Our last (and BRUTAL) winter living in Rochester 2013-2014

As I try to catch up on my posts, I thought I'd share some of my favorite pictures from our last winter living in Rochester.  It was a very long, cold one!

Looking out our front door mid-December 2013 as I waited for Abby's bus from school.

This was just the beginning of our winter…..

 Abby, Emma, and Michael show off their Minnie and Mickey hats from Santa. (January 2014)

I just happen to know the elf that made them.  Thank you Michele!  The kids absolutely LOVED them!

With January's arrival also came the "polar vortex."  Snow days are rare in Webster, NY, but in early January, we had a day with temperatures of -35 degrees with the wind chill.  I guess they considered that cold enough to cancel school.  A few days later, the wind chill was -20 degrees.  That was NOT cold enough to cancel school!  Wow!

Emma is looking out the front door, waiting for her "Abba" to come home from school (mid-January 2014).  As you can see, there is no snow on the ground.  This was just a brief pause in the white stuff.

Oh, and just because it wasn't white outside, it doesn't mean it wasn't cold.  It was terribly cold!  How cold?….  Cold enough that when we actually had a morning that felt pretty warm, I decided I should take advantage of the weather to wash the layers of salt off the car at the car wash.  The line of cars at the car wash was unbelievable on such a warm winter morning.  It was 22 degrees!

 February 2014

My little "Larry Boy" robot superhero...

February 2014

Emma FINALLY started walking on her own!   

With such cold temperatures, the kids did not get to play in the snow very much.

Finally, in mid-February, they had a few days that were warm enough that they were able to make snow angels and run around in the pretty, white snow.

With March's arrival came a crazy blizzard.  School was actually canceled once again.  In Webster, we received over 18 inches of snow in about 24 hours.  That put our season total at 113.2 inches.  (And we weren't even done with the snow yet!)

A couple of weeks later (end of March), we were hit with another big snowstorm.  This is what the parking lot at church looked like! 

 That same Sunday, Emma went to her first day of nursery!  Yeah!  She had a great time!

As winter ended and people were informed of our upcoming move, many asked if it was the crazy winter that was driving us out of upstate New York.  I don't know that I will miss the "polar vortex" cold temps or the blizzards, but at Christmas time in Texas when there is no white on the ground to make everything silent and beautiful, I will probably miss the snow…. at least until January!

Changes

So, I obviously haven't been very good about posting about our family for the past several months.  2014 has been full of changes for our family.  In February, Coley signed a contract for a position in Lubbock, Texas.  After seven years in Rochester, we moved across the country.  While we are excited to be closer to family, we miss our friends in New York.  

We moved to Texas in June and are getting settled in.  We haven't found a house yet, so we are renting.  It looks like we will be building a house.  We have identified a lot and are moving forward in its purchase.

Abby has one week left of summer vacation and will then start second grade at her new school.  Michael will start preschool the following week and is very excited.

Emma is growing up so much and just wants to do whatever her big sister and big brother are doing!

Michael's Baked Egg Challenge- December 2013

Michael's baked egg challenge at the allergist's office in December didn't go as well as we had hoped. This little guy went through the entire process without a problem, was given the okay to eat baked egg, and left the office before having an allergic reaction.  Back at the office, he was given epinephrine, benadryl, and prednisone, followed by a lengthy observation. No eggs for this little one yet! The chances of having a reaction so long after the initial exposure to egg is less than 1%. Here is my extraordinary guy not feeling so extraordinary. We are still hopeful that he will eventually outgrow all of his allergies! Baby steps…..

Still Catching Up from 2013….Preparing for Christmas

All right…. now that it's already FEBRUARY and I still haven't posted anything from December, I need to get my act in gear and get caught up.  December was a fun, busy month at our house.  Abby, Michael, and Emma were all excited about Christmas.  Here are a few pictures leading up to the big day.

Michael, Abby, and Emma "help" decorate the tree.  I'm not sure where Michael found his swim vest, but he wanted to wear it for several days in a row.  I guess he was missing the nice warm summer weather! :) 

Abby, Michael, and Emma get their picture taken with Santa.  Emma didn't cry, but you can sense her uneasiness with the situation as she pulls on her hair.

Michael loved "The Grinch" stuffed animal so much he took it with him to bed.

Catching up… Thanksgiving 2013

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to North Carolina to see Coley sister, Kay.  Coley's mom flew in from Louisiana for the holiday also.  It was a long drive, but everyone did really well.  We had lots of time to relax and enjoy each other's company.  We also went to the movie theatre to see "Frozen."  We had a great time.

Abby loved the tire swing in Kay's backyard. 

Sweet little Emma enjoys being outside. 

Abby had a great time with Kay's dog, Coco.  Here she is feeding him pepperoni.  He was one happy dog. 

We took a quick picture of the family with Coley's mom before loading everyone in the car for the drive home.

Abigail Rose

I don't even know if I can find the words to express how much I love this picture!  When I showed it to Coley this evening, he said, "It looks like she is looking at angels."

I love this sweet child of God so much and am so grateful to be her mother.

Thank you, Chet Scerra, for capturing such a beautiful moment that we will cherish!

Catching up…. Halloween 2013

I didn't realize how long it had been since I had actually posted pictures here.  Now that it's almost Christmas, here are some of our Halloween pictures.  Abby was Dorothy, Michael was a green dinosaur, and Emma was a ladybug.  We attended the Halloween party at church and did Trick-or-Treating in the Village of Webster in addition to trick-or-treating on Halloween night.  The kids had a blast!  They are already talking about what they want to be next year… :)

Here are Abby and Emma while getting ready for their costumes…. Abby was all white and Emma was all black.  Halloween in upstate NY requires layers of clothing.