Life with the Conleys

That's right, Eli turned one on Sunday. We celebrated a few days early and it was quite the party! There were two grandparents, two parents, two aunts, two uncles, seven cousins, and one birthday boy. It was noisy and fun and Eli seemed to have a great time showing off the new house to his cousins. Since he was born he has grown 11 inches and gained 14 pounds. He sure is getting big! It is difficult to believe that it's been a year since he joined our family. Life has certainly changed but it's been a change for the better. We love this boy more than anything and are looking forward to the years to come. Mmm, pizza!  Opening presents with some help from cousins  Showing off for the grown-ups  Yes, the frosting is pink. I didn't think about strawberry frosting turning pink and by the time I realized it, we were past the point of no return. Luckily I got this mistake out of the way before he is old enough to care.   Trying the frosting. ...

Happy Valentines Day from the cutest member of the Conley family. Please note that teeth that Eli is now sporting. Yay for teeth!

Church was cancelled today because of snow. We spent some of our morning out enjoying the fluff. Well, Josh and I enjoyed it. Eli wasn't quite sure what to think.

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...