Merry Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas!

Last year I mentioned that we weren’t sure how we were going to top 2016…well we figured out a way!! Our biggest news of the year was having a go at IVF, which thankfully was successful!  We are expecting our first biological babe in July 2018, our hearts are bursting with excitement and our nerves are hopeful this babe sticks around for the long haul!

We’ve kept ourselves busy yet again this year with a bit of travel: Disneyland twice (May and September) and decided to become Disneyland Passholders since we love it there so much, many trips to Selah to visit Thomas parents in their new home, a road trip to Montana, countless day trips to Vashon Island, and an 11 day cruise in the Baltic (Denmark, Norway, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, and Sweden) with the girls and Ashley’s dad.   The girls are practically expert travelers at this point and have enjoyed every trip so far, Ellie keeps asking when we’re going back on our White Cruise Boat and Finnley is reminded of the cruise with every bite of cream cheese she has.  We are over the moon with making these memories with the girls and cannot wait to add another babe to our family – though life will definitely get a bit more tricky, we’re sure we can handle it and if not you can just find us all hiding out in Disneyland just trying to survive ;)

Thomas: is still teaching and has taken on a new subject, Psychology, which is keeping him busy.  Cycling and Fly Fishing are still his favorite hobbies and spending time playing with the girls is always at the top of his list.

Ashley: is doing well in the early stages of pregnancy, thankfully the nausea hasn’t been too bad although she does get exhausted half way through the day.  She is still nannying twice a week and enjoys keeping things real with her blog “Life with Kids”.

Ellie: started Pre-K this year and is excelling at her learning.  She can spell/write her name, identify most of the letters and can count to 40.  She started ballet this year and had her first recital in May, she loved it so much we signed her up again.  She loves to sing and dance and laughing is seriously her favorite thing to do.  Ellie is still as obsessed with Finnley as ever, and now is very excited about having another sibling to boss around and love on.

Finnley: is growing like a weed, she is only about 4 inches shorter than Ellie and she is running around causing trouble.  Her favorite things to eat come out of pouches (thank goodness for their creation) and Mac’n’Cheese.  Her vocabulary is growing by the day, though most of her words are hard to decipher.  Her love of Mickey Mouse runs deeper than any of us and while her facial expression is usually a stone cold stare…when she’s silly her faces are just the best.  Finnley is still enamored with her sister and is most comfortable with her around, though she has recently discovered the dogs…which they don’t seem to be too pleased about ;)

With Love,

Thomas, Ashley, Ellie and Finnley

The Farm Animals: Paladin, Ragtime, Cooper, Sakari, Annabelle, Penelope, Delilah, Stella, Ma and Solo