Family Visits

As happens with most years, they get away from me quickly. This year has been no exception.

Since Christmas, we have had a rotating parade of awesomeness in family and friends coming to visit us, as well as our own travels to see people. I'm just going to give you all a quick run down here with pictures--you know, for posterity's sake :)

To finish out 2014, Jon's parents (aka Nonna and Papa) came to visit with Aunt Beth and help us celebrate New Year's:

Beth and Kate at Millhollow

hotties

Most of the trip was pretty much like this . . . HAHA jk it was almost midnight! Poor guy.

NEW YEAR'S EVE! The Alston's + The Jackson's

First snow adventure of the New Year!

It was super freakin' cold. Like -10.

In January we went to California for my Godson's baptism!

 

Seriously, holding all our children is ridiculous.

best friends for over 20 years :)

We got to see the DePaolas,

Emmett, Neil, and Kate reading bedtime stories

 
We saw the Joyner's (not pictured - boo), spent some time with the Jake and Dani (again, not pictured - double boo), had sushi with TERRA!

And of course our families were briefly visited as well ;)

coloring time with Grace and AnnMarie!

I really should have taken more pictures...

In February we visited my mom (aka Gram) in Draper over Valentine's day.

Then a couple weeks later she came to visit us in Rexburg!

 We went to visit California again for our Year of Outdoors at the end of February, and almost bought a Christmas tree farm.

 
We visited family:

naptime with Nonna

Kate and AnnMarie sharing bananas

 
hung out spontaneously with the Jake and Dani, and had In-n-Out with the Joyner's. (again, not pictured. I fail.)

At the beginning of April Nonna and Papa come to Idaho!

pretty sure this is the third time this picture has appeared on our blog

 
We checked out the Museum of Idaho (crime scene insects!) and drove up to the Targhee National Forest. AMAZING. (again, no pictures.)

Shortly thereafter, some friends from our home ward in Loomis came out to tour BYUI! It was great to see them for a few hours. Wish I'd gotten a picture! haha, story of my life.

The Stoddard family of 3 came up to Rexburg in May to visit us before the arrival of baby Asa just a couple weeks later :)

We ate at Big Judd's and had ALL the potatoes...

Kate and Avey were fast friends:

 

From there we went to Pocatello where we got to see Lynsi graduate from ISU in dental hygiene!

We also took her grad pictures. She's hot stuff.

From Pocatello we shot straight down to visit Gram in Draper over Mother's Day:

 

While we were in Utah, Jon visited Mesa AZ for Beth's graduation from ASU. Master of Social Work, woot woot! (again, no pictures.)

Grandpapa came to visit us in Idaho at the end of May. We went to devotional, had pizza for lunch, and celebrated Grandpapa's 66th birthday together :)

Edwin napping on Grandpapa's shoulder at church

They LOVED having a reading buddy

Playing horsey rides

  
Watching Dumbo with Kate for the first time was a must.
 

family picture! Success.

Grandpapa was able to come up our way one more time at the beginning of July to see us for a couple days and kick off 4th of July:

dressing up in Grandpapa's hat and sock mittens

Napping is a big past time for these kids:

 

babysitting Grandpapa:

 
 Jon and I were able to go to the temple while my dad was here to hang out with the kids. We went out to dinner, played at the park, and even remembered to get a family picture on the 4th of July!

My dad attended Rick's College here back in the '70s, so Rexburg is kind of a big deal ;)

WHEW.

Now we have the rest of the Summer to go on adventures and jump into the second half of the year!
Booyah.

Edwin @ 15 months

Mister Wynn currently weighs 19lbs and is 29.5" long

He says, "go go go!" all the time, smiles on command and goes, "eeee!" and has the absolute BEST baby giggle in the world. I just can't get enough.

 
Edwin gets very excited and smiles big when I understand what he is trying to say and respond with what he wants. He can nod his head YES, shake his head NO, and signs "all done", "more", and "please". He also points and says, "THIS" all the time. Even with his happy moments, Edwin still has major attitude. He screeches like a pterodactyl and lifts up his arms to be held constantly, and then SCREAMS when he does not get his way.

Edwin has 7 teeth (four on top, two middle bottom, and one bottom right molar). This past week was rough and full of fevers as he is working on cutting the bottom left molar and two big molars on top :(

Edwin's preferred view of the Rexburg Independence Day parade

He stopped nursing at 14 months 2 weeks and is a great eater of all solid foods. Bread, cheese, avocados, and chocolate remain at the top of the favorites list, with yogurt, bananas, strawberries, and peanut butter following close behind.

Edwin took his first steps at 14 months and 1 week! He still insists on being a selective walker, but we did manage to catch some of the action on camera :) Video will have to be uploaded later.

 Edwin has great sleeping habits: conking out from 8:30pm-7am at night and still naps twice during the day.

Edwin can't quite keep up with Kate, but that doesn't stop him from trying.

He enjoys being outside and reaches for the window constantly, especially when he hears airplanes go by.

Troublemaker.

  

Edwin loves water and likes to play at the neighborhood splash pad more than Kate does. He also loves swings and giggles hysterically on them.

He likes to play on the playground with the big kids and will go down slides all on his own. (Compare this with his almost 3 year old sister who only recently started going down small slides by herself.)

We love this adventurous little man and can't wait to see what he does next!