Adelaide's First Birthday!

Our Adelaide is now ONE! First birthdays are so sweet! 

We colored pictures and e-mailed them to Elder Ritchie serving from our ward. 

We went to Edge Gymnastics with church friends. 

On Saturday, November 20, Adelaide woke up as a one year old! How is my last baby already one?! I always cry on birthdays now. I spent the night before her birthday looking at all the pictures we took of her on her first few hours in this world. 

She really is happy and determined to keep up with her older siblings. She gives us all the best hugs and is working on her sign language. 

My friend was done with this walker and it was the perfect gift for our baby. 

The kids were excited to help me decorate Adelaide's birthday cake. 

Grandma and Grandpa Volk came over for dinner and cake and ice cream. It is fun having them close enough to join us for birthday celebrations. 

I gave Adelaide a little cupcake and she dove right in. 

I also found some letter blocks from the thrift store. 

Blue got to come to the party too. Aaron looks good with a dog. My boys have been asking about a dog too. My heart is definitely softening up to the idea. Now if we could just agree on the type of family dog we'd get haha. 

I have this picture up above Adelaide's crib of Adelaide Leona with Grandma Leona. It's cute seeing Adelaide point to the picture. Family relationships are really important to us and we want our kids to know the roots they come from. Several of Aaron's aunts texted and called me to wish Adelaide a happy birthday. It was so sweet that they remembered her. 

I guess you can say I'm a mean mom. The day my babies turn one, I take their bottles away and force them to grow up. I'd do anything to have my babies stay babies forever, but then I'd miss them growing into who they are meant to be! 

Thanksgiving 2021

We woke up bright and early on Monday, Nov 22 and headed to Colorado! I love driving through Kansas and get emotional as I think about my time living in central Kansas. 

We stayed the night with Jeff and Megan and their kids in CO Springs and had the best time. The kids had a cousin sleepover and then made a million paper airplanes. It was a quick trip to visit the Raverts, but we enjoyed seeing their new home and spending time together. 

On Tuesday afternoon, we drove up to Denver and meet up with the Pavlovsky bunch. The adults had a temple trip while the kids ran wild with two babysitters. It's a treasure being in the temple with family. 

On Wednesday,  we prepped for Thanksgiving and celebrated Aaron's birthday with a John Deere tractor cake. 10 years ago, Aaron joined my family for our first Thanksgiving together and my dad made him a tractor cake. 

Aaron is now 34! We love him and so does everyone else. We shared what we love about Aaron and everyone said they loved how he puts his family first and how he loves our country and God. 

More cousin sleepovers. 

Sooo many cousins. So much fun. 

Adelaide was excited for Thanksgiving and she got lots and lots of cousin love. 

Aaron smoked the turkey and it was delicious. We transported his smoker all the way to CO. All the couples were working together in the kitchen making different side dishes. 

I'm thankful for Aaron and what he's taught me about being a team and loving and supporting one another. 

Family movies.

Family games. 

On Friday we went to a family fun center and we got to ice skate, rock climb, play laser tag, bumper cars and jump on the trampoline. My kids were so brave to try new activities for the first time.  

Oh and we ended the afternoon with miniature golf! The weather was gorgeous. 

On Saturday morning we packed up and all headed home. We really had an enjoyable time together. Austin said that he felt like crying because we had to leave. Me too big guy. 

On the drive home, we stopped in Salina and had Braums for dinner! 

I'm not sure when we'll all be together again, but we're grateful for the memories we did have together. There really is so much to be grateful for. All the time!