A Beautiful Fall Day

December 12th was a really beautiful day! Wesley saw all of the leaves in our front yard and decided he would rake them all up so he and Curtis could jump in them. No complaints here! Curtis tried to contribute with a little-bitty hand rake, but Wesley was proud of taking ownership of the job. The leaves on our two little trees were exceptionally beautiful this year!

Wesley working hard back there

Curtis trying to help out...

…but getting side-tracked by the fun pile :)

Wesley would not accept any help from John Mark
or me. And he got a little dramatic at times about what
a big job this was for him. He felt very accomplished.

We all picked our favorite leaves. This was mine.

Evie had some help picking hers

These next two pictures might be some of my favorites I've ever taken of the boys. 

So much laughter jumping into their pile!

Curtis taking the plunge

This is so amazing! Ha!

Wesley amazingly didn't get hurt, considering his belly-flop style jumps.

They buried each other in the leaves several times. 

And then had lots of leaf wars

Love these two

Love these two, too!

Christmas Parade 2015

Our Christmas Parade experience was a little chaotic this year, but really fun for Wesley! His good buddy's family made a float to promote awareness for Neurofibromatosis, and Wesley got to ride on it and throw candy. He also says they sang a lot of "Whip it, Nae, Nae" while they rode along. Ugh.

Wesley on the float ready to go!

 We got Wesley to the dispatch spot on time, but the rest of us didn't make it to downtown in time to catch much of the parade. John Mark ended up jogging after the end of the parade so he would be able to find Wesley. He didn't have his phone. So, Curtis, Evie, and I enjoyed the fireworks after the parade. They were great this year!

Curtis loving the fireworks. :)

 As you might imagine, it was difficult to find (the phone-less) John Mark and Wesley after the fireworks were over. After a lot of waiting and wondering where they may have decided to go, we just went to the car and finally found them while walking that way. We didn't get to enjoy the night all together, but Wesley definitely had a blast with his friends in his first parade, and Curtis loved the show.

Evie all bundled up for the parade

Evie's 3 month photos

3 months old!

 We also set up the Christmas tree on December 3rd. Wesley mostly read his book, but Curtis helped me put up ornaments with great joy. :)

End of November

We didn't get to travel for Thanksgiving thanks to Curtis and Wesley getting a stomach bug. So, the end of November was more getting used to having our sweet Evie at home, and she got to meet a lot of people that had excitedly been awaiting her arrival!

Our wonderful case worker, Sharla, who helped us through our
adoption journey. 

Tummy time!

Wesley just can't get enough of Evie.

Evie meeting my walking buddy, Amanda.

Evie meeting Elyse. She was one of the first to learn
we were adopting and has been so encouraging
along the way.
(She was Wesley's wonderful 1st grade teacher)

Curtis' 6th Birthday Party + Fun with the Thornes

We got to have Colin, Lela, Mavry, and Eliel stay with us the week before Thanksgiving. I still had to work, but I did cut my schedule back a little. We didn't do a whole lot outside of the house besides parks, etc. They were here for Curtis' 6th birthday celebration, though! We celebrated the Saturday after his birthday with a family get-together. He was kind of bummed to not have friends over before his party, but when party time came, he didn't seem to care at all. On the morning of his party, we got to spend some time swimming together at the hotel pool where Misha and Gin-Gin were staying. It was a little cold, but all of the kids had a great time.

Misha held Evie while everyone swam

For the party, we also had Granddad, Golly, Kevin, Sara, Sadie, Micah, and Audra in attendance. We also happened to be getting our master shower retiled during the party, so we can count those guys as attendees as well. :)

Audra meeting Evie

Curtis wanted a Lego Movie party (same as Wesley's 7th birthday). We didn't do party favors and I ordered a cake, so I didn't really do much for this one! It was nice! Thanks to Lela and John Mark for cutting fruit. We also had Papa Murphy's pizza.

I think this was the first of the boys' parties Sadie has gotten to attend!

Sara helping Micah figure out the light saber

Our boys loved spending time with their cousins from California. It was fun to have them all visit!

And Audra and Mario came back for another visit the day after the party!