Potty training with Gabe has been so-so. Tonight the only way I could get him to go poop in the potty was to throw a marshmallow in first and tell him to poop on the abominable snow monster (from Rudolph) and then flush him down. It worked. That might have been my last good idea. Tomorrow will be interesting.

The Schmidts come for a visit-July 2013

The Schmidts drove through Eau Claire on their way back to South Carolina, and stayed the night with us! They have grown so much since the last time I saw them.

Teddy getting the ride of his life :) while Calvin calculates the risk.

 Henry and my Dad

 Lydia and Ken

 We do not see each other enough!

 The walk back

Dog Days of Summer July 2013

One of the most exciting things of my childhood in the summertime: the irrigation.

I'm so glad Bill and Olivia were able to experience this!

Gabe and I opted out due to extremely cold water temperatures. 

Gabe's 3rd Birthday- August 2013

So, it has been awhile... We've moved from coast to coast, with a 5 month pit-stop in Wisconsin. I guess I need to start somewhere or I'll never start, so here are some pics from Gabe's 3rd birthday in August.

We celebrated at my parent's cabin in WI.

Had some help opening presents with cousins

The dinner party

 Just look at those cheeks! (Aaron's:)

 Opening presents from Grandma and Pops

 Make a wish!

 Bill was the muscle behind this fun game with the girls

 Then he needed some R&R on his sailboat

 Time for a swim break to snack!

April and May

My dad and the grandkids on his birthday on April 16th. Best pic I could get and also notice how much snow there is!

Not too much long after...putting on training wheels for Gabe

We now have a new 2 wheel bike rider :)

Then, the first weekend in May, it snowed again. Gabe finally got to make his "Frosty"

Both of our kids ate unmentionable amounts of snow. Didn't matter if it was dirty or not. They would just plop down and shovel it in.

Last weekend they were in Eau Claire's Doll and Pet Parade. Gabe was a lumberjack and Olivia was a frontier girl. There's a theme and then you enter your kids into different catagories. 

If you look closely, you'll see my dad in the background giving the covered wagon the finishing touches.

Gabe won 2nd place (got a new toy :)

Greta pulling the wagon, Addie and Olivia on the sides, and Aaron on the wagon :)

The First few days in WI

Greta, Gabe, and Olivia ready to go out in the deep snow

Holly and Olivia

Greta was very helpful with Gabe. Neither of our kids could walk well in snow and going back up the hill was an even bigger challenge

They both gave up for awhile

View of Holly's hill from the deck

Olivia, snow veteran 

The next day it melted a lot and Olivia went walking with my grandpa

Gabe tagged along too

Feeding Maybelle, my grandpa's horse

We went to my parents' cabin for a few days and this is the only picture I took. I didn't even go outside because I didn't own boots yet, and there was about 14 inches of snow

Last few days in CA

Goodbye party with friends and neighbors

Gabe and the boys (Myles, Colin, Damien and Alec)

Caryn, Becky, me, Kelly, and Rachel

One last visit to the Valenzuela's! 

Belle

Sam

Gabe

2 princess cousins

My dad flew out for a week before we left and helped a lot with packing. There was also snuggling and movie watching to be done:)

Packing

Cleaning before loading the vacuum on the truck

Hi!

Bill, Gabe and my dad and a VERY full truck

The size of the truck with our car pulled behind it

Olivia was at preschool that morning, but we got one last partial family pic in our apartment

Claire, Olivia and Natania

My dad and Bill drove the truck for 3 nights and 4 full days.

The kids and I flew :)