Ashland Weekend!

Last weekend we got together with my cousins Sara, Jess and Emily and their kids in Ashland.  So great to see those girls (and Jess) and their kids.  They spoiled us with yummy food and great company.  :)  I was terrible at taking pictures that weekend but I did take a few:



A sleepy eyed crazy haired Levi with Auntie Em



We went for a walk to downtown Ashland.  So cute and so close to their house!

I can't get enough of this guy--he is adorable!  Only three weeks younger than Levi--they are going to have as much fun as Luke and Owen do playing together!

This is my favorite one of the three of them together.  Sam, Levi and Addie.  :)  Sam's got Levi's hand and Addie's patting him on the head.  This is as much interaction as you can hope for at ages 6, 7 and 4 months.  :)

This is bad that this is the only picture I got of these two guys playing but here you go.  :)  They had a great time together.  :)

Cal and Kyrstin Come to Town

The weekend after Christmas we had Cal and Kyrstin up for the weekend!  Cal and Owen love to play together and they played non-stop the whole time they were here.  It was so fun to get them up to Redding!  We hung out, Kyrstin helped me make Pioneer Woman spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, Joey made French toast in the morning and we went for a walk and to the park!  :) 


(Owen looks like he has a bloody nose in the pictures because the morning that they were going to arrive he snuck outside through Maya's dog door and then came back in with a cut under his nose and on his head and blood dripping out of it saying "I got an owie..."  Boys will be boys I guess :))

Christmas

We had a fun Christmas morning in Redding.  Owen got up at 6:30 ready to go--asking if Santa ate his cookies...  The first present he opened was from Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Jim--a Lightning McQueen car.  We realized that we didn't need to get him any presents at all.  Just that one would have satisfied him.  We almost had to threaten him just to open his Santa gift.  :)  We pulled back the wrapping a little bit and as soon as he saw Thomas's face he TORE into the gift. The most excited I've ever seen him.  He loves Thomas and Lightning McQueen so it was a great morning.  :)

Then we had my parents over for Christmas dinner.  It was a beautiful day.  When my parents arrived we left my dad to lay in the sun and read, Joey to cook his crown roast, and my mom and I went on a long walk while the kids napped.  It was a beautiful day and so fun to have my parents up for Christmas dinner!

Joey did an amazing job preparing the meal!

Opening the Lightning McQueeen car...

The picture does nothing for the excitement!  Next year we will ask Santa to set up his gifts so he doesn't have to wait while we try to figure out how to put it together...;)

Hanging out with Grandpaleo

Joey's crown roast!  Yum!

A Quick Nap on the Plane

I almost forgot my favorite picture from our flight.  :)  After Levi screamed for about a half hour he finally fell asleep.  I guess they were both worn out because Joey fell asleep too. He can sleep anywhere!  But the poor guy to the right of them who had to hear the screams for the half hour up and the half hour down...you can see him in the background with his hand on his head.  haha 

Levi's Half Birthday!

How is it possible that Levi is six months old already!?  Time is going way too fast!  Levi turned six months while I was in Phoenix for the week so my parents threw him a half birthday party.  Erin and Clay came to Colusa for the day to celebrate too(okay they may have just happened to be there).  :)

The half birthday boy!  "Wait what is going on guys?"

Owen, Levi and Clay

Owen, Clay and Erin ready to celebrate!

I love how they have the same expression--like--why are we wearing these hats guys?

Owen Goes Ice Skating

After Levi's baptism we sent Levi home with Jim and Kathy and took Owen ice skating for a bit with Shannon's family and Maleah.  Owen loved it and kept telling Joey to go faster "FASTER daddy!!"  Shannon got all the kids hot chocolate which was also a first for Owen.  :)



Let's go ICE SKATING!

Here they come!

Can you tell that Joey and Shannon are brothers?

Grant and Maleah

Levi's Baptism

Saturday we got Levi baptized.  Father Mike (who married us) was able to do it and did an amazing and personal baptism for Levi after the 5:30 mass.  We are so grateful to him for doing it and thankful to all of Joey's family for being there!

Owen's godparents Jimmy and Natalie

Getting the sign of the cross on his forehead from his cousins.  Owen in the background being CRAZY.

Lots of family to celebrate with!

Vacation Part 2: Rapid City

We drove to Rapid City on Wednesday and got to spend some time with Garrett and Jim when we got there.  That night we all headed over to chineese food to celebrate Tyler's birthday.  They kept the restaurant open just for us and it was so fun to see everyone after so long!  For some of them it was their first time meeting Owen (we need to visit more often).  Thursday we hung out, took walks, cooked, ate and cleaned up.  It was a fun day of catching up with people.  :)  Friday we got to go to Tyler's place and Shannon's new house and see the projects those guys are working on.  Between the projects I saw Jimmy, Tyler, Colton and Shannon working on while I was out there it just was confirmation that the Schad skills will never cease to amaze me.  It is fun to see their skills in action! 

Vacation Part 1: Sioux Falls

We went to South Dakota for Thanksgiving!  We decided to start the trip out in Sioux Falls so we could get some time with Cameo and Jay and with Jimmy and Natalie and their kids before heading to Rapid City for Thanksgiving.  It was so fun and we were so spoiled!  For instance, the night we got there they had tiramisu for us.  One of my favorite foods in the world.  :)  Then we woke up to pumpkin scones, amazing coffee, a fruit plate shaped like a turkey and an egg casserole.  Food wasn't the only thing there but it was fun.  :)

Owen couldn't wait to play with Ellie (who is 3) and had to peek in on her while she was sleeping.  Once everyone was up the next morning Owen was inseparable from his new cousins--he had so much fun!

The first night we were there we made sushi and got to go to Bella's Christmas concert for school.  We also go to check out Jimmy's house projects which are really amazing.  The next morning we left Joey with all the kids and Kathy, Cameo and I went to Zumba and got coffee at Jay's cabin.  We hung out with the kids that day and then went out to sushi that night with just the adults. 

Our time in Sioux Falls went way too fast but it was a great start tour trip.  Kathy came over to hang out with us for the few days we were there and then drove us back to Rapid City on Wednesday.  :)

We were loaded down--thank goodness we had our stroller to haul all our bags!

On our way!

I think the escalator was the biggest hit of the day

Joey teaching Owen how to walk UP an escalator that is going down

Smoothies from Uncle Jay on our first morning in Sioux Falls



Making sushi

Playing trains with Joey

More yummy sushi that we made :)

The two Joeys playing with the helicopter indoors

We came back from our sushi night to all the kids asleep in Jay and Cameo's bed.  All asleep but one...

Playing with Ellie one more time before we left

Levi and Joey

Ellie, Owen, and the Lightning McQueen car