My sister-in-law Elisa is an aspiring photographer, and wanted to take family pictures at Thanksgiving. Our first day at my parent's house in Holbrook, we got snow and decided we would go for it. We were all freezing, but I'm really pleased with the result. Elisa's website is www.loveephotography.com. I think she has a promising future ahead of her!

Poor Vance was frozen

Vance 4 years old

Madison 21 months

Congratulation are in order......

I have to brag about my husband today because he is officially a PAC (Certified Physician Assistant). We have been working towards this goal the whole time we have known eachother and now we have finally accomplished it!! I am so thankful and proud of him. We don't know where the road will take us next, but we are quite sure we can make it anywhere now.

Easter Easter Time!

Well Easter this year for us was probably more adverterous than Christmas. For some reason, we were just in the mood for fun. We dyed eggs 2 days in a row in preparation for the big day. Then on Easter my mom came over to bring baskets, and they got baskets from Grammie Shobe too. It makes it so nice because we didn't have to buy one thing for Easter. We did an Easter egg hunt with just us, then one with the cousins. I hope in the midst of all the fun, we were able to instill the real purpose of Easter. Here is a snapshot of our Easter................

Vance was so proud of the eggs he dyed. He wanted to take them everywhere, even to bed. I had draw the line there.

Madison had her first jelly beans of Easter morning - I guess she liked them!

I thought our adorable flowers were the perfect place to take an Easter pic. Now I just need a really nice camera and a photographer to take better pictures for me.

Off to the canyon for an Easter egg hunt with the cousins.

Vance's favorite find?.....money of course. He is obsessed with money. Both Grandma's forked out some change and even "a doller cash" as Vance described.

This was Madison sneaking candy away from her brother's basket. Doesn't she look like trouble? She is giving Vance a run for his money.


Easter evening was at my mom's house and she got the boys these super silly glasses. We had a ball with them.

The last 6 months in a nutshell......

I am such a slacker and I admit it. We have had 2 computers crash on us, so now my pictures are all spread out and I can't even access them til we fix the hard drives. So all I can say is use your external hard drive! Other than that, life is good. Darren graduated in December (woo hoo!) and will be taking his boards in April. We had a minor set back the first time with the boards, but we have been so blessed and I know he's going to succeed this time around. I have been working for about a month is Show Low and it's going great. The drive is a little long, but I'm only working 1 - 2 days a week, which is so nice. It's good to get out of the house because it makes me appreciate my time at home more. Madison turned a year on February 9th. Her life has just gone by so fast. I'm beginning to understand how some families can have lots of kids. The 1st year is hard, but by the end you don't really have a baby any more. It makes me sad, but I look forward to enjoying life with 2 toddlers for a while. Vance is definitely a terrible 3's kid. He's insane, but still manages to be very sweet at times. He is enjoying having Madison more upright now and looks at her as a playmate as well as a punching bag. He Adores his local cousins, Brayden and Trevor, and drives them crazy too. We are all looking forward to the beautiful summer weather here in Holbrook and to enjoying our yard. Here's a few pics of the kids from the last 6 months...........

Vance was so sick the other day and Madison couldn't stop loving on him. She is such a hugger.

This boy just plays hard then plays harder

Vance and his cousins going "snowboarding" in the first snow.

Trevor, Brayden, Gabe and Vance (in other words, trouble)

Orange is for sure Vance's color

Or maybe green is................?? I guess I think he looks good in anything.

Madison and the girls a Christmas (Bella, Madison and Ari)

Madison and her cousin Kedrick are 5 months appart and they adore each other. Madison thinks she's just one of her baby dolls. It's so fun to see the react to each other.

All the girls at Kedrick's blessing

Madison LOVES the swings - she'd be happy in there for hours!

Madison 1 year! Do you think she likes the doll she got for her birthday? I can't tell.

Madison 11 months

Madison 10 months

Madison 9 months

Madison 8 months

Madison 8 months (I had to put both because they were so cute)