Harper turns 2!

On Dec 26th our little baby Harper turned 2 years old!  Crazy!  She's quite the little girl, now.  We got to celebrate with the Flys and then we drove home, where my parents were meeting us as they drove in from California, and we got to celebrate with them that night.  I was busy doing cake and stuff that I didn't take very many pictures, but my sis-in-law Kylie did so I'll get more from her.  But here's what I've got.

*Update: photos from Kylie have arrived!  Hers are all the cute ones!*

 Her spoils

The cake I made for her.  I was nervous, but it turned out cute, I think

 My two best buds

Happy birthday, our sweet girl!  We love you so much and feel blessed everyday to have you in our family!

**P.S.  On Christmas Eve we found out we are expecting our 2nd child!  Hooray for babies!**

Christmas in Caldwell

This is going to be one looooong post.  Dec 1st-25th.

I had this great idea to make homemade wrapping paper out of a roll of brown paper and Harper's painted handprints.  It took as much time to get it prepped and Harper-mess-proof as it did to actually paint.  But you can see Harper quite enjoyed herself.

Then we celebrated Dad's birthday.  The big 2-8!  (Someone...not me...not Harper...just couldn't wait to have a few bites.)

(Maybe the video will work?  It sure won't go to the center...)

We also ventured into the forest on the hunt for our own Christmas tree.  I {wisely} decided to take pictures on the way in.  Everyone was happy, Huck was obeying, the sun was shining...it was perfect!  Turns out it was the wisest decision of the day because on the way back Harper was screaming and squirming in my arms, Huck wouldn't listen to anyone, Chase was perhaps saying choice words, all while hauling back the tree.  But WHAT FUN we had!

 Harper couldn't have been happier!

 Beginning of the meltdown

 Happy once more

 Here is THE tree...should have taken a picture at night.  Oh well!

 Her favorite spot for the next 24 days.

 Enjoying a little Christmas treat.

Then we were off to Caldwell, ID for Christmas with the Flys.  It was great to be together and we had so much fun!  Harper seemed to finally understand unwrapping presents.

 I made both grandmas a "Grandma's Helping Hands" apron with each of their grandkids' handprints on them.  They turned out pretty cute.

Below you will see several attempts at the perfect family photo.  None of them quite reached perfection, but we still love each other.

Harper in her new snow outfit....now we just needed the snow!

Christmas Sweater Soiree

We started a new Fly Family tradition for Christmas time--a Christmas Sweater Soiree.  The 1st Annual was held at our house in Jerome, ID.  Such an exciting place for a party!  We had the whole fam over (minus Jedd & Katrina and Lisa & Chase) for dinner {tortellini soup}, games, treats, and of course, the ugly sweater competition.  Chase is a socialist and wanted everyone to win, so he created categories where everyone could win a prize.

Bennett eyeing some goodies...

My contribution to the dessert...homemade almond joys.  YUM!  (Thanks, Pinterest!)

 Party favors I made.  Also courtesy of Pinterest.

We also celebrated Chase's birthday.  28 years.  Candles in cathedral cookies?  It worked.

 Nice smile, Chase.

 Game time.  It got wild!

 Our sweater-clad family

 The crazy Flys

 Merry Christmas!

Thanks for a fun and successful Christmas Sweater Soiree!

Thanksgiving in California

For journaling purposes, I will be going WAAAAY back in time.

For Thanksgiving 2011 we went to my parents' house in Acampo, CA.  We drove the LOOOONG 11 hours through the night so that Harper would {hopefully} sleep.  Which she did, thank goodness!  She slept most of the way, which meant that she was wide awake when we got there around 4 a.m.!  Oh well. It was worth the quiet, uneventful drive.

I have no pictures because I took no pictures.  I'll have to get some from my mom and edit this post later.

The whole fam was together for a glorious week in warm(er) California.  We did the usual Thanksgivingish things...ate, watched football, ate, slept, shopped, went to a movie...you know, all those things you're thankful for.  It was just great to be together and out of Idaho for a few days!

There are some photos from November.  Harper *helping* Mom and Dad cook.  Not Thanksgiving, but at least there are some photos!  Thanksgiving photos to come!