Gingerbread House Tradition

It is a tradition in our family to make gingerbread houses. My family would usually make a competition out of it... asking one of our poor neighbors to be the judge and pick their favorite candy-decked-out house. So so fun. Susie and I had a great time together, just us two, creating our gingerbread houses. The best part was having the one on one time with Susie. It was so fun to see her creativity go to work...Susie's gingerbread house, so cute!...My gingerbread house...Lennon's little dinosaur found a good home...Silly Susie and I...

First Snow Fall of the Winter!

Since we are living in warm New Mexico this month, we were unsure if we would experience any snow this winter. It is just a strange thing for me to not have snow in December... I've always lived somewhere that did. So, I have been wishing that it would snow at least once so the kids and I could build a snowman, have a snowball fight, make snow angels, and just crunch around in it! My wish came true just a few days before Christmas! It snowed just an inch or two and melted away the same day, but the kids and I still got-in some good play time!

Susie chose me as her target while throwing snowballs...Lennon throwing a snowball at me: Hot Chocolate to warm us up after all our snow fun!

The Happiest Place on Earth...

While we were staying in California last month, and since we will be living there for 5 months soon (Dave has a core rotation in LA)... we got season passes to Disneyland! I am such a kid when it comes to Disneyland, I love it! I love the detail that goes into every ride and throughout the park. Visiting around Christmas time was additionally magical... the decorations, the huge decked-out trees, and it even "snowed" fake snow occasionally! The teacups: A highlight at Disneyland was seeing Mickey Mouse!

Lennon was ecstatic to see him and didn't want to leave his sight!
One of the kids favorite rides was Buzz Lightyear!

Especially for Lennon... he is obsessed with Toy Story!Susie trying to catch the fake snowflakes on her tongue:

Susie and I in front of the Rapunzel Tower:

Susie waiting in line for one of her favorite rides, Winnie the Pooh:We wore the kids out... we wanted to keep on going, but when Lenny lied down on the cold ground we knew it was time to go... after we went on the ride we were in line for though!

Here, There, and Everywhere

Wow. Life has been a bit crazy lately... an adventure to say the least. We moved from Chicago, our home for the last 3 and 1/2 years, this past August. Since then, we have lived in Michigan, Utah, Washington, California, and now... New Mexico. And, our traveling is not done yet...
Dave is in his final months of Medical school (MONTHS!!!). Each month he has a new externship (clerkship) in a new area throughout the US. The kids and I have been fortunate to travel to most of them with him. We get to experience an unknown land (unknown to us that is), and best of all be with Dave. It has been quite an adventure, but one can only be uprooted for so long before missing a place to call "home". It will be nice to have that again... in the not-too-far future. So for now, we will enjoy our journeying to here, there, and everywhere!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

It is so hard to get pictures of my kids... they have energy to burn, wiggles to let loose, things to explore, and just do not want to stop and say "cheese". On our way to church today they gifted me with a rare chance to snap some less-wiggly shots!

Susie, 4 Years Beautiful!

Our Susie turned 4 last month! I can't believe it! She is growing... growing... growing! She brings our family the deepest joy, the greatest love, and a little spice as well! She is a little sponge who loves to learn, her imagination is grand and constantly in use, she is the puzzle queen, loves books and her princess dolls, enjoys adding and subtracting (really!), loves to dance and sing (mostly songs she makes up), she is fast and takes-on any challenge to race, she makes-up games to play... the games always begin with her saying, "Do you want to play a game? It's called..." (i.e. "panda hold your hand"), she enjoys nothing more than dressing up in fancy attire, she is a "real" princess... she is our princess.

Birthday's 1, 2, 3...

... and now she's 4!!!Birthday morning:
Presents!!!!
Some of Susie's favorite presents....
We went to Toy Story 3 (so good!):

In the evening, we went to a fun aquatic center... the kids LOVED it!Lennon is a little dare-devil! He kept jumping in the pool, dunking his head under, and rolling around in the water... I saw the life guard eye-balling him.4 candles to make a wish.... ... We could not have wished for more! How blessed we are with our beautiful 4 year old!!!

We love you Susie Boo!!!