Life with the Conleys

A few days ago The Pants left a little note for me on our chalkboard. It was sweet, simple, and made my day. Over the next few days the note evolved as we each made additions to the original message. It is quite possible that I have the best husband in the world. Start Finish

You know what's better than a rainy and cold Christmas in Seattle? A sunny, seventy-five degree Christmas in L.A. Add a house full of family, 9 adults and 4 kids, and you have a recipe for a fabulous and crazy holiday. It is a rare treat to have all of Josh's family together and we thoroughly enjoyed the few days we had when everyone was there. Christmas Eve The Masons on Christmas morning Christy, Jereme, and baby Conley (coming Feb 2014) Somehow we didn't get a picture of Josh's parents or sister, Lauren, on Christmas morning. Obviously, our photo documentation skills could use some work.  The day after Christmas we went to the park at Point Vicente to take family pictures. The sky was so clear, more clear than I have ever seen. It was absolutely beautiful.  Beach at Point Vicente Cliffs and lighthouse on the point. Catalina Island is in the background.    Sometimes Eli prefers to be upside down The weather was lovely s...

This year we went to Emmett for Thanksgiving. Josh took a few extra days off work so we had a full week with my family. Most of our days were spent hanging out and playing volleyball, but on Wednesday Josh went elk hunting with my Dad. They got one pretty quickly and since Josh helped on the hunt my parents were kind enough to give us some of the meat. I'm really excited to have some elk in the freezer. While the men were hunting my Mom and I were baking in preparation for the annual Walker family Thanksgiving. My Mom's family has a divide and conquer approach; with each family bringing part of the dinner. We were to bring dessert and rolls. Our dessert offerings included pumpkin bars, 2 lemon meringue pies, 2 chocolate peanut butter pies, 2 apple pies, and cherry cheesecake bars. YUM! During our stay Eli had his first 4-wheeler ride. He seemed to enjoy it even though it was a little cold. Eli's coat didn't seem warm enough for riding so he is wearing his grandp...

Eli celebrated his half birthday a few weeks ago. He had an exciting day going to the doctor's office and getting another round of vaccines. Ok, maybe exciting is the wrong word. Traumatic or terrible would be more appropriate. At his check he weighed 18 lbs 1.5 oz (65%) and was 26 3/4" tall (95%). It's hard for me to believe how big he is getting. The picture below was taken the day after his half birthday. At the time he would still topple over occasionally while sitting but in the last few weeks he has pretty much figured it out. Josh and I are enjoying his relative immobility. He rolls around but still can't go much further than a few feet. Hopefully we will have a few more weeks before he starts crawling. He isn't showing any signs of imminent crawling but he changes so quickly that it could happen sooner than I think. In other news, I started playing in a volleyball league last week. Super excited to be playing again. And yesterday I met with a Realt...

After five days in Albuquerque we jetted off to L.A to spend five days with Josh's parents, grandparents, and sister. We played on the beach, went to the LA temple, ate good food, went on a date (A DATE!), and visited friends. Eli's first time with his toes in the sand Before getting his toes wet. Staring down his destiny. After. He was not a fan of the cold water. The Pants, Eli, and Nana Nana gave Eli a pretty sweet alligator hat.  Saying goodbye to his great grandparents. Until next time. Love you great grandma & great papa!

The Mendenhall family gathered in Albuquerque for a reunion. There were 13 of us in total (8 adults, 5 kids) all under one roof. It was a bit chaotic but it was great to have the whole family together. Our flight to Albuquerque left at 6:35am. Our plan was to leave for the airport at 5am to ensure we had enough time and wouldn't have to rush through the airport. At 5:07am I hear Josh say, "We slept in!" We somehow slept through three, yes THREE, alarms. Missing our flight would not have been the ideal way to begin our vacation so we jumped out of bed and left as soon as we could. On the way to the airport I thought we would still make it on the flight without any problem but the airport was packed. We were trekking to the end of a massive security checkpoint line and commiserating about how there was no way we were going to make our flight when a woman in the line got my attention. She called me over and mentioned that there was a family lane that we could use. Halleluj...