Meet George

Natalie has had her heart set on getting a dog for a long time. We told her that she needed to raise money and also show that she could be responsible by doing her jobs and helping out around the house. She kept her word and really did become so much more helpful without us asking. I felt like she had kept her word and it was time to get a dog. Joe still wasn't ready, though. I happened to read a blog post by a recipe blogger we like who talked about her decision to get a dog and the breeder they used in Idaho. She had a lot of our concerns and it seemed to help Joe a bit. The dog was cheaper than some other options we were finding, too. Quarantine was a huge time for people getting dogs and they weren't a lot of adoptions available. The breeds we were finding in CA were all really expensive. The breeder was in Hagerman so very close to Jerome, which helped too. So, we bit the bullet and got on the list for a puppy. He was going to be born around Christmas. He ended up coming on Jan. 14th and over spring break at the end of March it was time to get him. Natalie was so excited. Nate and Lizzie were excited, too. Eli was not excited at all :).  Joe and the older kids went to pick him up. We had asked for a tri-color puppy but ended up with a black one. He does camouflage sometimes and gets stepped on but he is so cute. This was the first picture they went me after picking him up:

He's a Havanese puppy so he's not too big but we decided to start with a smaller dog. There are definite perks--small poops, easily picked up and controlled, etc. There are some downsides, too. He doesn't seem quite as smart as the bigger dogs I've had and house-training has been a STRUGGLE. But, I don't think most of us regret getting him. I can't answer for everyone. :)

Eve has loved him from the start:

He has been pretty gentle with all of her grabbing and pulling for the most part. He did start to leave scratches on her for a bit and so we had to really nip that in the bud but he does better now. They are really more like siblings sometimes and it's funny to watch them. He does not like her too much yet although he does like the food she drops.

They do play sometimes, too:

His true love is Natalie. This is him waiting outside her door while she was on zoom school:

Natalie did a great job taking care of everything while she was on spring break but of course once school started a lot more fell on me. I saw this meme one day and laughed:

We all love how soft he is and he's been a pretty chill dog for the most part. It has been a challenge and has definitely taught Natalie about responsibility. Sometimes she does't love that part but I think she loves having something that loves her so much. I love the little guy, too. I love when he lays by my feet. He's a pretty great addition to the family.

Eve is 1!

We loved celebrating with Eve on her first birthday. It was on a Sunday and we were all excited for her to wear a cute denim dress we'd been given before she was born. 

She loved her balloons:

Evie loves her peas and cheese:

And she loves to pose!

We had fun playing outside that day, too:

Then we had cake and presents. She liked her cupcake OK--but mostly just the frosting:

Her favorite present was this ride-on toy she got:

What a year for Eve! She grew and changed so much. We sure love our Evie and can't imagine our family without her. We say all the time that without her, we would have been so much grumpier during quarantine. She gave us so many reasons to smile and laugh and just lightened the mood in our home so much. It was a rough year at times with not a lot of sleep, but her smiles and cuddles make it all so worth it. Eve is a water baby and loves the pool and the bath. She loves music and being sung to before bed. She loves food, especially frozen peas, cheese, yogurt, oatmeal with blueberries and eggs. She also loves ice like her mama and puts her mouth to yours when you have some in your mouth so you'll feed it to her, baby-bird-style. She especially loves her family and when her siblings play with her. She is pure sunshine to all she meets. We love Eve!

March & April

Here's another bunch of cute Eve growing up pictures from March:

Snuggling Daddy one morning:

She is definitely a Daddy's girl.

Lounging on the bean bag chair:

Eve had her 1-year doctor's appointment and was such a busy baby in the office while we waited. I had to stand in front of drawers to keep her out of them.

She was growing fine and handled her shots like a champ.

The youth in the ward had a talent show. You could send in videos or perform in person. Nate sent in a video of his pogo stick jump-roping trick and impressed all the older young men. :)

Natalie sang and played "Hey There Delilah" at the same time and did awesome! She got lots of applause too.

Eli was progressing really well in cello. Here's a screenshot from a video of him playing the French folk song:

More cute Eve pics:

I turned 37! I bought myself this painting of Christ as a gift:

The kids made me some yummy blueberry scones and got me flowers.

We celebrated Easter with Grandma and Grandpa and Chris and Lisa and kids and watched Conference together. Eve loved the egg hunt:

Eve has been our worst sleeper by far. We had some rough nights were she just refused to sleep for hours and many very early mornings. I definitely related to this meme one day:

I got to meet up with my Fremont friends in Stockton one night and I loved it! It had been so long and it was so fun to catch up and learn about how everyone was handling the pandemic:

We missed Melissa. I love those ladies!

We also stayed the night at the Ashby's house in Roseville and they were wonderful hosts. Tess and Kate even wrote this on the board in their room where Lizzie and Natalie stayed:

We went to church in Elk Grove to hear Abby's homecoming talk the next day. She did such a great job!

Eli loved the games they play in karate, like this one with a pool noodle:

A YW in the our ward told us about a gas station that had Dr. Pepper freezes and they became a favorite of ours on hot days:

Now to finish it off with more cute Eve pictures: