Ella Joy

I realized in my last post that the only picture of Ella was of her crying...which is actually a really rare occasion! She is so spunking and happy all the time that its infectious-we really just want to kiss and hug her all the time (too bad she doesn't ever sit still long enough for that to happen much)!

January/February

Hi everyone....just wanted to fill you in on what we've been up to the past few months. Here's a look through some pictures:





We've had two different snow storms (rare for down here). The girls, and Nate have had fun playing out in the snow-except for Ella who refused to keep her mittens on, and consequently got very cold hands!



Aunt Shana came to visit! The girls loved having an extra playmate and I really enjoyed catching up on all our "girl talk"...unfortunately she got the 24 hour stomach bug that we (and pretty much everyone else we know) had two weeks prior. Sorry Shana! :(


My parent's were down here for Valentines weekend, so Nate and I were able to go away for a night-a first since Ella's been born!

Catching Up....

With Thanksgiving, Ella's 1st birthday, Christmas, and New Years already come and gone I guess I have a bit of catching up to do!

I hosted my first Thanksgiving this year and though it was a small crowd (our good friends Reed and Kelsey came over) we made enough food for about 10 people! Aside from the oven getting accidently turned off, pushing our turkey time back a few hours, everything was great and I must say (thanks to Kelsey and myself) the food was delicious!

Our baby girl, Ella (who is now walking around everywhere!)turned 1 on December 8th. The week of her birthday both girls were on antibiotics for ear infections. So with everyone feeling a bit under the weather we decided to just celebrate with the four of us. It seemed a bit uneventful, but was still fun watching her (and Grace)with the cake and presents!

We had a great time in CT for Christmas this year! For the first time in a while all of the Coombs kids were home. Ryan, Rhonda, Maddox, and Jacobi were all there from CA, so with a house full of four toddler girls there was never a dull moment! (for great pictures check out coombsinanutshell.blogspot.com)It's holidays like this that make me wish we all lived closer to one another. Thankfully, we do have Gav around and are anxiously waiting for him to get back into town!

Since our vacation we've had a few relaxing days (aside from some car maintance-see picture)around the house together to re-group. Just being able to ease our way back into the craziness of life has been huge for us. We've been able to reflect on the year past and are excited about what the year ahead has in store for our family, church body, and business. We serve such an awesome God and are constantly in awe of what he has blessed us with! Happy New Year everyone! Enjoy the video and pictures!


(apologies in advance for the annoying Barney music in the background and yes, our dining room has indeed transformed itself into a very short term storage space for Gavin's stuff)


Ella and Grace trying out the cake


Opening presents


Sledding in Connecticut


One of our Christmas pictures


Should I be concerned about this? My husband never ceases to amaze me...thanks for getting the heat working again!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time today with friends and family! We went to our friend's neighborhood for a Halloween parade, which ended with a pizza party in a culdasack. From there we went trick or treating....Grace was acting like it was the best day of her life! She'd run up to a house, say "trick" or "treat" (never both at once), then come back to us yelling, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" And then on to the next house! Ella was a monkey (Grace's from last year) and Grace was a ballerina (tutu compliments of our friend Becky), then switched into her full bodied cat suit as it got colder. Having little kids around makes life (and holidays) so much better! Grace and Ella's innocent joy about the littlest things is so contagious! We're so thankful for our two little blessings from above!



Enjoying the "treats" before the trick or treating even began!


In the parade


Best Buddies!

MEOW!!!


She would have done this all night!

Time With Friends

Recently we took the girls kayaking for the first time with our friends (and newlyweds) Reed and Kelsey. It was Nate's idea to go, and I love him for trying to find "adventures" we can all do together as a family. Our little outing on the lake wasn't quite like the river kayaking he's done in the past...

This week we took a quick trip (left early morning, returned late night) to see our friends Corey, Danielle, and their two girls (with one more on the way!)who recently moved to Roanoke, VA. While they were in Raleigh we hung out quite often so it was a fun reunion for us all. We really miss their friendship and hope to make the 3 hour trip again sometime soon!

Right now we're outside a lot enjoying the beautiful fall (80 degrees) weather, in the process of remodeling one of our duplexes, planning a pumpkin carving party for our neighborhood, and loving the fun, but very busy, stages that the girls are in. Enjoy the pictures!

Workin' Hard....

Nate and I have been really busy lately painting and remodeling-acquiring some new properties and having a tenant move out has kept us working hard! This week we brought the girls to an apartment (along with the baby gate, a bin of toys, and the pack n play) and would gate them in a room while we painted. It sounds worse than it really was, they do a great job of playing together. This video cracks me up...the girls discovered the kitchen cabinets while Nate is totally focused on getting the job done!

Happy Birthday Grace!

Grace turned 2 on August 10th, and we still can't believe it! Our baby is turning into a little girl! Grace is an absolute joy in our lives-she has the greatest personality and loves being around people. I don't know what we did without her! We had a party for her at a local park and though she may not have been too sure what was going on, she definitely loved the cupcakes and all the presents!




Trying out her Mrs. Potato head pieces


Yummy cupcakes to go with our flower themed party!


Grace and Uncle Gavin


Ella having a treat with Nana

We're Still Here!

For those of you who check out our blog...my apologies for not updating it for awhile! As a family, we've been doing great and have much to be thankful for! We've been enjoying the summer months at the pool, playground, or forest for some family hikes. We went to Philadelphia for a wedding and our anniversary in June, but other than that we haven't done much traveling, as Nate is really busy with work and a number of our friends here are getting married. Grace had her first job as a flower girl, and she did great! Aside from the fact that she forgot to throw any of the petals out of the basket, she was as cute as could be walking down the aisle! Ella has two teeth, is crawling, and enjoys aggrevating her sister by getting into all her stuff! Enjoy the updated pictures!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had both a productive and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend. My parents came down from CT, so with an extra pair helping out with the girls we were able to get some projects done around the house. My resourceful husband (and my father)used some scrap wood we had laying around to build the girls a swing set, and to create flower beds around the mailbox and along the driveway. We also spent Sunday afternoon at a park in Raleigh. Its Grace's favorite because she gets to ride the "choo-choo!"

Old Memories

Mom and Dad Anderson,

Notice anything special about this picture?












The leather boots you made for me finally fit Grace!

Two Peas in a Pod

The girls and I have been traveling a lot lately. Two weekends ago, we went with our friend Katie down to the coast to see Becky and Fitz's new little girl, Lilly. She was six weeks early, so she barely weighed 5lbs when we were there! She is such a perfect looking little girl! What an amazing little miracle she is, it was worth the trip to go see her!

This past weekend we were in Atlanta. We drove down with my parents to watch uncle Gavin run in the ACC Track and Field Championships. Grace was really into the track meet (a girl after our own hearts!). She would clap her hands and point every time Gavin ran by. Ella, on the other hand, would start crying if we or the people around us cheered too loud. We stayed with my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Richie while we were there. It was great to see all my cousins and their kids. As always I wish I would have taken some more pictures, but here are a few from the last two weekends. For now we're catching up on our Daddy time...I think he missed his girls!



Grace (18 lbs),Ella (13 lbs),and Lilly (5 lbs)


Ella teaching Grace how to play the piano


Grace teaching Ella how to give a back massage (she was told to get off her sister, but I couldn't help but take the picture first!)


Our beautiful Ella Joy


Grace sharing an ice cream cone with her cousin Josiah (or first cousin once removed?)

Just Chillin'

Grace is always doing something to keep us smiling. She's had this sweat suit for a while now, but it wasn't until yesterday that she discovered it had pockets! If she wasn't eating or playing, she was walking around with her hands in those pockets!