Surprise!

Me with Roxy & Skyler
Roxy

Scott & Taylor

Roxy, me, Ash, Jules, Skyler, Scotty

Roxy, Skyler, Dad

The Birthday Boys getting surprised at Chicago Fire (we were celebrating Scotty's BD too, but he didn't make it in this frame)

Yummy Chicago Fire

The whole gang- Scotty, Jules, me,Skyler, Taylor, Dad, Mom, Ash, Roxy (minus Scott Wag who was busy fulfilling his Little League Daddy responsibilities :)

My two navigators w/ their smart phones

Designated Driver

We were stoked on the hot made to order breakfast at Hilton Garden Inn

Touring around Folsom (Jules & Grizzy Adams...aka Scott)

We enjoyed a very special weekend Feb. 25-27th :) Ashley (my youngest sis) just had her 3rd baby, a boy Skyler, the beginning of Feb. Julie & I conceived a fun plan to show up on her doorstep. Just what every postpartum mom needs, unannounced company- right?! We invited our bro Scott to come along and we were so happy that it worked out that we could all three get away. It got better as we realized my parents were also going to be in Folsom for a day at the same time. Sooo....we pulled up to Ash's house and Julie called her from the parking lot. They made chit chat and Julie told Ash she would like to come visit her soon...ha ha. Then she rang the doorbell while she had Ash on the phone. Ash was shocked of course and then I waited a few minutes and rang the doorbell, then last Scott came a few minutes later. We had her in some good tears by this time :) We proceeded to have an awesome weekend:

1.catching up with my adorable niece & nephew that I just haven't seen enough of since I live so far way and holding that sweet new 3 week old baby

2. eating at Chicago Fire Pizza, Dos Coyotes, Big Spoon & Jack's Urban Eats- yummo

3. shopping! I was in heaven at the Folsom outlets....

4. walking on some great trails- Folsom has some GREAT walk/bike trails w/ trees, lakes, etc

It was a very special weekend to get to surprise Ash & spend some really quality time with family

Dynamite Indoor Soccer Team

Back Row: Coach Yost, Eric (Forward), Ryan (Defender), Toby (Forward), Blake (Goalie)

Front Row: Austin (Defender)

Thanks to a fellow soccer Mom, I just got hooked up with this team photo taken after their last game a couple weeks ago. 2 boys had bolted before it was taken, but this is most of the team.

January Recap

Arielle & Sydney at TTC Show
Mariah, Anne-Marie & Arielle w/ Playboy

Arielle & Playboy (with her new saddle pad that Santa brought her)

Toby playing at soccerplex. Unfortunately there was plexiglass surrounding the field and it was impossible to snap a good photo!

Toby's gingerbread house he made over at the Parkes'

Just love his little marshmallow snowman. He was only a couple inches tall.

LJVM Ice Skating on church youth night

Toby tearing it up on the ice

January flew by! We enjoyed a fun ice skating event with Tanglewood's YM & YW (I think that was actually Dec. 30th). That same night Jim & I made the 15 yr marriage milestone! Our celebration was quiet this year and included a dinner out at Olive Garden thanks to a giftcard (thanks Mom & Dad). I recognize almost every day that I am married to the most patient, loving, humble and wittiest guy in the world. He's the best!! Lucky me :) This winter, Toby played on an indoor soccer team at the Soccerplex for the first time and loved it. I loved that he had a great winter outlet that let him be active and not just sit in front of the computer. His coach was our neighbor, a wonderful guy who really cared about the boys and invested a lot of time and money into the team. Toby also got to play on a team with two of our neighbors Ryan & Blake so that was fun for him and for us Moms to visit at the game. His team (Dynamite) came in 2nd in the league- not too shabby! Arielle competed in her first local Winston-Salem horseshow at Thoroughbred Training Center in Mocksville just 45 minutes from home. It was a great, small show just her speed. She came home with a 3 ribbons & a big smile on her face. She got to take her favorite horse of the hour- Playboy (or "Walking on Sunshine"- his show name). Jim & I just studied & worked- not too much to write about there. I did let the New Year resolution time motivate me to make some new fitness goals. I am trying to be more consistent running with Casey 2x a week and also running long on Saturdays with as many of our running buddies as we can round up. I have registered for the first race of the season, March 5th Shamrock Shuffle 10k. Other New Year goals include: being earlier to work so I can open the office without being rushed and reading scriptures as a family more often & with more purpose.

A Different Christmas

Whitney enjoying his Christmas Gift
Cortney is so into her gift she can't even look up for the camera

Ah, Jaime! That sweater will be swell for a New Year's Eve party

Good Laughs, Good Times :)

Random pic of Toby flying an airplane (just thought it was cool)

Going out on the town to see The Nutcracker

Arielle, Miah & Athena (The Chorus Girls!)

Southwest Elementary's "Up On A Housetop" Performance

This is great for Jim's back...

Putting up the tree

This was our first Christmas alone since Toby was a newborn! We usually always have a huge family gathering with my side of the family in Utah or go to Florida to be with Jim's parents & my grandmom. But being the last year in anesthetist school, we couldn't afford to go ANYWHERE. At first I was bummed and thought our holiday would be boring & lame, but soon I came around to the idea that sleeping in, setting our own schedule & doing whatever the heck we want (within our budget) sounded pretty good! Relaxing and quality family time were top of the list. Here's some of the highlights:

1. Alison from work giving us free tickets to The Nutcracker!


2. LRB (my work) spoiling us with parties & gifts


3. Getting a REAL Christmas tree (haven't had once since we've had kids)

4. Enjoying Tanglewood Lights

5. Going Bowling

6. Watching Arielle sing with the chorus in her school Holiday Production

7. Seeing Tangled at our new favorite $3 dollar theater! That's right- new releases, anytime of day for $3!

8. Getting LOTS of snow. 4 inches on Christmas Day & Dec. 26th, that is record breaking around here. It was beautiful and a great excuse to stay inside & be cozy. Church & all activities were cancelled.

9. Getting together with my running buddies & their hubbies for some good "White Elephant" fun

For Christmas Eve the kids opened PJs and a couple Liken videos. Likens are great musicals that tell a scripture story but with modern flare. Only the Christmas one had a little too much flare! It was SO Cheesy that we laughed our way through it...so much for spiritual Christmas Eve's...

Christmas morning Santa brought Arielle a saddle pad & a robe. Toby got soccer gear. Both kids were spoiled rotten by their grandparents on both sides and received some spending money. Arielle quickly went out and purchased an IPOD touch! She is rocking out at the top of her lungs in her bedroom right now as I write this :) Toby bought a couple Wii games, but is also saving some money for movie admissions and other outings with friends.

This quiet Christmas has turned out pretty good. And the kids' break isn't over yet. Still have Ice Skating with the church group & New Year's long weekend to look forward to :)

Thanksgiving in Asheville

Julie showing me her new phone

Grove Park Inn

Me, Grandmom Hazel, Mom

Izzy, Toby, Conner

Dad, Mom, Nancy

Dad & Jim (they were actually having a nice conversation here even though it looks like my Dad is grilling Jim- LOL)

Toby, Arielle & Lincoln at hotel pool

Lincoln

Arielle & Grandmom

The Hostesses w/ the Mostest

Jules, Mom, GrandmomTobes & Conner

Steve working hard in the kitchen

Jim pretending to work hard, LOL :)

Well, I should be banned from taking pictures. I went to Asheville and saw relatives I only get to see 1x or 2x a year and did I take pictures of them? NO! What the? Oh well, guess we were so busy visiting that I forgot all about taking pictures. So Thanksgiving went something like this...we went Thanksgiving Day to Asheville where we helped the Sloans make the big spread in anticipation of Mom, Dad & Grandmom Hazel flying in for the weekend. We took it easy this year and did lots of Costco and "easy prep" food which had its pros & cons. We missed the homemade taste and quality of our favorites, but on the up side we had time to get out of the kitchen and take a beautiful hike overlooking Asheville on Thanksgiving Day. After a good meal, the girls (Julie, me, Arielle, Isabelle & Nancy Clare) went Black Friday SHOPPING from 12am-7am. Yes, we are nuts! It was a good, delirious time and deals were found by all. After sleeping in half the day Friday we took the kids swimming in Mom & Dad's indoor heated hotel pool and enjoyed another evening of visiting and noshing on leftovers. Aunt Nancy came to visit, she is always a joy to be around. Saturday we headed to Grove Park Inn for the Annual Gingerbread & Christmas Tree display. It is gorgeous and always puts me in the holiday mood. Grandmom Hazel treated all 13 of us to a beautiful buffet at GPI. WOW- it was classy and scrumptious. Saturday we had more Lovelaces over (Bahnson's family, Paul's family, & Nancy Clare, Anna Clare & Jeff). I think my favorite part of the night was snuggling with little Anna Clare. Wish I had a picture! We had a great time laughing with the cousins before we headed back home to W-S late Saturday night.

Trip to Florida

Toby just loves having his picture taken
Look at those dimples!

Nice shot Jim ;-)

Pineapple Dole Whip Float- classic Disney, yummo!

Never too old to take a shot at pulling the sword from the stone

We had free tickets to Disney burning a hole in our pockets, so over Veteran's day weekend we decided to drive the 10 hrs to Florida for a couple days of fun in the sun. Fri. we had dinner at Giordano's Chicago style pizza followed by an evening walking around Downtown Disney and enjoying entertainment, checking out the awesome Lego sculptures at the Lego Store & sampling free Ghiradelli chocolates. Saturday day we spent in Magic Kingdom from open to close (14 hrs!). Sunday & half of Monday we played at the beach and relaxed before heading home late Monday. The waves were big and the water was cool. The kids played for hours in the shore break and had almost as much fun as they did at Disney. Can't believe I didn't take any pics of the beach!