camel's back

we went on a hike the other day...it was pretty much a disaster. lyla cried almost the whole time...we're still not sure why. i took these at the beginning when she was still happy. i love the one of her sportin' her new shades.

digging up gofer holes. such fun!

eli

he's a hoot. he was trying to make a "really crazy face." it think he was successful.

i had to take a picture of this. we had a lion king battle between the pride landers and and the outsiders. he has 19 cats. his animal collection is pretty impressive.

the layered look

it was her idea...

i'm thankful

that we go to a church where the pastor asks if you need help unloading the kids from the car.

underwear

yesterday lyla came out of eli's room wearing not one, but two pairs of her brother's underwear.

sweet

eli made some valentine's cards in sunday school class. he drew a person and an "E" on this one. i think he's made some progress since his last person drawing attempt.

say what?

lyla is sitting in her new robe watching the wiggles. or as she would say, she is sitting in her "rope" watching the "bagels."

happy valentine's

for valentine's i woke up to a beautiful bouquet of tulips and some cute kids with a mural of window decals.

topped off with a romantic dinner:)

the capitol

for the last few years our capitol has been undergoing a massive renovation. every time we would drive by eli would ask, "is it done yet? can we go in now?" nope. for three years. nope. but it's finally open and wow, they did a really good job. it is beautiful. lyla kept saying "pretty."
we went on a saturday, so there were only a few people touring and all the offices were closed. this was nice because the kids could run around without disturbing anyone. eli was sad to leave.

eli and grandma

the kids laying on the bottom floor looking up at the rotunda 4 floors above

the fam thought it was a good idea

the view

lyla peeping out the window onto capitol blvd. eli checking all the doors to see if the were locked.

that's adam on the left looking very senatorial

lyla looking at the map trying to figure out how to get to more stairs...

and my favorite part of the building - the vault. if you can't read the the writing on the door, it says "lobbyists."

the difference between boys and girls...

...in finger painting. lyla barely had paint on her fingers...

the ship

i love legos!

boarding

we went snowboarding last weekend! it's been a loooooooong time...at least 2 years. it felt really good. we went with our friends kristin and jason. i wish we would have gotten a picture with all of us...maybe next time. and i have to give a shout out to my parents who watched all four kids, thanks so much!

a good thing

lyla just saw a picture of eli and said,"eli.....yove him."

MMA

eli started MMA (mixed martial arts) class last week. he really likes it and it's super good exercise. it's so cute when he comes home from class. he has a little walk, like a "i just did some serious business and feel good about it" kind of walk. i love it.

walk

we went for a walk on the greenbelt the other day. eli got tired of riding his bike...