January-mid February

*Out of order post, sorry.... I will finish Elan's story soon but I want to catch up a bit first.*

Let's just call all this "Before"  ... Because looking back at all these pictures I realized how much our life has completely changed since just this short time ago!

January.... my least favorite month of the year. We managed to find ways to keep busy and even though I was a total moody grouch most of the month (like I always am in January) we survived.

We made empinadas!

Mommy-preschool continued.... fun craft

Gymnastics....definitely not looking like it's Ashlyn's thing, but she likes the jumping around anyway.

Got to go party at her little friend Stratton Wright's birthday party, the Wrights have been so good to us since we moved here.

Out came the playdoh!

Snow! We had enough to make a snowman. Meaning, MOM made a snowman. Good workout! 

It ended up being a snowman family.

A weird obsession with eating whole apples appeared. This is what she did to avoid eating the skin. 

Love the lurking angry face

That's better! Love this sweet smile.

Came up with a new hairstyle

Ashlyn graduated to a booster seat! Pretty much the best for everyone involved. Times like this I love having a tall child!

One day while I was cooking I let her play with a little mound of flour. It turned into over an hour of super-fun playing for her. That's what I should have given her for Christmas!

We made a 1-day family trip to Boise. I had more pictures but don't know where they are. We met with our accountant, did a little Bronco Shop and Trader Joe's shopping, met up with our best buddies at Chick-fil-A for dinner, then went to BSU's Beauty and the Beast--gymnastics/wrestling meet. It was such a fun day but I guess a little too much for Ashlyn. She started crying at the end of the wrestling meet and didn't stop for about 30 minutes as we made our way through the crowd, out through the stadium parking lot, and to the car. That was fun.

A small sampling of the awesome types of pictures we regularly send to Daddy while he's at work

This is rare--wanting to dress up like a fairy and dance around. This one's definitely not a super girly-girl. It was so cute though!

Absolutely LOVE library day. Combine that with her new sleep cap that she didn't want to take off (that may or may not be because I told her that if she would wear it --at night--her hair would grow longer), and I love everything about this.

**sorry about showing too much skin** ha ha ha. Even reading on the potty.

Dentist visit! We went to a children's dentistry place in Twin. She did SO great! And loved the prizes she got. Her favorite was a new toothbrush and her own toothpaste! So easy to please. The x-rays showed that her front teeth roots are still severed but since they've turned back to white (miracle!) they seem like they might make it a few more years after all. Wahoo!

I finally ordered a whole bunch of new beads and that led to investing a few hours in putting in box braids and beads. She loved it and so did I. This style lasted us a good 5 weeks, not too shabby!

Typical response when I try to take a picture

A few nice days in February meant bike rides!

This made my DAY. The young women did this secretly to our door one night. It ended up staying up until March... I know we are so classy.

We took a trip to Idaho Falls to celebrate my dad's 57th birthday  the first weekend in February. Of course looking back that was the most inspired trip ever! All my siblings were there except Jodee who's on her mission. I finally got to meet my little niece Paisley, who was 3 months old. It was great getting to snuggle her!

And continuing the new baby parade... my little nephew Benton was just one week old! Tiny! And so sweet!

Of course we decorated some Valentine's cupcakes. 

Again the awesome poses I get

For having no cavities the dentist gave Ashlyn a coupon for a free frozen yogurt at Kiwi Loco. She chose vanilla with oreos and chocolate chips. 

We were invited to a murder mystery dinner--our first ever! Loved it. It was so fancy, the girl who hosted, Liz Bingham, is a domestic goddess! Decorations, music, and especially the FOOD was amazing. It was really fun. Our characters were "Maximus Testosterus" and "Cleptopatra." Neither of us was the murderer!

An embarrassing but fitting shot of us attempting preschool.

Back to IF trip pictures.... Collin, Sam, and Alex spent a day snowboarding/skiing up at Targhee. I made sure to label Collin's sandwich because well, I know my brothers.

Ashlyn and Grace are finally getting old enough to play together! It was so fun to see them play. Cousin time is the best!

I love this picture!

One of those pictures we will be infinitely thankful we took. It was actually Dad's idea. I absolutely love this so much. Not to mention Ashlyn is holding Lauren on her lap!! ha ha ha! I can't believe she was big enough to do that!

Lucky Grandpa had a special helper blowing out his candles. 

We went adults-only bowling as part of Dad's birthday party. It was so much fun. 

Dad in action! We ended up at Rigby Lanes, by the way. Just added to the awesomeness! 

.....and just the day after this picture was taken, things began to change in so many ways!