It's always hard to say good bye when the kids all leave.

Christmas 2017

For Christmas, David, Kati, and Elle came down for one night and we opened presents on the morning of Christmas Eve. We missed being with the Schroders, but got to have a fun Face Time conversation with them.

My Christmas cactus was pretty spectacular this year. A favorite gift was the bird nest ornament that Huxley picked out for me. We gave Elle a "Schoene" bin with markers and a kitty cat note book to draw in. We took a few walks to the park and enjoyed the warm weather.

Good bye to 2017. Hello 2018.

New Year's Eve 2017 - ushering in 2018.

The years go by and blogs become idle. The children grow and become people that we can have conversations with and learn from. What a joy that is.
This past Thanksgiving, Andrea, Gabe's Mom, invited us all to share Thanksgiving at her house in Denver. Kath and Gabe and the children drove down from Idaho. David, Kati and Elle flew out on Tuesday. Stephen and I arrived Wednesday. Denver was warm and mostly sunny. The kids got to go the the aquarium before we got there. Thursday, of course, was focused on the meal. Max and Katie and their boys joined us too. I had bought a book about sharks for Huxley and we must have read it ten times. I gave the girls copies of the book We are all Wonders.

Friday we all met a photographer just outside of town at a wooded park and she took pictures of the group. Huxley was 4.5 on Christmas Eve, he let us know. Elle will be two February 1. Brierley will be two April 18. What a joy it is to see David and Kati, Katherine and Gabe so happy and with their beautiful children. Stephen and I know how blessed we are.

My visit with Brierley and family

Huxley, the big brother

Huxley's school had a spring program. The students at Big Wood School sang songs for their parents.

The two year olds were quite entertaining

Brierley slept through the performance

Brierley at home

When Gabe found out they were having a daughter, he said, "That requires a whole new skill set."

On a Saturday morning walk with  Rewk, Kat,  Georgia Bea, Huxley, Katherine and Brierley

Huxley and Georgia Bea looking for the horses

We are trying to decide if Brierley looks like Huxley.

Here's Huxley when he was just a few weeks older than Brierley. He was definitely bigger by a whole pound at birth.

Sarah Brierley Schroder born April 18, 2016

Brierley - the fourth generation with that name -
Great-great grandfather - Bernard Brierley
Grandfather- Stephen Brierley
Mother - Katherine Brierley
and now Sarah Brierley
But in this generation, she will be called Brierley

Katherine's delivery was an amazing 47 minutes

The happy family 

Welcome to the world little B