December 2016

December was a busy month for us! We started the month off by helping with our ward Christmas party. I was in charge of art and craft activities at the table for all of the kids. So we went early to help to set things up and decorate. Trevor and Savannah loved helping with all the decorations. Logan found a new friend named Cason and ran around playing with him instead of decorating. Logan and Cason have since become the best of friends.

We took the kids to Home Depot on a Saturday morning to work on a gingerbread candy dish. They all worked very hard and were very proud of their work.

Dave and I went out to dinner with his team from work in Old Town Fort Collins. during the winter all of Old Town is lit up with white lights. Its really cute and fun. So far Dave is really enjoying his job and we love Fort Collins. He works just a couple minutes from home and everything we need is within a few miles of home. Going to Old Town is a little more of a drive, but still close enough. 

We made plenty of sugar cookies for neighbors and friends. Savannah really loves to cook and bake. This particular day she found her swimsuit and insisted on wearing it. We weren't going anywhere so it worked out just fine. 

Trevor is usually found with his nose in a book. I really love that he is reading so well on his own and really enjoys any book he can find. He does really enjoy reading about Lego Ninjago.

Dave and I did a CrossFit competition that our gym hosted. The first place team in the scaled division was from our gym. Then we took thrid place in the Rx division. It was fun to do this together. 

Then, we bought our first house on December 12th! It was an exciting day for all of us.

That night we went to the new house as a family to have hot chocolate and cookies. Hot chocolate was spilled on the carpet, so we figured it was now okay to live there. That's just what happens with kids. They make messes and its okay. I had to use my sock to clean it up because I didn't have anything else in the house to clean with.

Then a couple days later, we left for Georgia for Dave's graduation. This was the first time that we had all flown as a family. The kids did great on the flight. However, when we got to Atlanta our car rental place didn't have a car for us. They turned us away and said they were out of cars. So it took us a while to find a car that would fit all of us. We ended up not leaving the airport until almost 1 am. It was a long night to start off our trip.

Our first night in Atlanta we stayed with our friends Jared and Hannah White. They have 3 kids pretty close to the same ages as ours. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of our visit with them, but we do love them. All the kids had a great time playing and the grown ups had a good time catching up. Hopefully our paths will cross again at some point. Logan and Savannah had a good nap on the drive from suburbia to downtown Atlanta. 

We stayed in a hotel downtown for the next couple nights to spend time with Dave's parents and his sister Edon and also attend his graduation from Georgia Tech. Our first night at the hotel, Trevor and I got sick and threw up a couple time. Not fun! And Edon's flight got delayed and she didn't get in until super late or should I say early that morning. But the next morning was Dave's hooding ceremony so we all got up despite the rough night most of us had. After the hooding ceremony we went to lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. Savannah and Oliver kept each other entertained while we were waiting to be seated.

It finally happened!!! Dave graduated with his PhD in Computational Science and Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology. It was a long journey for all of us, but we learned so much from the experience. I don't know that I would want to do it again, but I would not want the experience taken out of my life. We grew a lot as couple, we grew our family, and we grew our faith. There was so much more than just schooling that was accomplished during this time. 

We spent the next day at the aquarium. We had never taken a full visit to the aquarium while we lived there so we wanted to experience all of it. The first thing we did was go see the dolphin show. 

Then on  Sunday we went to our old ward and saw many familiar faces which was really fun. It was definitely hard to leave so many great people in Atlanta. Sunday evening we went to a friends house for dinner and we celebrated Jackson's 3rd birthday. His mom and I became friends when she found out she was pregnant with him. 

These are some more friends that we saw that night, the Moreira family. They have two boys almost exactly the same age at Trevor and Logan. Their boys are Troy and Lucas. Their mom and I started a babysitting swap when Logan and Lucas were just 8 or 9 months old. They became the best of friends and always pick up right where they left off.

Silly Reindeer boys.

I did manage to get one picture with a friend. This is Cristy. She has been one of my best friends.

Traveling with three kids is no joke when it comes to bags and car seats. The boys were super helpful and took care of their own bags. Savannah got to ride in the car seat attached to big suitcase.

On our flight back home the pilots and flight attendants were super great and let the kids explore the cock pit and see all of the buttons and gadgets. 

Once we got back from Atlanta, it was time to move in and get ready for Christmas! We officially moved in on December 21st. Logan and Savannah got into some styrofoam and got it ALL over the house. It was amazing the mess they made! But they were bored because nothing was in the house. We were waiting for appliances to come and get installed.

Then once we had everything moved in, my family came to town for Christmas! All of them made it safe and sound which we were so grateful all of them could make it without a crazy winter storm across Wyoming. We were all together for a couple days, enjoyed Christmas and exploring Old Town Fort Collins a little bit. 

Kole sleeps like a vampire so I had to get a picture.

Grandma and Savannah reading books together.

And we did lots and lots of cooking!!! The food all turned out really good, but it was definitely a whole of cooking all day. It was super nice to have some space for all that cooking though! It was so fun to have all of my family in one place and at my own house. I am so grateful to live closer to family so that the opportunities to see them are not so few and far between.