Friday, May 29, 2015

Elijah turns 4!

Our little guy turned 4 years old!  He has been telling people so long that he is almost 4, now he can finally tell people that he is 4 years old!

early January 2015

One of the things the kids got up to after Christmas but before returning to school was this fashion show.  Cora came up with the idea, of course, and also served as the MC.  (Unbrushed hair and all).  The kids took enjoyed playing in the empty space in the guest room which is usually a big sewing mess.  Cora requested some new outfits for her bunny which is what gave her the idea for her fashion show.  She made little ribbons out of construction paper which she awarded to all of the participants.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Christmas 2014

Christmas Eve jammie pics!  We let them open one present early and of course, it was Christmas pjs!  This year I bought these cute little elf and Santa suits instead of sewing some.  Ryan and I got new ones too but not matching this year.

It's beginning to look...

The kids got to see Santa at the ward Christmas party.

December 2014 happenings

Getting ready for Christmas with a fun sticker advent calendar from Mom.

Thanksgiving 2014

 This Thanksgiving we all gathered at Mom and Dad's house for an old-fashioned, Wei family get-together!  It was fun and a little crazy with 28 people.  We had everyone from the Wei side together except for Aimee, who had to work in IL.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Asheville and more 2014

In November we took advantage of a continuing education conference for Ryan down in Asheville NC and took a weekend trip with the kids.  We took a trolley tour of the city to see a lot of the sights.  Here we are at the beautiful Grove Park Inn.

November

We woke up on the day after Halloween to this:

Halloween!

A week before Halloween we had a fun trunk or treat party at the church.  Cora and Betty and Ryan dressed up in Care Bear costumes that I made and Elijah wanted to be a bat.  NOT Batman, by the way, just a bat.  I didn't manage to get a good pic of Elijah's wings/cape (I wanted to get one of him hanging upside-down) but you can kind of get the picture below. 

Blue Ridge Weekend

Here are the kids at our favorite playground.  It's about 12 minutes away, in Hillsville, so we don't go all the time, but it's really big and super fun.  They call it the Ladybug Girl playground because it shares some of the same features with a playground in one of their favorite books, Ladybug Girl and Bumblee Boy.  

Fall bounty

Cora is always our little nature gatherer.  Here she is showing off a leaf.

More October

Betty loves to swing.

Cora's 6th birthday!

Cora's birthday was during her school Fall break so we got to have fun together all day!  Her school had a two week break during the fall, but she got to go to some fun enrichment classes during the first week and then we had a one week break after that.  She took a Spanish class and a kids cooking class that she loved, where they made crafts and treats like butterflies out of apples and grapes, etc.

So for her birthday breakfast I got up and made her cinnamon rolls, which she usually likes, although they've always been someone else's, since I've never made them before.  As it was, I cheated and used a recipe that contains no yeast, it's more like roll up cinnamon biscuits.  I thought they were really good but unfortunately Cora wasn't the biggest fan.  So much for giving her a special treat for breakfast.
For lunch we headed to the playground and had a picnic lunch.  Here's our sweet birthday girl!  

Great Grandma and Max visit!

We were so excited to receive a visit from Great Grandma Wei and Great Uncle Max at the end of September for a week!  It was so fun and I loved having the kids get to know them better.  They all loved Uncle Max of course and couldn't help but climb all over him non-stop.

Betty sitting up, and eating!

Starting to be able to sit up on her own!  It's so nice when they can do that.  They are so much happier.

September

Betty playing in a new (used) bouncer.  She loves it!  It takes up a ton of room but is worth it, it's so nice to be able to put her somewhere safe and fun for her.  

Labor day weekend with the Kruses!

On Labor day weekend we enjoyed a visit from the Kruses!  We still didn't have much furniture since our POD had not yet arrived but they didn't mind.  Kevin and the boys actually camped out in the yard, and Ryan and Cora and Elijah did also for one night.  We went fishing at the New River and had a picnic.  At night we had a bonfire in our new fire pit at our house and made smores. Also, Kate introduced me to Call the Midwife, a BBC series, and Malcolm in the Middle, which we've enjoyed on Netflix ever since.  It was a fun relaxing weekend and we loved the time together with them and their great boys. 

Arriving in Galax!

Well we arrived safe and sound in Virginia!  Our flights went ok this time and we had a couple of days in Herndon before driving down to Galax, which we spent getting cars, switching our phones to Verizon (since AT&T doesn't work in Galax) making a Costco trip, and resting!  Mom came down with us to Galax to help some more. We got in on a Saturday night and Cora and Ryan started work/school on Monday!  Here's Cora getting ready to leave for her first day of school.  Her feelings are plainly expressed on her face as is typical for Cora.

Stopover in St George

After we left Laie we first flew to Las Vegas, wehre we rented a car and drove up to spend one evening in St. George to visit these wonderful folks: Grandma and Grandpa Nielson!  We didn't have much time but just hadn't seen them in so long we felt like we had to stop and pay them a visit.  It was a wonderful evening with the kids getting to know Grandma and Grandpa and hearing their wonderful stories and wisdom.  We love them so much and are so glad to be a part of their family and partake in their wonderful legacy.

Moving!

On July 23rd we made a big announcement on Facebook.  Here is what we said: "We are excited to announce that soon we will be beginning a new chapter in our lives. Ryan has accepted a job in southern Virginia with Twin County Regional Hospital and we will be moving in about 3 weeks. We will find it hard to bid farewell to our family and friends in this wonderful community but we know that this is the right path for our little family to follow at this time. It is going to be a fun new adventure for all of us."