We're baaack...

Only two weeks behind schedule. Not too bad considering all the last-minute changes we made. The back yard is still a disaster, but at least we were able to move back in this weekend. Thank you, thank you Ann and Scott for letting us stay with you the past four months. I hope you know how much we appreciate everything you do for us. Especially you, Ann. I don't know what we would do without you.

Time to play more catch-up from the holidays.

Between Christmas and New Year's we spent some time in Idyllwild with Jill's family.

There wasn't too much snow at the cabin.

But a short drive up the mountain, and there was plenty of snow.


Ashlynn got to hang out with Grannie Annie while we played in the snow.

A few weeks later, we went to North Carolina to visit my family. Our visit just happened to coincide with the coldest week they've had in about 50 years. And as luck would have it, the girls got sick. But they still enjoyed playing with their cousins, Nana, and Papoo. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera everytime we spent time with Casey, Rachel and their girls. Casey, do you have any pics of the girls playing?

Nana with her two cutest grandkids (just kidding everybody) (but not really;)

Didi and Isaac

Taylor was great with the girls.

Roger's brood

And then on to Puerto Rico where Jill's best friend got married in Rincon, a sleepy surfing town on the west side of the Island. It was pretty surreal going from the teens in N.C. to 80-degree weather in P.R. Let's just say it did wonders for the girls' colds.

Sadie had the pool all to herself most of the time.

That hair just never goes down. It's hilarious.

Hot mama!

Ann flew out to help with the girls while we were at the wedding. Thanks Ann!

"Hey, what are you looking at, buster!"

Jill's teammates

Rachel and Chris. Congrats!

Getting Very Close...

We have been out of our house for nearly 4 months. We were hoping to move back in this weekend, but that didn't work out. I am optimistic that we will move in next weekend. We'll see. Jill's parents have been incredible, letting us stay with them for the past four months. Thank you, Scott and Ann.

During the time that we've been gone, I have not done a single post. A lot has happened over the last few months. I'm not going to try to catch up all at once. But I will try to do several posts over the next week or so to hit the highlights. We'll start with Christmas.

The girls had lots of chances to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. It seemed like he visited our little community quite a few times in the weeks before Christmas. (Don't be fooled by Sadie's face in the pics. She loves Santa. She just hasn't gotten the whole "smile" thing down yet.)

Jill also got to dress them in lots of cute christmas clothes.

We got to spend time with Jill's family

And presents.

Addition

We started work on the addition to our house this week. If we were having any second thoughts, there is no turning back now. Here are some pics before the construction started and one-week into it. I'll post others as the project progresses. I was sad to see the patio go, but we need the extra space more than we need the patio.

Tom's Family

As I mentioned in the last post, my parents, sister Stephanie, and nephews Kyle and McKay came into town for the baby blessing. It was great to see them, and we got to do some touristy-type things that I don't usually do.

The first thing McKay wanted to do was go to the ocean. I told him it would be cold, but he didn't care. He's 9. The water was freezing, but he was undeterred. He got in the water on three of the five days they were here. I went in once.

We also went to the Midway Museum. I've lived in San Diego for three years and never done that. I thought it was fascinating. Well worth the price of admission.

Sadie's favorite things on the Midway were the big pot that she hid in and the helicopter that had seatbelts. She must have tried on every seatbelt.
We also went to Sea World...
...where Kyle and McKay were the only people to sit in the "splash zone." Those two are nuts.

We also spent a lot of time just hanging out at my house. It was pretty cute watching Sadie interact with the older boys.

Ashlynn's Blessing

Last Sunday (November 15), we blessed baby Ashlynn. My parents and sister, Stephanie, came into town for the blessing. Two of my nephews, Kyle and Benson, also came for the blessing. Ashlynn was sound asleep, until I stood up to take her to the front of the chapel. She then proceeded to cry through the entire blessing. The first picture is appropriate.

Halloween and some pics of big little ashlynn

For Halloween, Ashlynn was a cat.

Sadie had two costumes. She started off as a ballerina...

...but after she fell and ripped a hole in her tights, we went with the back-up plan. A giraffe.
After Sadie filled up her little pumpkin with goodies,
she had a good time passing out candy with daddy.
And here are some non-Halloween pictures:

Little Ashlynn's not so little anymore.

Jill's looking pretty good for someone who just had a baby.

I can't get over how sweet Sadie is to Ashlynn. I thought the change would be tough on Sadie. But she has embraced her little sister from day one and is loves being a big sister.