Spring Break 2012 (Shenandoah National Park)

Spring Break 2012 was pretty great. Low key and semi-lame, but still great. It's probably our last spring break ever so we wanted to make it awesome. Unfortunately, Jake got sick. Sad. We didn't go anywhere exotic, but we did have some time at home.

Also, we took one day and went to Shenandoah National Park. We really wanted to camp (in fact we packed up the car with all our camping gear...) but it turned out that the campsites weren't open. So we didn't camp (Paige was kind of confused. We had told her we were going camping, so when we got out of the car and were walking the park she kept asking "I camping?"). But we did hike (even though it was pretty windy and cold), drive through the park (which was delightful crowd free) and have a nice picnic lunch. On the way home, Paige feel asleep and slept the entire way home. Quiet bliss!

On the way:

I love the hands buried in her pockets:

Ready to hike:

It was really cold:

Mostly, we just loved having Jake home. With his new job we don't see him as much as we did before, so it was great to have him around. In fact, this was our conversation his first day break at school:

Paige: Daddy?

Heidi: Sorry, Daddy's at school.

Paige: *sigh* He go long time.

We miss having him around!

Dancing with Dad

Sometimes you just have to stop and groove.

Preschool at the Park

One day we went to the park during preschool.

Alex and Henry:

Kate:

Abby:

Gabbi:

Paige:

Henry:

Paige:

Alex watching the construction crew.  He loves anyone with big trucks!

Alex:

What We Saw On Our Walk

We like to take little walks around the our apartment complex.  Paige especially loves going on these little exploration walks.

February Birthdays

Paige and I had birthdays!

My birthday was fantastic. Jake did a really good job taking care of me. He took me out for a morning of lunch and shopping while Paige hung out with friends (thanks, Michelle!). While we were out my wonderful friends went into my apartment and decorated it. I came home to find my living room filled with amazing decorations, complete with my favorite cake in the fridge. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture. =(

There were a ton of balloons scattered all over the floor that TERRIFIED Paige. The first day she refused to walk into the room with all the balloons. She asked to be carried across the floor. The next day, she would approach the edge of the room, peek in and make sure she could see where the balloons were before she ran through quickly. She was so relieved when I cleaned up the balloons that she kept saying "mommy clean up balloons!"

Paige loved her birthday the next day. She kept walking around (for several days actually) singing "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Paige. Happy birthday to you." She loved opening her presents:

And she loved blowing out her birthday candles. Ever since she saw me blow out my candles and kept asking for the "fire again!" On her birthday we put candles on my half-eaten cake for her to blow out (since I had made her a cake for her party the next day).

Here are the cakes I made for our party:

The ladybug is Paige's cake and she LOVED it. She talked about the "ladybug on cake" for days. Unfortunately, the next day Paige spiked a random fever so we had to cancel the party. Needless to say, I ate a lot of cake over the next few days.

Thanks to everyone for making it such a great birthday!

Christmas in Colorado

We had a really fun time in Colorado for Christmas.  Well, mostly.  Paige ended up getting sick and was not too happy for a lot of the trip.  She got a nasty fever that made her really super cranky and clingy.  Toward the end of the trip she started to feel a little bit better, but most of the time she wasn't too happy.
Here's some of what we did (not in any special order):

Posing for pictures before church on Christmas Day

Jake's family does a Special Night on Christmas Ever, where the family reads the Christmas story from Luke and eats things that would've been eaten in the time of Christ.

Paige, slightly oblivious, going for Riley's Rapunzel cup.

Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner with Baby Crew:

Chad and Jenny (congrats to the newish mommy and daddy!) with Baby Crew.

I'm helping Paige open her present since she was quite cranky.  She cheered right up though when she got the skittles, baby swing, new baby, and other fun things that were inside.

We love being around all the cousins!

Mark and Jezden:

Jace:

Riley:

Brinley:

Jaron:

Will:

We're blessed to be so close to all our extended family in Colorado, so we were able to have Christmas at the Brison's too.

Jake and I discovering our swag.  Paige again cranky and clinging to me.

Bryan, Holly, and Erik (content with his new blanket):

And we got to meet Little Heidi for the first time! Nothing makes Heidi smile more than this monkey she has here:

Heidi and Paige hanging out on the counter of Uncle Erik's house.

Grandpa Brison and Little Heidi:

 

 

Merry Christmas, Brison Style

The Brison Family


This family picture is soon to be outdated since Holly is having a baby in July. But for now, this is us!