Happy New Years!! Hello 2018!!!!

Normally we put the kids to bed at their normal bed times on New Years Eve and then Josh and I enjoy a couple hours together playing games, talking, and drinking Martinelli's  before we pass out at 9pm after watching the ball drop in New York City ;). It's not exciting, but it's the best we could do being that we are the parents to two young children.

Well, this year we decided to shake things up! It all started with Josh's brother, Nick, calling and asking if we wanted to join their family in going to the Maroon 5 concert at the Mandalay Bay on the night before New Years Eve because they will just happen to be traveling through Vegas on their way home from California. After that, we decided that we might as well host a New Years Eve party at our house since we are now basically party animals (hehe). So we told my Sisters that they could come over for food and games to welcome in the New Year :).

The concert was AWESOME! We haven't been to a concert in years and it felt nice to let loose :). Before the concert, Nick's family stopped at our house to hang out and let the kids all play together. It was a rowdy bunch to say the least, and somehow someone broke our closet door.... but it was fun to catch up with family and let our kids enjoy making memories with their cousins :). Then they headed out to their hotel and we joined them later (after Briana came to babysit) for some loud music and bad chinese food ;). It was a blast!!! The band sounded just as good live and they do on the radio! And for a moment there I felt young and free again.

Hiding from the adults in the bath tub with cousin Macey :).

We woke up early the next day for church and then hurried home before my family showed up for our New Years bash! Of course Sadie was late, and then when she actually DID show up, she had brought a date unanounced (insert eye roll here), and of course she didn't bring any of the food she was supposed to contribute. But thank goodness for Briana and what an amazing young woman she is becoming! I can count on her for anything these days and I am so grateful for that! So the first half of our party was just with Briana and her boyfriend, Thomas. We ate yummy food, talked, and laughed while playing board games. It was great! And then once Sadie decided to grace us with her presence, we played more games and laughed some more. There was one super awkward moment when Austin threw a major fit over losing at a board game and he willingly spent the rest of the night in solitude upstairs, but besides that, the evening was great! Evie was in heaven with all the fun and attention she was getting. She is such a little social butterfly and she thrives in group settings! :) It was adorable watching her mimic all of our moves while playing charades and she never let Briana's boyfriend get too far away from her. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she has a little crush on Thomas ;).

The moment when Austin lost the game and his whole world went downhill.... just look at that face...

Before that, he was all hopped up on Martinelli's and having a great time!

I sure do love my baby sister :).

Just look at that silly girl! She's having the time of her life!

Evie sitting right next to Thomas and copying his every move :).

We weren't having fun or anything! ;)

We watched the ball drop in NYC and cheers to a Happy New Year :). Then around 10:30 the group left for a more "grown up" party that included "adult beverages" and we settled into bed with our kids and enjoyed the last hour of 2017 together as a family. It was the perfect ending to a really amazing year :). I absolutely loved 2017 and am excited to see what 2018 has in store!! So far, it has been AWESOME!! Minus a little bout of strep throat that had Austin in urgent care :(. Here's some little snippets of how January 2018 is going so far!

Our theme for this year. We are going to live life to the fullest and ENJOY every minute of it!

We kicked off January with a beautiful day at the park! I think the pictures speak for themselves :).

Austin loves throwing the football with his Daddy :).

Meanwhile, this girl could spend hours on the swings!

Playing tag :)

And literally the next day Austin was a miserable mess :(. Strep throat really had him down. He got two shots of penicillin along with a steroid shot in the Urgent Care and then spent the next few days resting. It was so hard watching him struggle like that and we were happy to see him back to his normal self again!

Evie kept herself busy while her best friend and favorite playmate, Austin, was sick....

Our rock tumbler was finally done and we spent a night making rock jewelry! It was so fun!!

Austin's Obsidian necklace :).

And his Jade ring....

Evie had a hard time deciding...

But she finally decided on some rose quarts earrings!

We were surprised to see how tiny some of the rocks had become throughout the tumbling process!

Once Austin was recovered, the kids helped me spend an entire day sanitizing the house to prevent anyone else from getting sick!

They were great helpers when they weren't undoing everything I had already cleaned ;).

We have been big fans of smoothie bowls this January :).

The kids love picking out what fruit they want for the day.

Healthy food success!

For some reason, the kids think smoothies taste better in a bowl with a wooden spoon....

And now for your viewing pleasure, here are some snapshots of our adorable Evie-girl for her big first day in Senior Nursery! Her sweet teacher asked for some pics of Eve to hang on a poster in the classroom and of course I had no problem obliging ;). I can't believe she will be 3 in just a few short months!!!! She's still as sweet and sassy as ever :).