2015

what a roller coaster of a year for us!  here are the highlights:

reid left for his mission in Phoenix

our sweet Izzy Jo was born 2/9/15

 we bought a new car!

 went on our first cross country trip with kiddos...and survived!

 got to see Kasee and Seth married in DC

 went to the X Games

 did lots of projects around the house

celebrated 5 years of being married

 ...and going on our first trip ever without kids!

 munchkin turned 3!!

lost an amazing grandfather

 flew across country by myself with the girls

 mae went trick or treating for the first time!

 

a new scholz grandbaby was born!

 

and my amazing parents received a call to be mission presidents for three years in the Ribeirao Preto, Brazil mission. 

 it's been a year of challenges, learning, growth, blessings, love and joy.  things won't ever be the same, especially with pop gone, and my parents leaving, but exciting times lie ahead!

Gram & Gramps

we were so lucky to have gram and gramps come to visit us of the holiday break!  they flew in the day after christmas, so the girls got to open more presents when they came.

and of course to go with mae's stage, there was a microphone.  

 that lights up and plays music...on repeat.  this girl was and still is in heaven.  if i work out when she's awake, she's up there singing and dancing.

 oma and opa got the girls a cool car track.  gramps spent lots of time playing with it.

 oh this girl.  class act.  she has her moments (some days more than others), but for the most part, we got really lucky with her.  she's a loving, sweet, excited, observant kid. 

 little miss iz.  she spends most of her life chasing after her big sister.  and by the time she finally gets there, mae is on to something else.  one day you'll be able to stand on those skinny little legs and run after her!

 one day while my parents were here we headed over to the childrens museum.  (along with the rest of austin).  the girls had a good time.  i love the childrens museum!

 mae's favorite was the painting.  she even remembered it from the last time i brought her here a few months ago!

 she and gram and gramps has a great time with all of the cool exhibits.

 i'm not sure who loved launching the airplanes more, mae or gramps.  when i finally caught up with them, gramps gave us some pointers on how to make sure the airplane shoots all the way to the back wall.

we spent lots of time just hanging around watching football.  gram and gramps got lots of cuddles from these sweet girls.

 my awesome parents also drove to san antonio with us and watched the girls so cody and i could go to the temple together.  we haven't been together in months, so it was so wonderful to be able to go together.

 i might be biased, but i think i have pretty awesome parents.  i'm so blessed that even though we don't live near them anymore, we still get to see them a few times a year...okay more than a few times.  they are such wonderful examples to me and my girls.

 izzy has started giving kisses.  slobbery ones.  love it

 my parents got cody tickets to a couple of UT basketball games.  the first one was this week, and we had a blast!  they're actually really good seats.  even though they lost this game, it was so much fun.  i miss going to basketball games.  an awesome christmas gift!

 #hookemhorns.  they dont mess around in texas!

Merry Christmas!

christmas was a blast this year. the excitement of a three year old makes the holiday so much fun!  it was hard to not be with family, but we had a lot of fun with some great friends!

on christmas eve, we met up with a few good friends and took the kids for their first bowling trip.  i wasn't too sure how mae was going to do, but she didn't do half bad!  it just took the ball like 10 minutes to make it down to the pins!

they even had little bowling shoes in their sizes!  

 i've said this before, but one thing i love about kids, is experiencing things through their eyes.  i've been bowling a thousand times, and i have fun, but when you get to experience it with your kid for their first time, it's so much fun!  these little creatures bring so much life and joy into the world.

 izzy did pretty good!  and daddy won the game!  he always talks about one of our first dates when we went bowling with my family and he scored 180.  he STILL talks about that...and now he talks about this game. 

 mae and her sweet little friends.  this year she and i have both made some wonderful friends, we're so lucky!

 after bowling, we went home and i made our traditional scholz christmas eve dinner of curry wurst and german potato salad.  per cody's requests.  gotta keep the tradition alive!

christmas morning was fun.  the first thing mae noticed was that santa had eaten her cookies...and taken her snowman plate.  she was very worried about where the snowman plate had gone...santa took the extra treats to the reindeer.

we only have two kids and i feel like there was wrapping paper and boxes and bows and ribbons everywhere, but it's all part of the fun.

izzy didn't care much for what was inside the gifts, she loved the wrapping paper the most.

 mae's present from santa this year was an art easel.  it has a chalk side, and a dry erase side (what the heck was santa thinking giving a three year old markers?!)
she's been having a blast drawing and playing school.

 she also got this ballerina dress up from my sweet aunt and cousins.  that thing did not come off ALL day. 

 we have so many wonderful people who love us and helped make this day so special for us and our girls.  thank you thank you! 

 she has got the opening gifts thing down.  except she had to get every. single. piece. of paper off before she would look at what she got. 

 for quite a while, mae had been asking for a stage.  seriously i have no idea where she came up with that.  so my mom said if we could figure out how to make it, she would pay us back and it would be from gram and gramps.  cody figured out how to make one!  he spent a lot of time putting this together, and i think it turned out perfect!!  many a show have already been performed on this bad boy.

i'm so very grateful for our Savior.  and the chance we have to celebrate His birth.  this time of year is so wonderful and magical.  and i hope that as my kids grow older, i can help them to understand that the magic and wonder of the season is because of our Savior.