Bye Bye Winter!

After a week or so of horribly cold weather, we are SO glad that winter is now over, and we are on to beautiful weather for awhile before it starts getting hot.  And before you all start laughing at how wimpy we are, we woke up one morning with our pipes completely frozen.  So see?  It has been cold!!

The boys found this little guy in the yard over the weekend, which is a sure sign of warm weather!  He's our first lizard of the "season"; here's to finding many more!

M.I.A.

As everybody I'm sure knows, December was not a very fun month around here. What is usually a month full of fun activities, outings and photos became a month of sadness, coping and healing. We started 2012 off with a murder and ended with a fatal gun accident. I'm seriously hoping 2013 is a little bit nicer to us!

So, amid all the chaos last month, here are a few photos we managed to get (and an advanced warning that there are photos of little boys and their tighty whiteys!)!

The first day of winter break was dry, sunny and warm. We were dog-sitting for some friends, and she was so kind as to dig several large holes in the back yard that made perfect mud pools for my boys to play in. They had a delightfully muddy time.

Fast forward to Christmas Sunday.  

We took lots and lots of photos, and ended up with a few cute ones with loving brothers,

And sly, half-smiles

Until we were DONE.

I just love this photo; her screaming face, her precious dress (thank you, Michelle!!) and those delicious rolls of chub on her arms that I just want to nibble.

Christmas Eve we had fun with Mark, Jocie and Hallie, and then Christmas was finally here.

Lala came over, Santa made his appearance, and we had a really nice day.

The boys had fun playing with all their new stuff,

And David and I managed to go see Les Miserables (which I LOVED).

It was a perfect, lazy day.

Now, we are spending the rest of our break playing

And modeling for Mommy.

Hopefully, life will start getting to be a little more normal this month,

 with a few more fun activities and a few more blog updates!

My Grandmother's House

My favorite place in the world is, hands down, Grandma Hatch's house.

I love everything about the house and surrounding land, and I hate that I never get to spend time there anymore.  Some of my most cherished memories are from that house;

from holidays spent with ALL the family there (and there is a LOT of family!) to summers spent there that were just me and my grandparents. 

Horse back riding, driving the tractor, doing laundry in that ancient washing machine, hauling water, brownies and Phase 10 matches; I could go on and on.

 

So it shouldn't be too surprising that one of my favorite people in this world is Grandma Hatch.

I only got a quick visit with her this trip, as she cannot handle much more than that.  Especially when there are quite a few people disrupting her regular routine anymore.

It breaks my heart that she has no clue who I am, and that she won't remember that we named Jessa after Grandpa Hatch.

However, it was quite evident from this visit that she is the exact same person she always has been; just without the memories or knowledge that she used to have.

She's still as witty as ever, just as stubborn, and stinkin' hilarious!!

 

My 4 Generation photo.  Grandma is getting ready to turn 86. 

Her second great-grandchild was just born last month.

She's created quite a legacy!

 

Out by the barns, where we took our (Davis) family pictures.

Kehlton loved the horses!

 

And a couple of those said photos

 

Arizona may have thinned my blood out quite a bit, and made me a bit "wussier", but I will always be a South Dakota girl at heart.  Hopefully our next trip out to Grandma's won't be too long off.

Thanksgiving in South Dakota

 

This year, we went to South Dakota for Thanksgiving.

Partially because it was Thanksgiving, and partially because my niece (who turned 8 in September)

was waiting to get baptized in hopes that we could all be there.

I'm happy to say that we all made it there for her.

Here's just a few (of the over 200 photos) we took during the week:

 

 

It was a LONG drive (26.5 hours to be exact). 

We stopped at a random playground somewhere in New Mexico for a quick break.

The boys had a blast!

 

Dinosaur Hill in Rapid City.  I had been looking forward to taking Brychan there ever since we decided to go to Rapid.  I knew he would love it.  He did!

It was pretty cold and windy the morning we went, but the boys still had fun.

 

Playing at Brock and Missy's house was also lots of fun!

They have lots of wide open space to run around in, and luckily, the weather was quite tolerable for most of our time there.

The boys had fun playing on the porch swing,

 

Playing with cousins

And feeding/chasing the chickens, cats and dog

Jessalyn's Baby Blessing

Since David's entire family was already planning on being here right after Jessa's birth, we decided to just go ahead and have her blessed at home while they were here.  My parents came out as well, and we had a nice morning at home with our family.  Thanks again to Jocie for taking more photos!

October 20, 2012

 

 Jessalyn actually wore my blessing dress that my mother had saved.  It was still in perfect condition and I absolutely love it.

 Seriously?  Kehlton in a dress.

 

I really wish I had thought of asking Jocie to take a photo of the entire group that was at the house for Jessa's blessing.  We had:

 

Grandma and Grandpa Stander

Jocie, Mark and Hallie

Michelle, Jason, Taylor, Riley, Emma and Jack

Angela, Ken, Ellie and Colin

Jeremy, Jacob and Zach

Grandma and Grandpa Davis

Lala

Bishop Brewer

and

Jami Adams

My good friend, Alicia, also helped with all the food for this crowd, and I couldn't have done it without her help!  For those of you who were invited and couldn't make it, we definitely missed you! :)  It was a perfect, beautiful day and we're so greatful for everybody that was able to come.  We love you all!!

Newborn Photos

A few days after Jessa was born, Jocie was kind enough to take photos of our sweet little one.  While we were busy taking photos all morning, the kids kept themselves entertained by playing games and going to the park with Grandma and Grandpa Stander.

 

These are just a few of the photos...and I'm keeping my very favorite ones secret until you get a baby announcement! ;) If you're not a family member and want a baby announcement, just leave me a comment.  I'd be more than happy to make sure you get one!!

 

I really wish Brychan would have been looking at Jocie for this photo.  Even with his Chandler Bing smile, it would have been so cute!!

Less Than 48 Hours in the Hospital

Luckily, I was able to leave the hospital after a day and a half so I could get back home to Brychan and Kehlton.  But here are a few photos of our time in the hospital.

More than 24 hours with no sleep + going almost all the way through labor and delivery with no epidural = one very exhausted mama.

But, she's so stinkin' cute that it doesn't really matter. 

She looked just like Kehlton, and really still does.

After her car breaking down, Lala finally made it to see us!

Our first (rather sad) family photo

 

The boys meeting baby sister for the first time.  Seriously; love at first sight for both of them!  Kehlton just kept saying "I love my baby" over and over again.

 

While I was pregnant, Brychan would tell Jessa stories all the time.  And every time he talked to her, she would start kicking and squirming like crazy.  She loved listening to him!  The first time she heard his voice at the hospital, she just kind of froze and started listening very intently, like she was saying "Hey!  I know this voice!!"

And Daddy with his baby girl. 

We already have quite a few napping photos of the two of them together!