Happy Birthday Hale!

The terrible twos are now officially behind us! Hale turned three and we celebrated with family last Sunday.

Our party was "Thomas the Train" themed. It was a good thing we had Thomas plates and napkins because I the rest of the decorating was pretty minimal.

Here was the extent of our train decor. Nice and springy though!




Hale was blessed to see his paternal grandparents and great-grandparents. Our thoughts were with those that couldn't make it.

Here is a portion of the group.



Here's Hale opening gifts. Notice he has three fingers up. He perfected that just a few weeks before his third birthday.



No cupcakes this year. I decided to make ice cream pie because it sounded better to me. I tried to make cupcakes from scratch last year and they were pretty bad. Dry and dense - it took a lot of work to make them go down. Hale didn't mind the ice cream - he was just happy to blow out candles.



I can't believe the changes we've seen in our boy in the past year. He speaks in full sentances and uses words like "suddenly" "frusterated" and "responsible".
He is so creative and entertains me and Zetta during the day. He reminds me to give him his medicine every day and to bring his boots when we go to the farm. He is becoming a very good helper and a loving big brother. We love you Hale!

I don't know how I got so lucky...

...to be blessed with TWO beautiful nieces!

Remember this adorable newborn?

She has quickly grown into a delightful little girl who loves to talk and smile.

I couldn't choose a favorite expression - they're all so cute!



This girl is growing up so fast!



These are from a photoshoot we did this weekend. So many good ones! More to come!

My assistants (aren't they cute?)

Here is a guest photo submitted by my brother-in-law Josh. He took it while I was trying to get this picture of his family.





See what great help I have? If Landon's big smile isn't enough to get people to grin then surely Hale popping out from behind me will! They make my job easy! Love you guys.

Snow Fun!

This past Saturday we had a great day of fun in the snow with Rocklyn! Zetta stayed at Grandma's so that Landon and I could head up the mountain for a day of play with Hale.

Hale got a little bit of skiing in - which he really enjoyed. He LOVES riding the chairlift. After lunch, we did some sledding...



Landon making a sled run


Hale breaks it in


Rocklyn gives it a try







The snow was so soft and powdery and REALLY deep! The dads started tossing the kids in the snow and they thought it was the best game ever! It was such a soft landing that they could fly pretty high.



The only problem was digging the kids out after they sank in so deep. Pretty tiring work for the dads!



And of course the game got more elaborate as it went on. Here is the sychronized "snow throw".



Are you guys okay?



We ended the day with pizza and hot tubbing at the cabin - perfect! Thanks Josh and Tarelle!