Sledding with the Foresters

***FYI*** This post is really old! I started all the way back in Jan. and never finished it nor posted it, but i took all the time to upload pic and write comments that I thought I might as well post something right? I know I have been really M.I.A. So here is a little something even if it is like 6 months old haha

At the end of January we went sledding with my cousin Alicia and her husband Drew (who has been so lovingly renamed by Ella "Screw"and Annalicia) We have loved having them up here though! Alicia has been going to BYUI and Drew will be going this next semester (if I remember right, he was finishing up some online classes with his previous college so that he can transfer with his associates and not have to deal with the problem of some of his credits being dropped because they don't transfer over to BYUI). They moved here from California and they have been super positive about this crappy cold weather we have been having. I feel bad for them though cause I am truly sick of it! We have loved being able to spend time with them and their little sweet baby girl Lila-bug!



The Happy pair ready for a day of sledding!



Aww sometimes they actually act like they love each other.





Little do they know what is in store for them this fun sledding trip... :)



The boys take off with our kids and everything seems to be going well...



I just thought Drew's face was hilarious in this pic. He was just so animated going down that hill!



Then they hit the incognito jump and man did Ella get some air.



Jack was practically being choked by Chad and the rope harness he was wielding down the hill.



Chad and Jack's experience hitting that jump.


Another shot of it.



Then to top it all off Chad slammed into the back of Drew and squished my poor little buddy Jack like PB& J sandwich. Needless to say it was a bit of an intense run down the hill for the little ones.



Alicia took little Lila bug down the hill starting from only about halfway up so it was a slower descent for the little 6 month old, but I think she enjoyed it.





jack and ella made buddies with these 2 older little girls that were sledding and had them taking them down the hill a well.



Jack-jack & Lila-bug chillin in the frozen tundra.



Chad sending down our Ella-belle on her own...




Lila was such a little trooper out there.



Our little "elwah-bewll" as jackson calls her

Random catch up pics...

Disclaimer: None of these pictures really go together so if you were wondering, I just decided to combine a few happenings in our lives into one post so I could try to catch up a bit with the photos I have continually piling up and not being blogged about!

Our friend Landon Roper, who sold/managed with Chad the summer we were in Houston about 3 1/2 years ago has come up a few times to recruit for the company he works for now and we always enjoy his visits. My kids just get a kick out of him, look at all those cheesy grins. Back in Houston, when Ella was only about 14 mo. old Landon would offer to watch her for us so that we could go out on a date. Ella just thought the world of him. It was so cute. He has been a really good friend to us and we're glad we've been able to keep in touch with him over the years.







These were taken around the same time that Landon came by back in January when we started potty training Jack. So I had to do some photoshopping on covering up the little guy's manhood cause we started out with just having him run around bare-bummed so that he would hopefully learn faster how to do the whole potty training thing. He has done pretty well with it but he still has accidents every once in awhile. Someday soon I hope it will just click completely and we won't have any accidents all together!





They were having a tea party on the stairs together it was really cute.



Back at the end of January we went down to Salt Lake City for a job interview for Chad, while we were there we stayed with Chad's sister Angie (who was so super awesome to let us stay with her) and got to take the kids to see temple square.



The kids loved running from one thing to the next so excited to see each thing.



They really enjoyed getting to see the Christus statue. It was really fun to bare testimony of Jesus Christ and the importance of the temple. Their questions were so cute and they just wanted to keep learning more. The faith of a child is so amazing and teaches me so much.








It was fun to get to see the tabernacle as well, there was someone there playing the organ really beautifully as well which was a fun bonus. It was crazy how small it seemed after going to a session at the conference center!





The awesome and huge conference center. We were pretty pooped by the end of our tour so we didn't go inside with the kids.

It has been at least 3 and 1/2 years since we had been down to Utah so it was fun to get to see some of the sights of SLC and a few friends during our short trip.

Ella's First Day of Preschool!

Back in mid- January Ella started preschool up at the BYU-I campus preschool lab. She absolutely loved it. It was a really good school. One of my favorite things about it was that they have like 6 college students majoring in elementary education teaching around 20-ish kids so the kids got a real hands on experience. They would have all sorts of different activities and bring in cool object lesson things like when they were learning about horses they brought in a real one and each child got to sit on it.
She also made lots of good friends and even had a little boyfriend named Kade. I guess pretty much every day her and her friend Kade would play house during the time when they can choose what activity they want to do and she just really liked him. One day I asked her if she had a bf named Kade because I had heard from his mother that he had been telling her that Ella was his gf, so I wanted to hear Ella's side of the story and she said to me, " Yes, I love him." So funny.
Unfortunately she had her last day of school on March 31st and she was very sad for it to end. I am really glad she was able to get in though because there is a pretty hefty waiting list and I think it was a great experience for her to have.



This was her first day and I don't know that a kid could look happier.



Back pack shot.



Thumbs up for learning!

Blast off!

So there is this place in Idaho falls called Blast off that we took the kids to with Chad's sister's family all the way back in January that has all sorts of fun stuff for kids to do. I wasn't that good at getting very many pictures of it all but the kids truly did have a "blast" and we had fun chasin' them around the place.



The ball pit of wonders, they each kept getting out and standing on the edge and counting to ten and then jumping into the pit.





Mwwaahhh!



Peek-A-Boo!



Good ol' Uncle Jason.





The Tarzan swing.



Even little Caz and Jack figured out how to do it. It was cute.

This place was pretty cool though. It has this whole pretend play area with dress-ups and play food. They also have a mini-golf, arcade, laser tag and some other stuff too that I can't remember but it was pretty cool though and not too expensive. Good thing to have around during the winter months where there isn't a whole lot to do outside.

Just an FYI...

For all those who are checking in on our blog, scroll down for awhile cause I was super proactive and did three new blog posts! Yes yes they are about past events that happened at least 2 months ago but still it is quite the accomplishment for my slacker self!



I just thought this was a cute video of my tiny dancers. They are so cute when they get along. You gotta relish in those moments though they may only come once in a blue moon. :)

The Birthday Bud!

My sweet hubby, Chadder-bud celebrated his 29th b-day Dec. 26th while we were still in Boise. His birthday happened to be on a Sunday so we did not go anywhere but we did do some in home par-teying of sorts. We decorated the house while he took a nice long nap and when he woke up we had a scrumdiliumptious baby-back rib dinner! Yum. Then I made him some mini-cheesecakes and some regular cake as well so he could have the best of both worlds. From what I could tell it was good times had by all.







Ella didn't want to leave the sight of the treats, i don't know anyone more eager to partake.



Then of course we did a little present opening. He's such a cutie!

Happy Birthday bff. I am so thankful to have you in my life and by my side through the thick and the thin of it! I am truly blessed to have your humor and optimism in my life to keep things interesting around here. You are an amazing Daddy and husband and I am so glad to be sealed to you for time and all eternity. Love you forever my hubby.