Well, after much persuading by my sister-in-law Mendie (and a lot of snow days this winter!!) I have finally decided to set up a blog for our family. I figure this way I can share some of our hundreds of pictures of our oh-so-cute kids on a (semi) regular basis anyway!
So to start I think I will just post a few pictures of some of our family's highlights of 2008. This is a work-in-process, so please be patient with me!!
Here is a typical day spent at home in early '08, trying to keep warm, and keep the kiddos entertained. It's hard to believe how LITTLE Cody was then!
Here is our Jordan at her very first Piano Recital in February. She did such a great job, and wasn't a bit nervous to be up on stage in front of so many people! She is a natural performer, and is also a very talented little piano player.
Here is our Cody Man, hangin' out on the Boppy with Eyore. He is finally (thankfully) out of the awful colick stage at this point. THANK GOODNESS!!!
This is Cody's first taste of rice cereal, on March 15th. He was not even 4 months old yet! WAY earlier than we fed our girls, but he was just always so hungry. He took to the cereal like a fish to water.
Here we see Miss Jordan and Miss Maddie all dressed up in their beautiful Easter dresses, just waiting to head out in search of Easter Eggs!
Miss Jordan is boogyin' down to surfer music with her SKIP preschool class at their big graduation day - it was such a cute program!!
Like my hair-do? Only the "cool kids" in this house get to take a bath in the kitchen sink!! (We just love those beautiful blue eyes.)
Here is the Proud Daddy with his "tiny dancers" following their Recital in June. The show was Anastasia, and as you can tell by the flowers, the girls had quite a few fans!
These are just a few highlights from our annual Father's Day Campout! We always have the BEST time camping with all of Matt's family, and usually with Amanda's dad, too. He was sick this year, and couldn't make it, but Matt's sister Mendie, her husband Oscar, and their four children, Dylan, Jake, Brody, and Kenzie were able to make it from Albuquerque. And also his brother Danny, his wife Christy, and their two kiddos, Taylor and Luke were there, as well as his Mom and Dad. What a blast!!!
Matt's "Big" Birthday Bash in July. He turned - oh, what was it again? - about 26, 27 I believe it was!
A few of the many scenes of summer around the Clugston household! As you can see, the girls love dress-up, and Cody thinks playing outside is a "hair-raising" experience!
More camping trips we made over the summer!
Jordan's first day of Kindergarten!! She was SO excited to start school, and luckily, we met our next-door neighbors over the summer. They have two boys, Tyler and Jacob, who are the same ages as our girls. This is Tyler going to his first day of Kinder with Jordan! They aren't in the same class this year, but they ride to and from school together almost every day.
Pictures of the Birthday Shin-digs! Jordan's 6th birthday party was Wizard of Oz, complete with Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Maddie opted for a Pink Pirate Party to celebrate her 4th. And Mr. Cody had his Lil' Slugger's First Birthday party, with his own baseball cake (notice the pre- and post-cake pictures!)
In 2008, the kids went with a SuperHero theme, with Cody dressing up as Spiderman (minus the mask, which DID NOT fly at all!), Maddie a very cute Pink Wonder Woman, and Jordan as Bat Girl. They went trick-or-treating with Tyler and Jacob, and had SO much fun! The girls also enjoyed paiting faces on the pumpkins, and are both turning into really good artists.
In November, we decided it was time to FINALLY take some good family pictures, so we had Danny and Christy over, and we took bunches of their family, and they took bunches of our family, right in our backyard. It worked great because the kids had lots of toys to keep them occupied and semi-happy - MUCH better than going to an actual photo studio at their ages!!
This year, we kicked off the Christmas celebrations with Matt's Company Christmas Party, which Ziems holds at the dealership each year, complete with Santa Clause, presents for all the kids, and lots of dancing!! Needless to say, the kids had a blast, even Cody, who held up much better than we had expected.
Next up on the list of Christmas activities was the Polar Express in Durango, Colorado. This year, we reserved an entire car of the train, and filled it with all family! It was SO nice to know everyone on the train, and for the kids to be able to move around, change seats, and be noisier than we would have ever let them be in a car filled with strangers! It was SO MUCH FUN!! We are so glad that so many family members were able to make it (Mendie and her family came up from Albuquerque, Danny and Christy and her extended family were there, Amanda's dad, mom and stepdad made it, as well as lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.)
And then, FINALLY (for the kids anyway) after all the anticipation and excitement, it was Christmas morning, complete with gifts from Santa and presents to unwrap from Mom and Dad, Grandmas and Grandpas. We enjoyed a nice Christmas morning with the kids, opening up our family gifts, followed by visits from Grandma and Grandpa Clugston, and Grandpa Dan (Amanda's mom and Billy had celebrated with us on Christmas Eve evening.) Later in the day, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Clugston's house along with Danny, Christy, Luke and Taylor to open gifts with them. It was a very enjoyable Christmas, with the focus on family as it should be.
So to start I think I will just post a few pictures of some of our family's highlights of 2008. This is a work-in-process, so please be patient with me!!
Here is a typical day spent at home in early '08, trying to keep warm, and keep the kiddos entertained. It's hard to believe how LITTLE Cody was then!
Here is our Jordan at her very first Piano Recital in February. She did such a great job, and wasn't a bit nervous to be up on stage in front of so many people! She is a natural performer, and is also a very talented little piano player.
These are pictures from a chilly day spent playing at the park in early Spring. The girls were SO excited to get out of the house after being so cooped up (not to mention sick) all winter.
I can't believe how big my "baby" Jordan is getting to be! And Miss Maddie just has the prettiest big brown eyes!
I can't believe how big my "baby" Jordan is getting to be! And Miss Maddie just has the prettiest big brown eyes!
Here is our Cody Man, hangin' out on the Boppy with Eyore. He is finally (thankfully) out of the awful colick stage at this point. THANK GOODNESS!!!
This is Cody's first taste of rice cereal, on March 15th. He was not even 4 months old yet! WAY earlier than we fed our girls, but he was just always so hungry. He took to the cereal like a fish to water.
Here we see Miss Jordan and Miss Maddie all dressed up in their beautiful Easter dresses, just waiting to head out in search of Easter Eggs!Miss Jordan is boogyin' down to surfer music with her SKIP preschool class at their big graduation day - it was such a cute program!!
Like my hair-do? Only the "cool kids" in this house get to take a bath in the kitchen sink!! (We just love those beautiful blue eyes.)
Here is the Proud Daddy with his "tiny dancers" following their Recital in June. The show was Anastasia, and as you can tell by the flowers, the girls had quite a few fans!
These are just a few highlights from our annual Father's Day Campout! We always have the BEST time camping with all of Matt's family, and usually with Amanda's dad, too. He was sick this year, and couldn't make it, but Matt's sister Mendie, her husband Oscar, and their four children, Dylan, Jake, Brody, and Kenzie were able to make it from Albuquerque. And also his brother Danny, his wife Christy, and their two kiddos, Taylor and Luke were there, as well as his Mom and Dad. What a blast!!!Matt's "Big" Birthday Bash in July. He turned - oh, what was it again? - about 26, 27 I believe it was!
A few of the many scenes of summer around the Clugston household! As you can see, the girls love dress-up, and Cody thinks playing outside is a "hair-raising" experience!
More camping trips we made over the summer!
Jordan's first day of Kindergarten!! She was SO excited to start school, and luckily, we met our next-door neighbors over the summer. They have two boys, Tyler and Jacob, who are the same ages as our girls. This is Tyler going to his first day of Kinder with Jordan! They aren't in the same class this year, but they ride to and from school together almost every day.Pictures of the Birthday Shin-digs! Jordan's 6th birthday party was Wizard of Oz, complete with Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Maddie opted for a Pink Pirate Party to celebrate her 4th. And Mr. Cody had his Lil' Slugger's First Birthday party, with his own baseball cake (notice the pre- and post-cake pictures!)
In 2008, the kids went with a SuperHero theme, with Cody dressing up as Spiderman (minus the mask, which DID NOT fly at all!), Maddie a very cute Pink Wonder Woman, and Jordan as Bat Girl. They went trick-or-treating with Tyler and Jacob, and had SO much fun! The girls also enjoyed paiting faces on the pumpkins, and are both turning into really good artists.
In November, we decided it was time to FINALLY take some good family pictures, so we had Danny and Christy over, and we took bunches of their family, and they took bunches of our family, right in our backyard. It worked great because the kids had lots of toys to keep them occupied and semi-happy - MUCH better than going to an actual photo studio at their ages!!
This year, we kicked off the Christmas celebrations with Matt's Company Christmas Party, which Ziems holds at the dealership each year, complete with Santa Clause, presents for all the kids, and lots of dancing!! Needless to say, the kids had a blast, even Cody, who held up much better than we had expected.Next up on the list of Christmas activities was the Polar Express in Durango, Colorado. This year, we reserved an entire car of the train, and filled it with all family! It was SO nice to know everyone on the train, and for the kids to be able to move around, change seats, and be noisier than we would have ever let them be in a car filled with strangers! It was SO MUCH FUN!! We are so glad that so many family members were able to make it (Mendie and her family came up from Albuquerque, Danny and Christy and her extended family were there, Amanda's dad, mom and stepdad made it, as well as lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.)
And then, FINALLY (for the kids anyway) after all the anticipation and excitement, it was Christmas morning, complete with gifts from Santa and presents to unwrap from Mom and Dad, Grandmas and Grandpas. We enjoyed a nice Christmas morning with the kids, opening up our family gifts, followed by visits from Grandma and Grandpa Clugston, and Grandpa Dan (Amanda's mom and Billy had celebrated with us on Christmas Eve evening.) Later in the day, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Clugston's house along with Danny, Christy, Luke and Taylor to open gifts with them. It was a very enjoyable Christmas, with the focus on family as it should be.WHAT A GREAT YEAR 2008 WAS FOR OUR FAMILY!!
