Cutest Cousins

*love*


I took Brooke's 6 month pictures yesterday...6 MONTHS!!! I can't believe it!!! Katie sure loves her little cousin :)

Not much happening!

Honestly I've hardly picked up my camera or wanted to lately. We are kind of in the middle of the winter doldrums ...too cold or wet to play outside or we are just too lazy. Plus I'm really trying to make time for me...specifically a healthy me so I've been attending a running class and taking advantage of our new elliptical machine. That being said, Grandma is getting restless for pictures so here are a few!

Who needs toys?


There have been a few nice days to play outside! Especially fun after some rain :)


We were sent a "Flat J" , similar to a flat Stanley, from a friend in Tennessee! Although the holiday and life delayed the project a bit we were finally able to get some pictures and send her back (these are just a few)!

Daddy's an Artist!

Katie had Dad's day at her school last weekend. One of the things they did was make full size outline of Katie and then colored it in. Isn't it special? Complete with duct taped knee???

Love These Kids

The H kids minus their beautiful new baby brother and my two rugrats


We love you too Landon! I just happened to take this before you got here! :)

Oh and if you are wondering why Katie has duct tape on her knee? Believe it or not we are trying a remedy for getting rid of a wart. Seems to be working!

New Years Eve in a Nutshell

New Years Eve was spent eating pizza and playing games. I did manange to stay up until midnight and promptly went night night. I'm wondering when I should let Katie try to stay up??? Maybe next year!

A California Christmas

I wish I could say it was the best trip ever but the entire first week a stomach virus made its way through the family. Plans of baking cookies and going to the snow were quickly squashed. My motto for this trip was "It is what it is and it can't be what it's not." Was a it a Rockwell Christmas? Definitely not, but we were together and that's all that matters!

Enjoying the flight...oh having that 4th seat was heaven!!! Due to strong headwinds it took almost 4 1/2 hours! I cried!!! But it wasn't so awful.


The pictures of that first week are few and far between :S We did manage to go to the Nutcracker with my Aunt Judy before the virus claimed my mom. It was really fun! We were much closer than last year in Houston and Katie seemed to really enjoy it.



Here I am with my Jessie dog. I got Jessie when I was a Junior in high school. I'll do the math...she's around 15 years old. She's lived well beyond her expected years. Such a sweet girl. I knew this was most likely the last time I'd see her so I wanted to make sure I got a picture :)


Of course Bert the Elf found us in California! As always, Christmas Eve he left a little note for the kids with gifts to open Christmas Eve (xmas Jammies)!


Christmas Eve we made the trek to Grass Valley to visit my Grandparents. As a child this journey was so exciting...as I knew Santa was on his way! First stop...Grandma Alyce's!


Next up Grandpa and Grandma Todd's! Katie, Ryan and her second cousins Emma and Erik had so much fun together. You'd never know these kids only see each other once or twice a year!


Lots of family pictures :)


Finally! Christmas Morning!!! My kids were SUPPOSED to have super cute matching jammies but Ryan had an unfortunate ehem leaking episode. Grrr! Katie was so funny...she thought it was absolutely ridiculous that Santa would put a banana in her stocking!!! :)



Christmas Dinner...just us and a superbly cooked Prime Rib :)


The next day was the Russell family get together. It was so great to see everyone! Again...Katie and her cousin Jace had a blast (Ryan napped most of the time :S). We looked at old family pictures...played games...ate way too much...went for a walk and just enjoyed each other's company!



Last but not least we did get to see a few friends while we were there! Id din't get any pictures but had a great visit with Keith's cousins. Thanks Wendy for hosting such a wonderful dinner!!!! We also had a blast at a place called Wacky Tacky in Roseville with my friends Brandi and Jen and their kiddos Wyatt and Ayden. Then headed to the Capitol Aquarium store to hang out with some fish and our friends Megan, Jerah and Job!


A few pictures before we left :)


Now we are back home...preparing to start our routine again tomorrow. Christmas decorations are down and the house is looking strangely bare. Now it's time to look forward to a wonderful new year full of new memories!!

Party, Recital and Kirkendall Christmas!

Wowzer! I have a lot to catch up on! We are in California until Thursday and I would love to say the trip has been super awesome but the stomach flu and the weather had other things in mind. But we are having a blast with my family and that's really what counts! More on that later!

Before we traveled to CA Katie had her Christmas party at school! All the kids were so excited. They had a yummy lunch, present exchange and even went outside and made "snow." So fun!



Then it was time for the Kirkendall Christmas celebration! I hosted it at my house and had a lot of fun hanging out with the family.






The same night Katie had her Holiday Recital! She did great although she admitted the lights were a little bright and she didn't do everything perfectly :P So stinkin cute although the iphone didn't do as well as I'd hoped recording it :(





And if you'd like to see my little ballerina last year CLICK HERE!