random but current ;)

Lily and Van, my daytime buddies

Van at 5 months with his favorite toy ducky

making cookies with the girls

such a big kid~ definitely growing up too fast!

the boys watching cartoons together

Dang I love my kids!!!

California here we come!!!

It's official! Bremen got his orders today...we'll be moving to San Diego in June! We thought we had another year here in Charleston but we were wrong!

We can't wait to get back to our family, our friends, low humidity weather without many mosquitoes, Utah only a day drive away, a cabin in the mountains only 2 hours away, In n out burgers, meeting Oma and Rach at Nordstrom and Disneyland ;)

We're seriously gonna miss our ward here and the incredible friends we've made...I try not to think about that part :( we'll also miss the rich history in Charleston, the plantations, the spanish moss in the live oaks, the warm, shallow beach water only 5 minutes from home, good Low Country cuisine, and the polite manners that only the South has these days.

And so begins a new chapter in our lives...bittersweet. But mostly sweet ;)

Princess Lily ;)

This girl loves to dress up....she's in a princess dress about 90% of the time!

our south carolina christmas

I never managed to get Christmas cards out this time~ life is busy with 4 kids, especially during the holidays, which were surprisingly busy considering we didn't even travel to California to be with our families....we missed everyone but still had a great time here in Charleston. We also recently found out that this may be our last Christmas on the east coast~ which is bittersweet for us.....of course HOME will always be where grandparents, siblings and cousins are. But we have fallen in love with most everything about the south (not the mosquitoes), and have made lifelong friends here that we're sad to leave. So goes the life of a military family!

For Christmas my mom made my girls and their dolls these matching nightgowns....so cute....and they LOVE them!

We also got Beatles Rock Band~ it's been so fun to see my kids rock out to the Beatles. Yesterday in the car 'Hello Goodbye' was on the radio and Lily yelled from her car seat, "mom this is on Rock Band!!". Her favorite is Yellow Submarine ;)

As you can see Bremen gets really into it too......

But our BEST GIFT was this one.......

We just can't get enough of this little man!!!

Mrs. Claus

Lexi was Mrs. Claus in the school play! She was so thrilled and did an awesome job!! I guess her dramatic side finally paid off ;)

mrs. claus with baby santa

you're amazing lex and we're SO glad you're part of our family ;)

Avon....yep, Avon

If any of you have tried avon, you know they have great stuff....and if you haven't tried it, guess what~ they have great stuff. haha. ....skin so soft, anew face creams, makeup, perfumes, etc., BUT they also carry cute Mark jewelry, clothes and gifts. Seriously...cute stuff! And they have amazingly great deals!! So now I'm selling it because it combines many of my favorite things~ good products, shopping ;), bargains, and connecting with friends near and far. I have an avon store that you guys can order from (the link is at the right), and your order will get to you no matter where you live in relation to me in 2-3 days for $5 in shipping no matter how big your order is. If you live near me, you can chose to have me bring it to you for no shipping fee but my deliveries only come every 2 weeks. So check out my site, there are really good gifts for everyone, even kids and men. And if any of you have a favorite thing that you already use from avon, tell me....I love the vitamoist lotion and one of my friends in California just told me that she and her kids swear by the aloe lipbalm. So let me know what you think! Oh, and Merry Christmas ;)

Proof that potty training is exhausting....

I swear she wasn't in there that long....maybe 10 minutes!

so proud of my little guys...

Dane made the Honor Roll! He's such a sweet kid and works so hard, I'm glad he got recognized for all his effort :)
and Van is starting to smile~ it totally melts my heart!

Spoooky Times!

We had a fun halloween that included 3 events the kids dressed up for~ a bit exhausting but fun nonetheless. For halloween night Dane was dracula....not surprising that Bremen got a little too crazy putting on Dane's makeup, scary kid!

At the ward party Dane won the 'best costume' award which was shocking to us because we threw his knight costume together at the very last minute. We have way too many dress up clothes at our house, but it does make for an easy halloween!

Lexi was Hermione from Harry Potter. Very fitting for her since I tell her she looks like Hermione every time her hair is big and frizzy (which is often with the South Carolina humidity). She always thanks me, I don't think she has figured out yet that it's not a compliment ;) I can tease her guilt-free since she gets her frizzy hair from me! haha

Lily was a black cat...the fur is actually a scarf of mine. Amazing what you can turn into a costume!

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's SuperVan!

Van

We have been having so much FUN with this little guy! The kids absolutely adore him...which means Van has to endure kisses and hand holding and too much attention ;) Thankfully he doesn't seem to mind all of that or even all the noise and chaos that the other three create. He's such a great baby, rarely crying.

My recovery has been possibly the best I've ever experienced...I guess I'm being blessed to be able to handle all 4 of my kids, haha.

Thank you all for your comments~we've loved getting them, especially since we're so far from home!