Visit from Jamie

My sister texted me a couple weeks ago asking what our Memorial Weekend plans were. We didn't have any plans and they didn't either so she asked if we wanted visitors! Uh, of course! We hadn't had any official guests stay at our house at this point, so we were so excited! We had a great weekend. 

They got into town late Thursday night. We stayed up talking for a bit and then headed to bed. 

On Friday, we took it pretty easy. Josh had to work so we drove around and I showed them our little city. Then we stopped at Ice Cream Station for some yummy ice cream. When Josh got home, we had yummy navajo tacos and then headed out to our little city fair. It was a good time. It's cheap to get in and they do tons of free events that are usually pretty silly, but still entertaining! We saw the pig races, some high divers, a high wire group and a karate/ninja show too. We had a great time. Elliott got to go on a couple rides, which she was thrilled about and I think we all had a lot of fun! 

Carousel!

This girl...hahaha!

On Saturday, we decided to take them downtown. We ate lunch at the house and relaxed a bit, then headed downtown after we ate. We walked through Falls Park a bit and then walked up Main Street and hit up the Mast General store and the toy store. After downtown, we headed home to cool off a bit and then went to Bellacino's for some pizza for dinner! 

On Sunday, we had a low key morning and then headed to church. Taylor felt sick during sacrament and went home right after. Poor girl spent the rest of the day throwing up every hour or so. She was miserable. So we had a relaxing afternoon/evening. We ate dinner, talked, kept Taylor company and the boys went and looked at a couple of Josh's houses here in Simpsonville. 

They took off Monday morning so they could get back to recoup before work/school the next day! It was a quick weekend but we were so excited to have them and we had a great time. And I'll be heading up to visit them in just a week and a half, so it wasn't a hard goodbye! 

Of course I hardly took any pictures! Grrr..

SC Snow

Shortly after Christmas we had a forecast for 5-8 inches of snow! You can only imagine our excitement since we don't ever plan on getting snow here in South Carolina. Well, the forecast let us down, to say the least. We got a small sprinkling in the morning and it had melted by about noon. But, despite the lack of snow, we took full advantage of what we got! The girls cousins came over and we sledded until we were tired. It was still a great time!

Hot cocoa break!

Christmas in our new home

Christmas was strange this year! We had just barely moved into our new home and it was still very much a total construction zone!

Our entire downstairs was basically covered in plastic and we had no furniture. We tried to keep the kids upstairs almost all the time because downstairs was such a mess. So when it came to putting up a tree, we decided to do a small, fake tree and put it in our master bedroom. It worked out perfectly and the girls didn't know the difference.

The few days leading up to Christmas are always fun. We went to see some amazing Christmas lights at a house here in town with Morgan and Jenn! It was incredible. And Santa was there!

And of course on Christmas Eve we tried to keep to our same traditions. We read Christmas stories and set out cookies and milk for Santa. Last year on Christmas Eve we went to a place in town called Epic Buffet for dinner, so this year, we decided to officially make that a tradition and went back. After the girls were in bed, we put together this cute kitchen for their new room!

It was hard having just moved into a new house for Christmas and I think Morgan and Jenn knew that. One night we were coming home and when we pulled up, I almost thought we were at the wrong house. Morgan and Jenn had snuck over and put Christmas lights on our house and surprised us. It is still one of the most thoughtful and sweet things anyone has done for us. It made me cry. Being so sick from pregnancy and having so much on our plate was just so overwhelming and that simple act meant so much.

Christmas morning was still as sweet as ever. We didn't do much. The girls each got a small gift in addition to their kitchen and Josh and I just gave each other stocking stuffer sized gifts. But we had a such a fabulous morning. And Christmas fell on a Sunday, so we got to attend church and be reminded of the true spirit of Christmas. 

Columbia Ward Xmas Party

We were so happy to be able to attend the Columbia ward's Christmas Party before we officially moved to Simpsonville! We absolutely loved our time in that ward and met so many amazing friends. So it was wonderful to be able to go to one last party before we moved. 

The kids did a nativity and Elliott was a little cow. So sweet. And the girls both loved Santa! I love how much they love him, but I also wish I was the mom with the awesome screaming child pictures, because those are honestly the best! We had a great time!

November Randomness

November was somewhat of a blur! We were busy getting ready to move, continuing to save money, buying things for our new house, traveling back and forth between Columbia and Simpsonville and trying to squeeze in fun things with our friends who we would soon be leaving. It was a great month.

Elliott fell and hit her head on a stool. This was her first really bad goose egg! Yikes!

Elliott captured this sweet one of Piper giving me a kiss. 

Piper climbed up on this dolly and was balancing at the top. Seriously, there was nothing keeping it from falling over!

Kate turns 4!

Elliott's sweet friend, Anne Tatum and their matching braids!

Ready for some cooler weather!

Working on house plans!

Target had their Halloween clearance for 90% off. These were $2.50 each! Score!

More house plans!

Elliott had a talk for church and she decided to set up her babies/bears and practice to them!