icicles

February 5 we had a big snow storm and then more snow to follow the next week - about 12" total. Here are some pictures from the weeks in February with lots of snow.

the kids could barely walk through the backyard, the snow was past their knees.

We went to Grandpa and Grandma's house when Kenneth was out of town one weekend and the kids had a blast with all the icicles!

They had some doozies!

Esther trying to walk through the snow

Luke eating his icicle

Reaching to get more icicles

Luke getting some help from Grandpa to reach some big ones

Grandma was holding Ellie inside - staying warm

And here's the granddaddy of them all!

The kids enjoyed the snow a lot, but we're ready for spring and it's going to take awhile for all this snow to melt!

Happy 3rd Birthday Luke!

Luke turned 3 on Feb. 8th, so we decided to go to Chuckee cheese a couple days before his birthday with his choice of friends. He picked his friend Samantha who turned 3 a week before he did and she has a sister Esther's age, so we went with their family and had a blast! We also had a family party for him on Saturday. Here are some pictures:

Here he is showing how old he is

This was one of those virtual things where you actually feel like you are riding a roller coaster and the seat moves and everything. They have a screen that parents can watch of their kids faces

Luke's favorite was the air hockey table. Here he is playing with Samantha

For his party, I just invited my sister and her family and my mom and dad. Well, we ended up getting a lot of snow on Friday night and Saturday morning, so my sister and her family were stuck in Greenville. Saturday morning when I found out they weren't coming, I went to our neighbors and invited them so we had some people at this party. So mom and dad came and so did Eli and Wyatt. Luke still thanks the LOrd for his party 3 weeks after the fact!

He called the decorations his party, so he kept saying not to take down his party

A tool kit from Grandpa and Grandma

thomas towel from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Anthony

He got his big boy bike from mommy and daddy - and he rode it around the house for 2 days until we put it away

He picked out this cake at the store

I can't believe my baby boy is turning 3 already! Time just flies so fast and I try to enjoy every moment I have with my babies. Luke has grown incredibly over the last year. He is so stubborn yet so sweet at the same time. He loves animals, especially dogs. He loves to run and jump and climb. He started gymnastics in the fall and his teachers say that he could teach his class. They always call him over if another child doesn't know how to do something and say, "Luke, show them how to do this." He loves hanging from the high bar and rings and even jumps from a mat to catch them. He is definitely fearless! He is my little cuddler at night and always wants me to rock him and lay with him for "just 1 minute" as he says.
He is so sneaky, I have to keep my eye on him all the time. He will get candy and cookies out of the pantry, fridge, or anything else and hide and eat them.
He also has such a sense of humor and cracks us up most of the time. I love you little Lukie, Happy Birthday!

visit to Florida

On January 15th, Kenneth accepted a position with Secant medical and had his start date of Feb. 1st. A couple days later we decided to take advantage of our last week of him having off, and we drove to Florida to see his family! So, here are pictures from our trip South....

It rained the entire day we drove there, except for about 2 hours when we were in Tennessee and the temperatures were so warm, we decided to stop and let the kids run around at a rest area - they had a blast AND got really muddy!

The first day we were in Florida, we took a walk and it felt so good just to be in the sun

On Friday, we went to a Gator swim meet

Ellie just couldn't stay awake any longer

ON Saturday we went to the zoo with Babi and Uncle Mike - it was a little chilly in the morning

Uncle Karl, Aunt jenny and Sarah came to church on Sunday and spent the day with all of us

Uncle Karl

Luke's blue birthday cake - we decided to have a small birthday party for him while we were there

aunt Jenny making Ellie smile

My little smurfs

Uncle Karl brought their juicer they got for Christmas and the kids loved juicing all the citrus they brought. They brought a whole cooler of oranges and lemons - from their back yard!!

Esther really got into it

One of Luke's presents from Babi and papa

Ellie was rolling over a lot when we went there

Esther and Luke playing outside Papa and Babie's house

Monday, Papa had the day off work, so we all went to the park
Notice how everyone is worried about Luke!

Uncle Mike and Kristine came over one night for dinner

Daddy and his little girl

All the Ross grandchildren

And all the grandchildren with Babi

The two big girls

One big happy family

This trip was so wonderful because we just did things as a family and had a blast - we took lots of walks, daddy took the kids for walks through the woods, we went to the zoo, we went to the park, and we got to go to a Gator swim and dive meet.

Thanks to Papa and Babi for such a wonderful time!

A visit from Aunt Bekah

January 5 Aunt Bekah came from Virginia for a 2 week visit! Here are some pictures:

Luke drinking hot chocolate from his new "Luke" mug from Babi that Aunt Bekah brought

Esther drinking from her "princess" mug

Luke being a good big brother - he is wanting more and more to hold Ellie and play with her

while Aunt Bekah was here it snowed about 7" - so the kids played in the snow a little

"Oh, I'm so tired from laying on the floor all day."

Daddy, Aunt Bekah and the kids went sledding at the golf course down the road - Aunt Bekah's first time to go sledding!

I love my daddy!

Aunt Bekah got to feed Ellie some of her first solid food - her oatmeal - and Ellie loved it!

"I like my first food"We love our Aunt Bekah - thank you so much for visiting!