gotta love 'em.

...oh, these girls.

wyatt is fun

Breakfast is one of my favorite times of the day, not only because I love breakfast foods, but because I have some of the best interactions with my babies during breakfast.

This morning was one of those times.

Here's the story:

Wyatt was so excited this morning when I pulled out a new box of cereal for breakfast. He sat and studied the orange box of Mini Wheats carefully (pointing and asking about different things) and when he was ready to eat them, this was our conversation:

Wyatt: Mama, can I have that?

Me: Sure. (poured some cereal and then milk into his bowl)

Wyatt: ... (picks up one mini wheat and looks it over, puzzled) ...

Wyatt: Hey Mama (obviously confused)...where are the eyes?!?

Me: Hahaha!!

And then, by some miracle, I just happened to snap this picture which encapsulates the whole experience.

It was hilarious.

continuation...

And the celebrating continues!!

My childhood best friend and our mothers have a tradition to take us out to breakfast for our birthdays...and since our birthdays are so close, we usually just combine the activity :)

This year though, Noelle wanted her free breakfast at Denny's which has to be on her actual birthday...my mom couldn't come because she was working, so we planned another birthday breakfast for me, when she could come...

We went to one of my favorite breakfast places, Cracker Barrel...

...and it did not disappoint.

My aunt Inge got to come as well, and the more the merrier, right??

 

 I can't believe it's be over two decades since we first started our friendships...I love you all so much!

happybirthdaytome

Birthdays.

I think this is the first year I wasn't looking forward to mine...

...not that 25 is old...

...it just means that I'm...older.

 I've reached my mid-twenties.

A quarter of a century.

Halfway to 50.

::gulp::

 Of course, I still had a good time celebrating my birthday, starting on the actual day by going out to dinner with my family and grandparents, who were in town. We visited one of our favorites, Haji Baba's, and then the girls sneaked away for a "quick" visit to Charming Charlies :)

Then, last Saturday, I managed to get the day off from work so that I could spend the whole day doing what I wanted! We first started with breakfast at IHOP (Cracker Barrel wasn't close enough) and then a hike up to the Wind Caves at Usery Pass. 

It was a chilling 36 degrees when we left for our hike, but the sunshine helped warm us up!

A little more than halfway, we stopped to drink some water, eat some snacks, and catch our breath. Logan had already fallen asleep at one point, and Wyatt was begging to be carried every other second. He was actually pretty good for the first little while, but then once we started hitting the steeper climbs and rocky areas, Jeff and I switched off carrying him.

 

He REALLY enjoyed the fruit snacks.

...and throwing them at the birds...

He's just trying to be a good sharer, okay?? haha!

...these aren't the actual wind caves...

...but I guess they'll do for pint-sized bodies, haha!

I'm proud to say we all reached the top, after hiking an 800ft elevation in 1.5 miles...

...we were pretty pooped. 

So we took our time up in the wind caves...

(and sadly, I didn't get a shot of our view, sorry!)

First off, I love that both boys are looking at me like I'm a crazy person in this next picture...

 And secondly...I'm pointing to a bee that Jeff threw on me...

Up at the caves there's a hive, and besides finding a huge web full of bees, Jeff kept finding them on the walls, just stuck, like they were frozen. They weren't "crunchy," which is what I would have normally described a dead bee as...you know, dried up and dead. They were instead, soft and fuzzy and still...pliable?? So I was a little worried that maybe they were hibernating? But I didn't know if bees hibernated on the walls of wind caves, so then I decided they must have died due to the first frost we had just experienced hours before...

...anyway, Jeff had a good time freaking me out in the meantime...

...one lucky, fat spider...

(I counted 17 bees caught in his web)

(and no, I did not go looking for that lucky, fat spider...)

After we were tired of the freezing air in the shadow of the wind caves, we decided we were ready for some more sunshine, and headed back down the mountain.

Jeff, being the crazy person he is, decided to carry both boys...

...ALL the way down.

I don't know how many times I offered to take one of them, but he kept insisting he was okay. I had my suspicions confirmed when he admitted he just wanted to see if he could carry them both on his own, and then tell everyone he could, haha! 

I'm sure every person we passed thought I was some kind of lazy wuss...

Before we reached the bottom, both boys were already mostly asleep, one slumped over in the backpack, and one laying his head down on Daddy's shoulder...

They both woke up though, as soon as we tried to put them in their carseats, stinkers.

We headed home after our hike and prepared for our kid-free evening out...

...in which Jeff took me to Sapporo for Teppanyaki!

 And besides being at a table with six screaming, beiber-crazed, non-stop-talking 12-year-old girls...

...it was amazing.

 So all in all...

...not bad for turning 25!

:)

a fire in the sky...

 Today's sunset was breathtaking...

...a real fire in the sky...

instagram dump.

soooo...I recently created an Instagram account...

...sigh...

I know, I can't really believe I did it either...

...but it happened.

And it's kind of fun, more because I like to see everyone else's pictures...

...but sometimes, when I happen to have a moment and I snap a quick picture, my pictures turn out cute and fun too...

baking (and devouring) cookies on a Sunday afternoon:

 "Hello?? Can you hear me now?"

Just put up the Christmas tree and celebrated by drinking a big cup of hot chocolate:

my little early bird:

stormy weather brings the most beautiful skies:

the legendary binky...before it became legend:

We're only good at making funny faces and eating really good chocolate:

this cold weather limits my fashion sense (tights under my sweats):

And then these are just a few shots Jeff took of Logan and I being goofy...

(and yes, Logan's hair is in a pretend-ponytail)

...and pardon my randomness...

:)

out with the old, and in with the new

Happy New Year!! 

Per tradition of the Van Capelle family, we had fondue with everyone and enjoyed the presence of my grandparents this year. It was delicious...just like it always is.

My dad also purchased some fireworks this year, and we all had a wild time outside, freezing to death, but wild and crazy all the same.

 (I'll have to try and obtain some pictures/videos of our adventures because we were ridiculous.)

...

This last year has FLOWN by! I'm a little embarrassed by my own emotional response to the fact that 2012 is over, that these memories have ended, but it was really such a good year for us.

We have been incredibly blessed.

I know I'm not always the best at being grateful or optimistic, but when I step back and look honestly in on my life and the true fortune I've been given, I can't believe how I could have ever took anything for granted.

My life is brimming with happiness...

I mean, just take a look at these two darlings...

 

When looking back at the past year, I am amazed.

Here are a few of my favorite highlights from this year:

• I gave birth to our second child, Logan Peter Downs!
• We bought a new (used) car to compensate our growing family, and we LOVE it...annnnd it's almost accrued over 20,000 miles already...
• Jeff graduated with his Bachelor's Degree!!! (It's been fairly recent...as in, within the last month...)
• We went to DISNEYLAND with the boys!! AND they got to experience the ocean (in Logan's case, for the first time)
• Wyatt celebrated his 3rd birthday, Jeff celebrated his 27th birthday, and I celebrated my 24th birthday
• I chopped off 13 inches of my hair
• Jeff and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary!
• Wyatt started talking for real...like, actual sentences!! Although sometimes it's still hard to decipher him...it's a work in progress ;)
• I gained another nephew (Houston) and found out I'll be getting another one in 2013!
• We took so many trips with our families: camping, to Overgaard, California, Utah, Idaho...

Happy New Year! 

And here's to 2013 being even better!