Random Snaps

The holiday edition...

 Bubbles and sidewalk chalk make this girl giddy 

 Looking angelic on the flight back to Iowa and tell everyone "Happy Thanksgiving!"

 Black Friday damage

 I love Christmas cards, but haven't done one since Brady and I got married (2012)

 I got two new tops from Lett and I'm obsessed with this brand now (and these Vuori joggers as always)

 This was Brady's Target order... he uses way more hair product than I do

 She's a little mommy

 My work-wife gave me my favorite wine (and she didn't even know it was my favorite)!

 Tears and cuddles after Evie bonked on the jungle gym

Evening caffeine is necessary when daycare is closed for 8 consecutive days

Holiday Update

This was our first Christmas at home since 2014! We prefer to travel over the holidays. However, my work schedule made it impossible with Christmas landing midweek. 

On Christmas Eve we went to Ruston for a walk and let Evie ride her scooter. We went home to make our feast and it was delicious. We made a charcuterie board, caprese skewers, crab cakes, and baked pear/brie canapés. Brady spent $40 in crab meat, but it was worth it! This is all our favorite food. Then, we FaceTimed with my family (who opens gifts on Christmas Eve). 

Evie woke up on Christmas day none the wiser. She didn't even notice the gifts under the tree. She actually ate breakfast at the table which stares directly at the tree😂 We told her Santa brought her some gifts and she ran over to start tearing them open. We spent the afternoon playing with her new toys then went to zoo lights!

 Scooter rides along the sound

 Always need to stop by the park

 Family selfie

 High fives

 Lets go home and eat

 Cooking with my girl (she really just ate all the apples and honey on the charcuterie board)

 Evie got a science kit from Aunty Cait

 Caught this cute pose on Christmas day

 Shoots and ladders

 Slide time while we wait for zoo lights

 Evie's #1 request is shoulders lol

 Pink octopus in the distance

 She was eating a candy cane

 Trippy

Replica of the Narrows Bridge

Weekend Update

All three of us are home!!

It's been a crazy month. Brady was in Thailand with his brother for just over two weeks. My mom stayed with Evie and I for a week then we all flew back to Iowa together. 

The plan was to return to Washington and have Brady already home, but he had a last-minute meeting in Iowa so there was a change of plans... Evie stayed in Iowa, Brady flew there the same day I flew back to Washington. We could have high fived in the air lol😜

Brady and Evie got home on Thursday so this was a family-filled weekend. We finally set-up and decorated the tree. We baked Christmas cookies (for Santa). Evie is very into Santa (and baking) at the moment. The cookies were surprisingly good seeing as I completely omitted powdered sugar from the recipe, which called for one cup😬

We watched the Christmas boat parade from Bruce and Lauren's boat with Molly and the girls. It was such a fun Christmas activity!

 Little cookie monsters

 Waiting for the boats!

 So cute

 Evie kept bringing Pops more books to read lol

 The boats were fully decked

 The neighbors boat was 😍

 These two are always jumping off walls when we're home

 Trip to the park

 My little baker

 She didn't want to take her hands out lol

 She even got to mix

Evie's finished product with icing and sprinkles

Christmas in Bend

It was a white Christmas in Bend, Oregon🎄

The house that we stayed in was so good

We had a blast skiing, brewery-hopping, and hanging out with the fam. We arrived late on Friday night, but Brady's parents already had a fire roaring. We sat around the fire until the early hours of the morning. 

We explored the breweries of Bend on Saturday. We start at Bend Brewing then 10 Barrel then ended at Crux. I was exhausted (and freezing) by the end of the day. I seriously went to bed at 6 o'clock. 

 The look Connor gives his mother vs the look Evie gives her nana lol

 Bloody Mary's

Cheers!

 Evie loves nana!

Walk to see the river after breakfast

 Start of the brew tour

 Evie spilt...

 Teach them young

 Da boys

 This girl just needs colors

 Do you see the EIGHT deer??

Brady and I went skiing on Sunday! It felt so good! The crisp air and falling snow make me so happy. Brady was a trooper and skied the entire day with me. We actually skied through the park where I had my accident. It was by mistake because we are terrible at looking at the map ahead of time. We just take the lift up and randomly choose which routes to take down. It was a great day. 

 Gear up

 First run down wasn't half bad

 I can always find Brady with his red goggles

 Wintery scenes

 White out conditions in the afternoon

Both of those beers are Brady's

Christmas Eve was snowy. It was so festive. We wandered around town in the snow. Grabbed coffee and last minute gifts then went home to open presents. Connor stayed back with Evie while Ann, Brady, Colin and I went wine tasting and stopped by McMenamins for a hot toddy before dinner.

 This is how you could usually find Evie... just look for Connor

 Bath toy from Uncle Colin

Testing of Evie's new guitar from Auntie Cait

 Once again, we're coloring

 Just a girl with her new pig and guitar

 New baby from Uncle Connor

 No attention for the poor girl

 All the sugar

 Another brewery

 Uncle time

 Must find wine

 Thankful

 Wintery walk

 Came home to find this scene so we quietly snuck back out to have one more drink

Brady and I essentially had a vacation from parenting. Evie is obsessed with her grandparents and uncles. She wanted nothing to do with her parents. It's half hurtful and half amazing. She actually pushed Brady aside and ran to Connor at 10 Barrel Brewing😂