To the Zoo!

Matt, Lindsay, and I went to the zoo today with Kristy and Eliza. We had SOO much fun! It seriously was a magical day. It seemed like every animal we walked up to would get as close to us as they could --especially the monkeys, tigers, the gorilla, and the peacocks. It was nuts!

We had one really funny part of the day. Kristy gave Matthew some money to buy some food to feed the ducks



Here is a picture of Matthew and me feeding the ducks.


Next thing I know, my gloves are in WITH the ducks! Ha ha!









Linds was a little sleepy towards the end.






Look at that gorilla yawn!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy 1st Birthday Lindsay!!

Our sweet little Lindsay just turned 1. What an amazing year it has been! And what an amazing little girl she is! She has been such a blessing in our lives! We had a little party to celebrate, including a light lunch, a SHORT video of Lindsay’s first year, and of course a cake smash! It was a perfect day, with the exception that it was really overcast—which made for less than great pictures. You can totally tell which pictures are from the actual party and which are from a different day. Oh well. Here are a few of the pictures from the day.






The invitation (no jokes family)





I sent Darin to Costco to get some rolls. He came back with rolls, and a dozen roses for me, and a dozen roses for Lindsay—what a sweetie!!



All of the Hodgkinson cousins.






Lindsay and me.


The table and the “Lindsay tree” with all of her owl pictures.


Cake bites.


The cake! (I saw one like this online, and just decided to give it a try. It didn’t turn out perfect, but I was really happy with the way it did turn out).






The little owl beanbags/hand warmers that I made out of leftover fabric from Lindsay’s bedding.



Eating the cake!






And finishing the day in the tub. (I LOVE the frosting in her hair!)


Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Debt

Debt. I’m not a big fan. I avoid it even more than I probably should. I worked really hard to get scholarships/save money to pay for college. I was one of the lucky few to come out of college debt free.

I didn’t have my own car until my junior year of college (although my parents were extremely generous in letting me borrow their cars—thanks parents).

With the exception of our home, there has only been one other thing we have been in debt for….

This cute girl right here—worth every penny!



We’re happy to announce that as of today, she is officially bought and paid for! Wahoo!!

Shutterfly

Have you ever tried Shutterfly?  They have great deals and the books are REALLY easy to make.  I made this book in about 2 minutes:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

Snow Day!

After weeks with no snow, we finally got some! We were so excited that we took advantage of every minute! We built a snowman, a snow fort, made snow angels, went sledding, and had a snowball fight! Then, we came in and enjoyed some hot chocolate!

Happy New Year!! Welcome 2012!!

Wow!! What a year 2011 has been!! It is amazing to think of everything we have gone through in the past year! Lots of ups and downs—mostly ups! We’ve had so many blessings and tender mercies throughout the year! Thank you to all of our wonderful friends, family, acquaintances, and even perfect strangers who have blessed our lives!

For New Year’s Eve, we had my parents over for some games, food, movies, fireworks, and more! It was a really fun night! Thanks mom and dad for coming over!







This was my “balloon drop” that I made. It came undone at like 8:30ish, so we had a practice celebration! Matt LOVED it!








I love this picture...check out Matt drinking his "bubbly."

Just A Little Project

I found this cute puppet theater online. I really liked the idea that folds up and doesn't take much storage space. But, it cost $65!! Yikes!! So, with my mom's help we made a new puppet theater for less that $5! I even like ours better, and Matt LOVES it!

Happy Hanukkah!