Happy New Year!

We've been laughing (well I have) about how much life has changed since Ella entered the picture! We used to go out on New Year's Eve and drink way too much. Tonight we're sitting at home. Ella's in bed. We rented "Dark Night" and bought a bunch of yummy food to snack on. Funny thing is I'm totally content with it. No complaints from me. Maybe next year we'll get a sitter and go out and drink way too much.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! HERE'S TO EVERYONE HAVING A YEAR FULL OF HOPE, LOVE AND LAUGHTER! CHEERS!

We miss our full house!

Seth's family was here a week ago for Ella's birthday and baptism (and an early Christmas), and it's been so quiet and uneventful around here since you left. Thanks again for making the journey out here in all the snow. Here are some of the pics we got.

It's still us....

I'm just playing around with the look of the blog....a new year, so maybe a new look? What do you think of this one?

Joyride

Our friends Lynn & Tim sent Ella the coolest sled for Christmas! Thanks you guys! Ella loves it....here are a couple pics (and you'll get a feel for the snowy madness we are dealing with here).

Merry Christmas!

Our family ventured out into the wintery world that is Spokane, WA on Christmas Day to celebrate with Zac and Kristen. Kristen's family made the trip out to Airway Heights too. Z & K have a new house (as you know from past posts), and they live outside of town a ways. The roads were not great to say the least, but we made it out and back safe and sound. I'm so glad we did too! Kristen and her Mom, Ruth made an unbelievable dinner for all of us. We carted pretty much all of Ella's stuff out there, including her pak and play, but there was no nap to be had. Too much excitement.

Thanks Zac and Kristen for having all of us out to your place! We had a terrific time!

Hope you all had a great Christmas - and are gearing up for a happy New Year too!

Zac, Kristen & Fisher

Ella in her Christmas best

McKinstry Family Christmas morning
(Ella wasn't willing to sport the hat and risk looking silly like mom and dad....smart girl)


We even forced Serena to wear some Christmas "flair"

Ella checking out her stocking

All is Well

Seth had his second (and hopefully his final) ear surgery today. The first surgery done in August got rid of the growth (technically known as clusteotoma), but today he had to go back so the surgeon could rebuild the ear bones, etc so that his hearing should be at 100% in about a month. Hooray! Poor guy has to deal with the big ol' bandage on his ear through tonight, but it will come off tomorrow. The great news is that the surgeon said that it all went really well. Nothing like having a little surgery to celebrate the holiday.

Special Day

This past Sunday, Ella was baptized at our church. It was yet another snowy, freezing cold day, so the church was really pretty empty for being so close to Christmas, but it was a really special day for us.

PARTY TIME

Saturday we had a birthday party for Ella. This frigid, snowy weather made it impossible for some of the family to be here - snow, snow, go away! But we have plans to recreate the day when the weather is better for those who missed it. Ella really had a good time. She loved her cake and getting into her presents was fun too - but I think she really like the cards best for some reason. Thanks everyone for coming, and for all the great gifts! I'm still amazed how fast a year can go by!

Happy Birthday Ella!

Ella Rose McKinstry is 1 year old today! You have brought so much to our lives, baby girl! We love you! Happy Birthday!

Snowy Day

Seth was able to come home from work early today. He put a few hours in and then they set him free....back into the snow. So he did a little shoveling when he got home and then we all bundled up and took a couple pictures outside. Poor Ella....she wasn't sure what in the world was going on.

Seriously?!

This last weekend we got a couple inches of snow...and I was disappointed. I wanted more. WELL I GOT MY WISH! I'M AN IDIOT FOR MAKING A WISH LIKE THAT! It has been snowing for almost 24 hours straight (that I can attest to). I am pretty sure that we have at least 2 feet of snow out there now - and it's still snowing! Seth and I shoveled our driveway last night, getting rid of about a foot of snow. This morning there was close to another foot out there. My crazy husband is on his way to work right now. He's picking up a couple people from the office who don't have 4 wheel drive. I voted that he stay home today..... It is truly a winter wonderland out there. Ella's bday tomorrow - it's definitely going to be a white one.

COLD

It's 9 degrees right now, but with the wind chill it's actually below that. The worst part is it's supposed to be worse tomorrow and stay this way through the week. Blechk! We do have a little snow on the ground, so that helps make the cold temps a little more bearable....for some reason.

Family arrives on Friday - Tim, Margaret, Maia, Oliver, Gabe and Nancy are all coming to town for Ella's bday party on Saturday, and her baptism on Sunday. Time to clean house!

TGIF.... tomorrow

I'm pretty happy this week is almost over. Watching JJ has actually gone pretty well. He is the best baby, and if I only had him to watch, life would be easy! Funny thing is that our little angel Ella has been a handful this week! To be fair, I think she's not feeling 100% right now. She's been super fussy and extra needy. I think it's a combo of not feeling well and being just a little jealous of mom splitting her time with another baby. I don't know how you moms with more than 1 do it I swear..... Here's a pic of Ella and JJ.

Wish Me Luck

Monday I'm going to start a 4 day stint of babysitting for a friend. Chrissy's little boy is 4 months old, and she is going back to work (she's a high school math teacher- so brave!) for the first time since having JJ. She's got a more permanent day care situation set up for after the holiday break, but for Mon-Thur of next week, I'll be taking care of JJ at my house. Should be interesting with 2 kids under a year - keep me in your thoughts!

On Friday, we were able to meet up with our friends the Pedersons in Boulder. The weather was chilly, but sunny so we were able to walk around after lunch. So much fun! I wish we lived closer... The girls wanted to hold hands, cute huh?

Trip to Colorado Recap

Our trip to Colorado was great! We flew in to Denver last Wed and met up with Ollie (Seth's brother) at the airport. We drove to Maia and Steve's (Seth's sister and brother in law) in Loveland, about an hour north of Denver. Tim and Margaret arrived a little while later and the whole family was together. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Steve's family. Lots and lots of yummy food of course. As always with the McKinstry family we laughed a lot, shopped a lot and ate a lot. Can't beat that! The best part is that they are all heading here to Spokane in a couple weeks for Ella's birthday!