insta-february

February was full of doctor and dentist appointments ( the girls aren't fans of either), Graham discovering "new heights" (now all chairs must be put up on the table), yahtzee and temple date nights, and lots of visits with the sister missionaries in our ward.  We are happy to report that the kids are cavity free, I beat Jordan at yahtzee, and we are pretty sure they know our names at Black Bear diner.  It was a great lover's month spent with my 4 loves! 

insta-january

We started off the new year with lots of indoor activities due to the cold weather.  I am pretty sure we read every book we own (several times:), snuggled up and watched shows, had friends over for play dates, etc.  Jordan and I also began dating again--ha ha!  We decided that we needed to be better about making date nights more of a priority than they were, so for a new year's resolution we set a goal to go on weekly date nights.  We have loved having that alone time together each week to reconnect.  We also had a great time celebrating Jordan's 31st birthday.  We went out to dinner as a family and then he and I went rock climbing (which was his favorite hobby when he had time for hobbies:)  It was a great start to the new year!

christmas 2013

We had such an enjoyable Christmas break!  It is always nice to be able to spend time with family and have nowhere to be.  The kids enjoyed our first little snow storm here in Reno.  They sled down our little hill out back and helped Dad shovel the walks.  A few days before Christmas, Jordan's brother Nate and his family made a pit stop at our house on their way to Oregon from Utah.  It was so nice to visit with them, and somehow we managed to find all 10 of them a place to sleep in our tiny house.  The day before Christmas Eve (Christmas Adam as it's affectionately called in Jordan's family) we drove down to my Mom's to celebrate the holidays with family there.  We celebrated Christmas Eve with one of my brothers, two of my sisters, and their families.  We played games, opened the traditional Christmas jammies from Nana, and ate delicious food!  Christmas morning, the girls were pleased to find the 2 things they asked for under the tree: a little stuffed bunny (Tilly) and a sleeping beauty dress-up(Avery).  They also asked for ribbon dancing wands, but Santa forgot to pack those and bring them to Nana's, so they had to open them later--oops;)  They also got scooters, which they weren't expecting, and it was so fun to see the look on their faces when they opened them up.  They have already gotten plenty of good use out of them to make it worth it.

 It was so fun celebrating with everyone!  Being with those we love is our favorite way to celebrate the season that commemorates the birth of our Savior.  How very grateful we are for our testimonies of Him!