Jacob and Pierina came to visit!!!

(This is my favorite picture of all of us back in 2009 when they got married.)

We were more than thrilled to have some of our best friends, Jacob and Pierina, to come stay with us for a week.  It was so nice to spend some quality time together just hanging out, laughing, eating, exploring Denver, and staying up way too late.  Here are some pictures of the week's events.  We spent most of the time hanging out in our sweats, but when we went out we tried to document it with some pictures.

Side note*

Mike and I felt so bad because Jacob and P both got violently ill (12 hour bug of nausea, throw up and out the other end too.) I called it the lose-8-pounds-in-12-hours-diet.  We had this the week before and I sanitized the house like crazy but apparently not good enough.  So for a few days we stayed in the house so they could get better.  Lets just say our friendship reached whole new level. We are all very comfortable with each other now. Ha! 

Pierina, Lauren and me at Abo's Pizza.  Pierina is 24 weeks pregnant in this picture. Doesn't pregancy look so good on her?!?

We went to Emi's adorable baby shower together.  P helped me make cake pops for the shower.  She was such a big help.   Those darn cake pops are tricky!

Mike and Jacob. Two dads and a baby at the museum.

We went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and it just happened to be a free day. Lucky us!  We had a  blast checking out all of the exhibits.  Mike and I love going there because it brings back so many memories of going on field trips as a kids. 

Ashlyn LOVES Jacob and P. She followed them everywhere and loved all of the extra attention.  When they left she was having withdrawals for a few days.

Thanks soooooo much for coming to visit us!   We love you guys more than you know.  We can't wait for the next visit and hopefully this time it won't be a barf fest. 
Miss you already!!!

xoxo,
Mike, Les, and Ashlyn

Ashlyn's 1st Birthday

People told me how fast she would grow, but I didn't understand it until I blinked and it was time to celebrate the first year of her life. It is a bitter sweet feeling.  Bitter because she will never be that sweet little baby anymore. Sweet because she is growing and learning so much everyday and it is so fun to see her personality come out.

To celebrate we invited our friends and family to share this special day with us.  We are so lucky to have such great friends and family who have been there for us throughout the first year of Ashlyn's life.

 

 

 

 

 

Ashlyn was such a good birthday girl. She LOVED eating cake for the first time. I think she knew there was something special about the day. She was excited all day. When we sang "Happy Birthday" to her she had this look on her face like, "is all of this for me???" It was the cutest thing. 

Having Ashlyn in our lives has opened up a chamber in our hearts that we never knew existed.  We are so blessed to have her in our family.  Children are truly a gift, and we love the joys and challenges parenthood has brought to our lives.  It is by far the hardest thing we have ever done, but also has brought the most rewarding experiences life has to offer.

Thanks to all of you who came to celebrate with us!

Last week I got together with my two best friends, Steph and Raquel.  Steph's little baby, Jack, is such a sweet little boy and came out of the womb looking like Brad Pitt. I can't get enough of him. Raquel is going to have a baby girl this spring and we are so excited for her. I have been friends with Steph since the 3rd grade and friends with Raquel since the 7th grade. It is so fun to hang out like old times.  Raquel and I are crossing our fingers that Steph moves back so we can make these get togethers more frequent. 

When Mike and I were at my parents' house for Thanksgiving we were looking through my box of pictures from my younger years.  I would say that about 70% of my pictures are with Steph and Raquel. 

Here is one of those pictures.  Weren't we beauties?!?  (OK, we didn't look this bad ALL the time. It was Girls Camp so we were extra cute, me especially.)

Love you girls!

Christmas

I think most would agree that Christmas is much more fun when you have kids. Mike and I both were really excited to spend our first Christmas with Ashlyn. So excited that we put our decorations up the week of Thanksgiving. I can honestly say that we took full advantage of the holiday season. We listened to Christmas music, watched movies, looked at lights, took Ashlyn to meet Santa, went to an ugly sweater party, built two gingerbread houses, drank hot chocolate, sent Christmas cards, shopped Black Friday AND the day after Christmas, you get the point. Christmas hasn't been this fun since we were kids. 

 Here are the pictures to prove it.

Mike and me at the Ugly Sweater Party.  You can't see it in the picture but Mike is wearing a homemade Dickie.

We made gingerbread houses with our friends.

 

Ashlyn and Olivia sitting on Santa's lap. Ashlyn was traumatized. We literally died laughing.

 

Ashlyn and I made her first Christmas ornament together.  I got the idea from Pinterest.  This almost landed on my "Pinterest Hits and Misses" post.  Let me tell you it was much harder than it looks.  It seriously took 15 tries to get Ashlyn's handprint right.

Christmas Eve

 

 

 

 

 

Ashlyn loved palling around with her cousins, Jaxon and Emmry. 

 

 

We decorated gingerbread houses with the Carney family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashlyn and Haven are three months apart.  We all get a kick out of watching them interact because they look like two batting cats.  They are always wanting each other's toys and aren't very good at sharing. Ha! 

 

 

Christmas Morning....6 a.m.

 

 

We let Ashlyn sleep in because we went to church at 9 a.m.  She opened her presents around 3 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the cousins from the McCabe family.

It was so fun to spend quality time with all of our family. It really is "the most wonderful time of the year."  We especially enjoyed attending a church service on Christmas morning where we were reminded of the real reason for the season. It is times like this where we realize what the most important things in life are. If it were not for the birth of our Savior we would not be able to experience the joys in life.  We have much to be thankful for.

Hope your Christmas has been Merry and Bright!

Love,

Mike, Leslie, and Ashlyn 

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!!! 

We sure did.

 

 

 

 

More Christmas celebration pictures to come.