MAUI!

we traveled to maui with the smiths in january. it was the perfect week!

mr. crab.

of course, craig got straight to work digging a humungous hole with the boys. 

only taking breaks to chuck sully into the atmosphere. 

we got tagg a little camera for his (early) birthday present. he looooved taping himself going down the waterslide. 

ululanis shave ice.

secret beach. 

wish we could pull off the romantic kissing pic. this time it looks like craig is about to choke me. 

favorite view on my morning walk. 

we're such nice moms. 

even taking our kids over to the tide pools! they're lucky we got off our pool chairs for two seconds. :)

lucy and tagg played so well together. it was so cute. they loved digging in the black sand!

goofing around at mamas while we waited for our food. they were pretty dang well behaved.

haHA! the jokes on mamas. we might have had a dinner reservation at 4pm but we milked our time there enough to grab sunset pics. 

missing tess and george but still a fun group!

whale watching! its super hard to see in this picture but the whale is on its side and waving. we also got to hear them "talking" to each other and saw a couple males fighting. 

shhhhhhh! dont tell captain larry that we had a secret stowaway.

the men tried some boogie boarding.

poolside view. 

 big beach didnt have the classiest of customers but the view was pretty great. 

more hole digging!

one of my favorite photo ops at the fairmont. 

paddle boarding to see some turtles and phallic sea urchins. 

the guys got so serious with their sand digging that the hotel staff provided them with freaking shovels. ha.

guess i should get the boys some sunglasses or hats. 

too busy getting fancy drinks with jocelyn!

our favorite slide.

we went on a little lava field hike and sully found his new best friend..... a sea slug!

also a whoooooole lotta coral. he really wanted to bring all this back home. 

snorkeling. 

last night with the torch guy. 

honestly one of our favorite places on earth. never gets old. 

best breakfast ever. 

one last group shot before the smiths headed to the airport. it was such a great week. the kids all got along great and we all had a fantastic time together. 

 a few more minutes playing in the pool. 

and digging in the sand to find crabs. 

tagg really wanted to bring this guy home too. 

so grateful to craig for his hard work to make magical weeks like those possible. 

january

craig has taken the boys skiing a couple times already this winter and they are loving it. 

i looooooove watching them learn a new skill. 

especially via pictures while i am warm, shopping and eating with my friends in bellevue. :)

for christmas, we gave the boys piano lessons! they started the first week in january and loved their first lesson. 

they have been begging me to learn how to play so lets hope that translates into enthusiasm for practicing! 

sully lost his front tooth! he was such a brave boy about it. 

our beloved seahawks are in the playoffs so craig and i went to see them play. it was suuuper cold but very fun. nfl games are very different from mlb games. the fans are so intense. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

these glitter numbers made a huuuuuge mess but i love how they turned out. anyway, whats new years without SPARKLE?

and sparkleRS?! 

we switched things up this year and hosted a private party at the bowling alley for new years. it was super fun. 

amy and emily are such crazy party animals. 

my parents got in on the photo booth action. 

i knew i could count on anson to use my props. 

a great night to end a great year. happy 2017!

christmas

i bought these little trees and houses in ny a couple weeks ago and couldnt wait to make a little village out of them. 

and tess couldnt wait to inhale all the peppermint ice cream. 

christmas sugar cookies. i found the reindeer cookie cutter at an antique store last month and had so much fun using it. 

on our way over to the annual gingerbread house decorating party it started snowing. so magical. 

the finished houses. a lotta work/preparation/mess but a very fun tradition. 

craig had care day on christmas eve (an annual event where they open their office to patients and offer free dental work) so i braved the cold and took the kids ice skating. 

it was obviously time for tess' nap.

a fancy night out for christmas eve dinner. afterwards, craig said "well that wasnt very relaxing." duh, craig. duh.  

christmas morning they were ready to get to it! 

sully's mouthguard was a hit. obviously. 

tess' baby.

this was like 5 seconds after he opened his hover board. he now basically lives on it and is a freaking pro.

"make up" so she doesnt play with mine every morning. she likes it although like 5 minutes in she started scratching at it and gave me a "how dumb do you think i am?" look. 

heading off to christmas morning church. i liked having church on christmas. 

later that day we had dinner at my moms and played with the pie-in-your-face game. 

a very merry christmas.