A Change of Pace!

A couple of weeks ago Adam went to pick up his check from work only to find out, he had already had his last day on the job. With few prospects for projects, they were letting him and two others go. We found out this bit of news just days before we blessed Claire. Determined to have a great weekend we put all of that aside and had good time with family.
The last two weeks have been filled with looking for jobs, getting insurance, filing for unemployment etc. We have heard a lot of people say, "at least you have the store." The store would be great if only we had it paid off. We purchased the store with the long term goal of getting out of debt faster. In two more years we would start to see a real return from it. We have now put the store up for sale, since it is likely that we will have to move out of the area for work.
If you know of any jobs out there we would love to hear about them. We know that things will work out and that this situation is only temporary. We also realize that there are so many others out there in the same situation.

Sisters

I get asked all the time if Ellie likes being a big sister. A typical day goes like this.
Ellie: Mom is Claire awake
Mom: Yes( Ellie then runs out of her room)
Ellie: Claire , mom Claire smiled at me
Mom: That's great Ellie
Ellie: Yes that means that she loves me
Mom: Yes it does
Ellie: I love it when she smiles at me
I would have to say that on most days Ellie loves being a big sister. Claire loves that Ellie talks to her. She loves to watch her big sister.

Blessing

We blessed Claire a last Sunday. We had a great day and were excited to be able to share the day with so many family members. Claire's dress was sewn by Adam's mom, and is beautiful.

The blanket that Claire is on was made by her Great Grandma Ruth. This is one of the grandmas that she is named after.

Christmas, Snowman, & New Years

We had a great Christmas in Nevada.

The girls in their Christmas dresses by our tree.

Claire with Great Grandpa McCrosky.

Daddy and Ellie's snowman. They had to wait a couple of days to build it because the snow would not pack. They had a ton of fun. Ellie would sit on one snowball while dad made another one.

New Year's Eve tradition finally being able to break ant the gingerbread house. Ellie was so excited. She was very patient all month only trying 1 or 2 m&m's.

2 months

Claire is now 2 months old, and growing so fast. I would have to say that my favorite moment was her first real smile. We were at my grandmas house on Christmas morning and she smiled at me. It was probably the best present that she could give me.

Dance Recital & Santa

Here are some pictures from Ellie's dance recital. Ellie's loves dance performance days, because she gets to wear colored lip gloss and blush. After the girls performance they got surprised with a visit from Santa.

The Girls with Santa. Claire was not a fan.

1 Month!!

On Wednesday Claire was 1 month old. It is hard to believe that we have had her for a whole month. Babies are such blessings as they remind us about what is important in life. It is hard not to think about where this sweet spirit was just a month ago, and all of the adjustments she has had to make.