Winter 2013-2014

December 2013, and we had a full time crawler.  This boy had places to go!  I have never seen a baby crawl so fast! 

6 month old picture in mom's baby rocking chair

Emma wanted a photo shoot. She chose her wardrobe

This girl got her ears pierced with money from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Dent.

Emma built a Hello Kitty at Build a Bear with her money.

 Even amidst the craziness of packing up a house, we enjoyed lots of time together as a family preparing for and celebrating Christ's birth.  The girls are at such fun ages for really getting into and enjoying the Advent season.  We love using our Jesse Tree and Advent Calendar.  I loved watching Emma really start to piece together the anticipation and excitement of the Christmas season and Christ's birth.  Having a sweet baby boy during this season added so much joy to our days.  He was very curious about lights and many of the other decorations.

Heritage Academy's K-2nd Christmas Program

Caileigh and her classmates (Kindergarten)

Christmas Date with Daddy

Mr. Happy 7 months old

On the move!!!

Trying to get a group shot....

We started a new tradition this year where the girls each made their siblings a Christmas gift.  It was so fun and I think a tradition that will stick around!

I also enjoyed making the kids a gift this year.  My grandmother made my sister and I a tablecloth playhouse one year and I have such fun memories of playing in it.  So I drew up a design and made one to fit our dining room table.  It was fun and the kids have really enjoyed it!

We spent the morning of Christmas day at home and then drove up later to Stephen's brother's home and enjoyed a couple days with his family.

Connor meeting Nana B.

We then drove to my parents and then went with them to Kansas to visit my grandpa and most of my mom's side of the family.  Our kids sure are troopers when it comes to traveling in cars.  Connor has been the least compliant, but even then he did great!  We always have such a great time in Kansas and leave with many fun memories! Caileigh's prayer for snow was even answered! We sure missed getting to spend the holidays with John and Laura... maybe next year!?!?

Four Generations on the Zimmerman side.
Connor's middle name - Luke is in honor of Grandpa Luther.
This was their first time to meet each other.

We arrived back home, Caileigh went back to school and we finished up packing and within a week were moving into our new home.  It was a little crazy, but despite the rain we were able to get everything moved in and started the unpacking process.  This house is probably the "nicest and most finished" we have ever lived in!  It's been such a blessing to us and we have enjoyed being here so much!  Connor got even faster at crawling.  The floors here are much more smooth and he even gets lazy and just lets his legs slide along behind him.

Snow, we got snow in Augusta!  School was cancelled for 3 days!  We bundled up the kids and as a staff team we walked down to East Boundary to where many of the kids we serve live.  It.was.the.best.snow.day.ever!!!  So much fun! Several moms even joined in on the snow ball fights.  We did leave cold and Emma did NOT like that! Oh well, we got home and had hot chocolate and warmed up.

8 months old

A couple weeks later we had an ice storm, like lose power, freezing cold, 4-5 layers of clothes, trees snapping, sleep on the couch for fear of huge tree falling on bedroom, no where to go, roads blocked,what to eat kind of ice storm. Everything shut down, my uncle and grandpa arrived in the area with teams of workers. Their role was to survey the damage and deploy teams to restore power. Our power didn't go out until 11 that first night despite the down trees and lines all around us.

We spent the next day at a neighbor's house with about 20 other neighbors.  We were thankful for their gas fireplace and gas stove and the fun, food and fellowship we had that day.  That night we bundled up and and all piled into Connor's room (the warmest and smallest room in the house).

It was a freezing Valentine's Day! We heard the mall had power, so we packed up and went prepared to play, read, and walk around until we received word our power was back on.... we finally just couldn't handle the mall anymore and headed back downtown.  At this point power had been restored down to 3rd street.  We met friends at a local restaurant for dinner and celebrated warm food and Valentine's together.  The kids enjoyed singing Karaoke together. That was a first for our girls.  Friends who had gone out of town ended up letting us spend the night at their place as homes between 3rd Street and East Boundary were still without power,.  We had just gotten the kids settled in bed when the whole house shook, yes, it was an earthquake.  Needless to say, we were more than ready for our power to be restored the next day!  We even were able to keep plans with friends and babysit swap so each couple could get a late and very needed Valentine's date!

9 months old - getting so BIG!!!