Welcome Back Summertime!

What a great weekend kicking off the summer season!  The girls have spent weeks counting down the days til our first camping trip and all the fun things that includes … fishing, tubing, campfires, smores, family and being outdoors all day long!

Addison’s big catch …

Emma’s first time fishing, she liked to pet the fish

Noelle’s big catch …

Check out the great view from our campsite!

Ready to go tubing!!

Emma had the time of her life, so happy to be playing outside all day long!

Looking forward to next time!

Just Me and Him

After the holidays Matt and I hopped on a plane and headed to the Riviera Maya for a

much needed getaway, just the two of us.  We had booked our vacation this fall and it was nice to have something fun to look forward to after the busyness and excitement of the holidays was over.  We love our three daughters dearly, but anyone with three kids knows that after you give them the time they need, there is little time left over for yourself and eachother, so we are so thankful for grandparents who love on the girls and give us the chance to get away from time to time.  We spent a week at the Grand Sirenis, our second time to this resort and loved it just as much as we did the first time.  The weather was perfect ... warm, blue skies and sunshine every day, with just a little rain here and there.

We enjoyed lots of yummy food (that I didn't have to make or clean up!), here we are at the Mexican restaurant. 

We had an ocean view room, and nice short walk to the beach!  This picture was taken from the roof of our building.

Dinner on the beach

We went on a day trip which involved snorkeling at two different locations and some free time at the end when we could zip line and jump off a cliff into this cenote!

We were given a couple of free visits to the spa, for their water circuit treatment and a massage ... ahhh!

I forgot to pack reading material for Matt ... thankfully he had Siri to entertain him while I enjoyed my book.

Dinner at the Japanese restaurant

Dinner at the Brazilian restaurant


We had such a great time together ... it was a lovely, relaxing week!

No Cavities!

Yesterday was Addison's first visit to the dentist!  Noelle just finished learning about teeth in preschool and they even went on a fieldtrip to the dentist.

That was a couple of weeks ago and ever since she has been anxiously awaiting visiting her own dentist.  Thankfully her excitement took care of any anxieties Addison may have had about going for the first time, she did so well!  Noelle has been there a few times now and Addison has come before, but Noelle went first so Addison knew what to expect and when she was finished, Addison hopped right into the chair and was chatting away with the hygienest.  And the best part?  No cavities for either of them!  I was a bit worried about Addison as she loves her snacks and sweets. :)

And after we got home we went outdoors to enjoy the 50 degree temps ... on January 31!  Loving this mild winter!  Emma completely gave up crawling a few weeks ago and I think she really enjoyed exploring the yard on her feet, not from the wagon or the stroller!

Christmas 2011

Bout time I posted some Christmas pictures!  We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season, celebrating Jesus' birthday and all of the fun traditions that go along with it.  With the girls being another year older it was fun to see them remembering some of our traditons from years past and understanding them more too.  They enjoyed every minute of Christmas this year and now that it is over, Addison has been asking almost daily if it is time to go camping yet. :)  I think I could live with that, two seasons - Christmas and camping.

Trying to get a good picture in front of the tree, it gets tougher every year I think!

We did have to miss our first party of the year due to pink eye, the girls got to open their presents at home later ... Emma started reading her new books right away!

Stockings from daddy and mommy

Sunday School Christmas program ... Noelle is the horse on the right, next to cousin Kate the donkey and Addison is the chicken on the far right.

Visiting Santa, last year I had to sit there with them, this year they even talked to him!

Christmas cookies!

Christmas Day with the Nienhuis'

Christmas Night with the Geurinks ... busy day!

Emma took her first steps that night, we didn't catch her walking on camera, but we did catch her celebration afterwards, so cute!

Happy 1st Birthday Emma!

Last week we celebrated Emma's 1st birthday!  Crazy how fast this past year went, loved every minute of it.  Her personality is all sweetness and smiles, we are so thankful for the blessing she is to our family.

We had both sides of the family over for food, presents and of course cake.  I wanted to make her a fun birthday party outfit, and decided to start with that and try to theme everything else around it ... was actually surprised at how many zebra print party supplies I was able to find!

She rocked the outfit, definitely worth the effort. :)  Thanks to Shari's Designs for the embroidery!

She wasn't real sure about what to do with the presents, but her sisters were happy to help.

 

Soooo excited!!!

She held it up to her mouth, ate all the frosting off, then set it down and played with the rest of it.  Didn't make too much of a mess for mommy, thank you Emma!

Mommy had fun, I think she did too. :)  As much as I will miss my snuggly little baby, I am looking forward to all this next year will bring ... walking, talking, playing with your sisters.  Thankful for every moment we have with these three amazing gifts!