Easter

This was the first year that Zach was really aware of anything that was happening on Easter and it was very fun. The day before, we decorated easter eggs (mom dyed them during naptime and then Zach decorated them with stickers -- he was very excited). On Easter morning Zach was very excited to find his basket that the Easter Bunny had left for him. Filled with cars and jelly beans -- his two favorite things.

Everyone then got all dressed up to go to church with their new Easter outfits

After church and naptime, we all gathered at Grandma's for the Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Dinner. Zach enjoyed the hunt and gathered quite a few eggs. Beka just hung out and looked cute, as always.

All in all, a great holiday.

Visitor!!

At the beginning of March, our friend Erin came for the weekend. Since she took all the pictures, I have none of her (figures, eh?), but she captured our adventures for us.

On Friday, we went to Apollo Park to feed the ducks



and play on the slides



We spend Saturday morning at the Almond Blossom Festival where we got to climb on a large backhoe



Ride the train and the carousel (for the first time!)




Try on cool cowboy hats



and just hang out and enjoy the beautiful warm spring day!



The rest of the weekend was just spent hanging around the house and catching up.

It was fun and we hope she doesn't wait two more years to come back!

Siblings

I think Zach is finally warming up to his sister and figuring out that she might actually be a lot of fun.

OR.. he just likes her toys.

Either way.. it's nice to see them having fun together.

Trains!!

Like seemingly all little boys, Zach is totally obsessed with trains. So.. on a trip down to Burbank last Friday to run an errand for Dad, we decided to make a little side trip to Griffith Park. There is a ' Travel Town Museum' there with REAL old steam engines and cars that they let you climb around and explore. Zach thought he was in heaven.




Then, to top it off, we took a little train ride around the park.

Perfect.

Happy Pictures!!!

Uncle Sam has proven, yet again, that he is both more talented and sneakier with that camera than Mom is. Or perhaps he has it up to his face so much Zach just stopped paying attention..

Whatever it was, he has actually produced happy, smiling pictures of my happy smiling kid!!

Since you've been barraged with not-so-happy pics for a while now, I thought I'd share.

Blessing & Birthday

February was a very eventful month around the Reed house.

At the beginning of the month, we had LOTS of fun visitors for Beka's blessing.
Uncle Mike, Aunt Sharon and the kids came out and stayed at the house for a couple of days. Grandma & Grandpa Elsberry along with Aunt Keri, Uncle Kevin and their kids and Aunt Shel, Uncle Sam and Meghan all came into town. Uncle Greg flew in from Texas for the event and the rest of the Reeds were here for the happy day.

She was beautiful in her blessing dress and it was a wonderful happy occasion.








We then drove up to Monterey where the kids and I spent a week helping Aunt Michelle after her surgery and then Chad and his mom came up and spent the weekend for a little mini-vacation. Sadly.. I have no pictures.. you'll have to trust that we had a great time! :-)

Once we were back, it was celebration time again! Zach turned 2 on the Friday the 24th. How time flies!!

We had his cousins over for a BBQ on Saturday complete with balloons, cake & gifts. Of which, the balloons were definitely the hands-down winner. Again.. you'll have to trust me that he really was happy.. Still not wanting to show it on film. Sigh..

Christmas

We actually spent Christmas with the Elsberry Clan in Arizona. So, the morning we left, we had our own Christmas here with Zach and the baby.

Here's a look at what our living room looked like after Santa was done with it:



Zach loved his new train table and car ramp, but on that first morning, he loved his new tool belt and Little People Farm the most:








We had fun in Arizona playing with cousins and hanging out with family.

Here are the kids on Christmas Day right after church. They were so cute in their holiday outfits.


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In spite of the insanity of a new baby and the transition that inevitably brings, it was a fun and festive holiday season at the Reed House. :-)