The year has flown by and so many things have changed in our lives. It was a pretty big year for us! We started out in Louisiana with Mike finishing up his coursework for his Doctoral program in Music Composition. After a fun visit from Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell, Mike and I applied for open music positions in Bear Lake. We were blessed to get the jobs and prepared to head for Idaho!
We found a cute little house that needs some TLC and have had fun starting on some projects. When I got here with the boys, my family helped me paint most of the inside before Mike got here so we could move right in. It's so nice to have our own little space. The boys LOVE it! They play in the backyard all the time and love their room and the extra space we have. They're growing like crazy!
Elliott just started nursery a couple weeks ago and loves it! He's such an independent little guy. He loves to help with anything we're doing and wants to do everything himself. He especially loves doing up all buckles and snaps, they're his favorite! He had tubes put in his ears a couple months ago and now he's such a gabber! He chatters away to us, whenever he can get a word in between O's questions.
Reading in their nook in the closet.
Bundled up for the first snow back in October.
First real snow playday.
Chillin' in his high chair.
O has been growing and growing. If you have any extra 5t pants laying around, we'd happily put them to use, in the last two weeks he's grown out of 4 or 5 pair of pants! I can't believe it. He's such a big helper now, too. Whenever it snows, he loves to bundle up and head outside to help shovel the walks. We put the Christmas lights up this week, and he stayed out with us the entire time, making snow angels and O's and helping me set up the little snowmen by our porch. He thinks the lights are the neatest, he loves them! He also loves Preschool! He's such a little smarty, he loves to color and point out letters and count. He also learned about the mail last week and sent one of his friend's in Louisiana a letter. He was so excited!
Visit to Washington in May.
Riding his new big boy bike!
First fishing trip, he caught 2!
All ready for church.
Mike and I have mostly just been chasing the boys and keeping up with our music programs. We had a great first concert at Halloween and had such a blast! We have great students and love what we're doing, even though it's made life a little crazy. Here are some pics from this Fall:
O chose our costumes for Halloween, it was pretty fun!
Mike got his first deer!
First hockey game wore them right out...
Family pics in a nutshell...
Thanks for all the cute family pictures Sarah!!
Oliver and Elliott have one last bit of news to give you all:
It's hard to read, but both of their shirts say "I'm the Big Brother." Baby Mitchell will be joining us in May 2017! We're so excited and feel so blessed this year, what a huge year!
We love you all and hope you feel the love of Christ in your lives this Christmas!
First, we were running around getting ready for Nana and Papa Mitchell to come. We cleaned the apartment from top to bottom and deep cleaned the car and rescheduled piano lessons and everything.
Meanwhile, Elliott learned how to drink out of his own sippy cup.
I love his little flourish, super cute!
Dad got so tired from school he collapsed on the floor, so we built a Lego bridge over him!
Life as a student Dad?
O helped me whip up some watermelon cookies to share with the Elders. He's a great cook, too!
Here he is dancing in the rain, because here in LA the rain is actually warm. I know that's a foreign concept for some of our Western family, but it's true and pretty awesome!
Elliott's been continuing to grow, here's some proof!
Here he is cruising along when he should have been sleeping...
Here's a random video of O being very offended by our neighbors not inviting us to their party!
We even squeezed in a little Mama Son Date!
Then Nana and Papa came and we had so much fun with them!!
We hit up the park...
We showed them the USS Kidd...
We took them to meet Mike the Tiger...
We took them to the French Quarter, the Insectarium, and the Aquarium...
We ate lots of good food, found the boys some super cute Easter outfits, headed to the Swamp Center, and Bass Pro Shop(O's favorite place).
Then we capped it all off with the Primary Easter Egg Hunt. O had so much fun!
It was such a great visit! We're so happy they came to stay for a whole week and we got to fit so much fun stuff in. The boys were so sad when they had to go. O walked away as they were pulling out of the driveway and Mike asked if he was sad. He said, "No! I'm mad! I didn't want them to leave!" Poor little guy!
It was nice that the next day was Easter, so they had something to take their minds off of missing Nana and Papa.
In the morning they woke up to Easter baskets and an egg hunt. It was so sweet to watch them find their eggs and check out their baskets. They loved the fun jammies and snack cups from Nana and Papa Fisher and the book and movie from Aunt Tauna! Thanks everyone!
The boys were so cute at church in their matching outfits, thanks again Nana and Papa Mitchell, they're perfect!
When we got home, O started doing something with some yarn in the living room. When we asked him what it was, he said, "It's an Elliott trap, I'm going to catch an Elliott!" So, after lunch we set Elliott free, and that's exactly what happened!
Spending the week leading up to Easter with family was perfect. It reminded us of how grateful we are for our Savior's Atonement that allows us to live with our family in the next life. We know He lives, and that because of this we will live again!
