Jared's Christmas Gift

For Christmas I gave Jared a photo session with a friend of ours, Joel Bock, who is a wonderfully gifted professional photographer. My goal was to get some pictures of Jared as a musician so we can enjoy and celebrate his gifts and have some pictures of him in our home.

Well, we got some really fun pictures and I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites!

It's so fun being married to Jared and getting to be a part of his musical life! He is such a blessing to Leyton, Evie and I...you're a gem babe!!

Recent Happenings

This winter our son has made the big leap to riding on his own with amazing proficiency! Now, I ride with Evie in the Burley trailer and Leyton rides beside me and away we go. He's such a great rider we end up riding for several miles and Evie sometimes falls asleep. It's so fun to ride with Leyton on the road and I love that Evie is still content in the trailer. She really likes the trail-a-bike (a bike that sticks out behind my bike with pedals and handlebars) but I don't love having her on it while I'm watching him so closely, so she gets to ride that when Jared is with us.

As I reflect on our recent biking adventures, it makes me so thankful for this time we have with our children and grateful for healthy and happy kids. They are such a blessing to me!

Here is my baby as she approaches her 4th birthday in exactly 1 week.

She is still so little and precious!

Evie and her gluten free bbq chicken pizza

(a California Pizza Kitchen copy)

Leyton being silly while getting his routine buzz cut.

He wanted to try a mohawk...but he didn't really like it.

Quote of the Day

"Mom, last night I didn't fall asleep, I flew asleep."

-Leyton reflecting on how tired he was last night when he went to bed

Christmas Recap & Ping Pong Champion

I haven't blogged for an age, so I thought I'd do a quick Christmas recap.

It all started on a Monday morning on a 20 mile stretch of road in eastern Oregon that had been packed with snow and ice and then shellacked with a slick veneer and then glazed with a slimy gel that made for spooky driving. At 10-15 miles per hour every vehicle on the road was sliding around including huge semis and minivans like us. There was no exits on this stretch of road and you didn't dare pull over because you would have gotten hit in about 2 minutes.

Once we made it out alive, we proceeded on to my parents house in Idaho and had a blast! Here are a couple pictures from our time

Farming with Grandpa

Girl cousins

The best car track I think I've ever seen! Great gift Grandpa & Grandma!

The Annual Ankeny Family Ping Pong Tourney

I've competed, recruited and trained for years without a victory, but I finally brought home the title this year! My cousin Tami was a fierce competitor, but in the end I prevailed,

with a little help from the net.