2014 | From Emma's iPad | Part 1: Colorado

It's been such a craaaaaaazy year, no one has had the time or inclination to post on here since November last year. Oh, well. Thankfully my iPad had just enough space to hold all of the pictures I took with it in the last 371 days. So here are some poor-quality snapshots from the year (plus a few from facebook. :)

12.25.13

This was the first thing we did with my iPad after setting it up. ;P

Merry Christmas!

I had FINALLY finished my photobook of our trip to the UK, just in time for Christmas! (We took the trip in 2012.)

Olivia got her "polar bear" for Christmas. It is the most magical, hairy blanket ever.

Willa and Olivia used all the money they had earned doing some intense computer work for Daddy to buy us all new dining room chairs! We were all so happy and touched by their sweet sacrifice. :)

Our deck was still mid-redo. The UPS man asked if we had parachutes for our guests to use. :p It was nerve-wracking not to have railings for a month or more, but also strangely exhilarating, so long as you didn't have Jo-man with you. 

Speaking of that handsome guy...

Our beautiful new chairs! We still love them. :)

This is a cool areal-pick-up-sticks game Seth got for Christmas. And Jo is playing with his new play-dough set. 

12.28.13

Three days after Christmas we packed up for a cross-country trip out to Colorado. It was our first trip out there since 2002! We were all very excited. 

We drove up to IL "on the way" to attend little Ryan Evans' baptism the next day. A bunch of folks from our area also drove up and we hung out at the Evans' house all evening. While sitting around on their couches, we got the call that Bradley had asked for Kaliste's hand in marriage and she had said yes. :D  The 28th is now a very momentous day for us. Our anniversary of moving to TN, Sam and Laura's wedding anniversary, and the day Kali and Brad got engaged. :D  

12.29.13

Despite the frosty temperatures, it was a glorious drive across the Nebraska plains. 

I got the back bench seat all to myself most of the trip, which meant lots of window gazing, picture taking, reading, listening to new music, writing, and sleeping.

All while snuggling in between all the unwanted pillows and blankets people dumped in the backseat. :)

12.30.13

READY TO BE THERE.

Still figuring this whole selfie thing out. 

12.31.14

New Year's Eve was our first full day in Denver and we spent in all sorts of festivities. We cooked at Da's house and then carried all the food over to Aunt Jill's place, where we were staying.

Quality family time. 

Games!

SUPER JO!

This was how we ate most of our meals during the trip. Except we didn't fold the napkins so fancy for all the other meals. :)

We packed Aunt Jill's house out! So thankful we had everyone there. :)

Things got a little crazy close to midnight. :D We stayed up with Aunt Jill and Bill telling prank stories and reminiscing until well past 1 or 2:00am. 

And to top-off the celebratory mood, Chris and Darby got engaged that day! I may or may not often screen shot significant events as they are announced on social media...

1.1.14

We spent the next day at Grandude's house decorating his Christmas tree (Howards don't stick to the normal calendar for doing things) with all the unique ornaments he's collected over the years. We videoed him explaining every ornament's history as we put it on. It was so much fun! Then the kids had a treasure hunt for a few more odds n' ends to put on the tree, with a bit of history behind each of those things too. 

Which one of these faces is not like the others?

Olivia told Josiah to pose and he did this. We had just been looking at Daddy's ski pass from the 80s that has him doing the same pose. *facepalm*

We all went out to dinner at Casa Bonita that night. No one was captured by the gorilla or forced to jump off the water fall, but we managed to have tons of fun despite that. 

Aunt Jill has taught Olivia well. (Though I hear Olivia actually gets it from Mother.) Nose-balancing is just too easy for us pros!

Elsia and Oliver, the new members of "Steve Believe"s family. ;)

The caves in Casa Bonita! I was just as scared as last time. :p

1.2.14

We headed out to the mountains the next day to go snow-tubing. What a drive!

At the park!

Josiah had a great time, just so long as he didn't fall off the conveyor belt that pulled you back up to the top. :p

We took lots of good pictures. 

Strategizing for maximum fun and speed. 

How! 

The big debate was to spin or not to spin. But no matter how you sped down, it was a blast!

We were all frozen afterwards, so we headed back to Uncle Scott's house to thaw a bit. 

1.3-14 - 1.6.14

We spent the rest of our time in CO doing more random things and just enjoying time with each other. One day we toured Dinosaur Ridge with everyone. 

The kiddos LOVED it. 

Us big folks did too. 

Sitting in the steps of the dinosaurs who came before them.

We also went to a museum one day...

This guy was just big-boned. 

Accck!

So thankful that the Lord saw fit to let us keep Aunt Jill for a good while longer. What would we do without her? 

Another day it SNOWED. So Elsia stayed inside and Willa, Seth, Jo, and I had a snowball fight. :)

My artsy capture of the day's beauty.

And then there's Willa's. (She put more up on her blog.)

His face.

That Lord's Day we worshiped with Da and Popo and Aunt Jill at their church. 

Handsome guy.

And then we went out with them to their favorite breakfast restaurant. 

Cutie pie.

Looking through Grandude's copy of the photobook.

Spoons!!!!!

It's a mandatory game whenever Howards gather. 

These are our attempts to smile for a picture.

...

...

We are uncoordinated at best.

Our trip home was much more eventful than the trip out. We basically decided to travel through a huge freeze/snow storm. The roads were nasty, the wind was brutal, there was ice on the inside of the van windows, and we eventually had to give up and bunker down in a hotel for the night after not getting very far at all. 

Reading 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

We were sooo thankful we had a warm beds to sleep in that night. We raided the lobby's popcorn machine and tumbled into bed. There was ice on the inside of the HOTEL windows above the heater in the morning. 

The next morning involved a bit of cartoon watching while we ate breakfast, then we packed back up, chipped the ice off the doors and windows of the van, and headed home. It was just as freezing  outside, but the roads were a bit better. When we finally arrived home after dark  we walked into a toasty house with a roaring fire and homemade chili, roasted broccoli, hot chocolate, and hot peach tea set out on the counter for us. 

We have, the, best, neighbors. EVER.

Stay tuned for Part 2!