was SO proud of the leopard he made, and i must admit, he did a great job! i am so proud of my little man and am excited for all he's going to get to experience in preschool.

new year's in utah

we are starting a new tradition of going to visit russ's family for new year's each year for 2 reasons...1) the kids LOVE to play in the snow 2) russ LOVES to watch football with his dad. don't get me wrong, i enjoy the trip too, but i don't love the snow, nor do i love football. i do, however, love being with family.

russ and george getting read to rip down the hill on their sweet new sled!

i can't believe how much mia loves the snow. she was out there for hours every day and would come in completely soaked!

mia, eliza & george...the cutest cousins i've ever seen. i love how our kids are in all the mismatched snow gear borrowed from the neighbors and eliza is a completely matching snow bunny!

new year's eve was spent at melinda's place. thank goodness for photoshop because we couldn't get all three kids looking at the camera at the same time for anything!

melinda bought a cute cardboard house for the kids to decorate. it was the perfect activity as it kept them occupied for a looooong time.

happy new year's from aunt linnie and mia!

TRUE STORY: a drunk driver ran into russ's parents block wall new year's eve!!! he did donuts in the neighbors backyard (there was all sorts of damage), then he drove up and hit the wall (this picture is only a portion of the damage), then he drove around the corner and ended up leaving his car on someone's front lawn! he was driving with a suspended license already and by the time the cop got through with him he had a minimum of 6 counts against him! he got buuuuusted!

i sat on the porch and took pictures of these 3 building a snowman. russ called me a wuss several times...like i said, i don't like the cold.

on new year's day, mia disappeared for about 45 minutes. she was upstairs creating her own 'happy new year' sign. i love this kid.

russ's mom and brother have january birthdays, so the whole fam went out for a delicious dinner.

the birthday peeps

grandma showing off her new robe and mia showing off her old one

you can tell mia and george don't love grandma and papa one bit!