Family & Snow!!

I love living near family. They have become our best friends and who we spend most of our time with. Unfortunately, we do not live near Jordan's sister and her family...thankfully we got to spend some time with them during the wedding festivities. We had them over for breakfast the morning after and it was so nice to relax and play with them in an informal setting. They have twin girls only 2 months older than Clara, along with 3 older kids, they are all adorable and so much fun. Clara seemed to hit it off really well with Sophia, she loves having playmates!

I was also able to have my cousin over to have Clara & Penelope play together, and to take pictures of her new baby boy Ashton. He is so cute and such a mellow baby. Coleton and him will be good friends, just like Clara & P.J. I think the pictures turned out pretty cute also!

We went up to the Julian with family last week, as we all know Clara loooves the snow and sledding. My mom was watching Ella that day, and they came along as well as Grammie & Pappy. Clara kept saying "Ella?" "Ella?" whenever we would talk about sledding, and when we got up there she had her heart set on sledding with Ella. We made it work, and if we tried to take Ella off the sled Clara would act like it was the end of the world. She loves her cousin!

Then the big news...it snowed in Ramona! It just doesn't do that around here, we have the occasional morning frost that covers the ground, and hail storms here and there...but nothing like this!! It was heavy snow coming down for a couple hours last night, that stuck and made it look like a winter wonderland this morning! I had my family over for breakfast, and to play in the backyard with Clara before church. We took turns pulling her around, she doesn't know when to stop though, and always asks for more. My brother was even home for a quick visit with his girlfriend, it has been a year since my dad passed away and we went and visited his earthly resting place after church. He would have loved to be here sharing in these moments with us, we miss him a lot!

Such fun times with family. I am so thankful for them!

J & H Wedding

Jesse & Holly's wedding was yesterday and it could not have been a more beautiful day! The weather was gorgeous and everything went perfectly. The wedding was at the Abeel's property, the ceremony was in a little serene clearing, it had the feel of an outdoor chapel, with an altar and doorway. The reception was a little down a pathway from there, under oak trees and near a stream. We all had sooo much fun!

Cutest little flower girls...

The beautiful ceremony...










Mr. & Mrs. Abeel...


The reception...








He's quite the ladies man ;)


dancing away...

Then there were two...

Don't worry, Coleton hasn't made his grand appearance yet! I am referring to my other new baby, my niece Ella. I started 3 weeks ago watching my sister's baby 3 days a week. Wow, it is crazy having 2 kids! I must also add that it's even trickier being 7 months pregnant. I have definitely gotten into a groove with the 2 of them, figuring out eating and napping schedules. It's still a bit tricky at times, like what should I do with Clara when I am trying to put Ella down for a nap, and how do I get them to not wake each other up when they are only in rooms across a hall from each other. Some days are definitely smoother than others, but I am getting it down. This week Jordan was gone for his annual work snowboarding trip in Mammoth for 4 days, and I had Ella 3 of those days. I am a little exhausted after it all, and going a little stir crazy. I haven't ventured out with the 2 girls yet, partially because the thought of it makes me tired, and because I can just imagine the looks and comments I would get like, "geeze lady can you stop having kids already?" Thankfully, I will be getting out a LOT more for the second half of this week because we have wedding craziness coming up. Jordan's younger brother Jesse is getting married this weekend and there is a lot of work to be done, and family to see that we haven't in a while. I'm very excited for it all, I love weddings!

Couldn't get a smile, but I think they like going for walks.


Happy girl...she loves auntie!!


Giving Ella a hug.


She is sweet...and sassy!

I have been very encouraged with Clara's response to Ella. She looooves Ella and looooves to "help." Clara has been such a sweetheart lately, she has been so good with other kids and babies, she is a good sharer and listens very well. She helps feed Ella "babas," helps me change her diaper, gives her a pacifier or blanket if she is crying, gives her lots of hugs and kisses, and is usually very gentle with her. I hope she will be like that with her baby brother! I'm sure it will be a little different because her brother won't go home in the evening, and will probably take even more of my time and attention in the beginning. But I know she is capable of handling it. I actually better take advantage of the time with "just" the 2 of them, because soon there will be 3! It will be crazy, and definitely take some adjusting, but I am confident that I will figure that out when the time comes!