December

Alisha says: December was a busy but good one.

Skye update: Skye is three years old. She can either be extremely cute or crazy. Examples of cute: Almost always says "Thank you" and "Your Welcome" she often will say "thank you mommy for this dinner", she gives tight hugs and says "oh I love you so much"!

Examples of not so cute things: Has zero, I mean zero patience. After trying something once and not having it work or not getting what she wants she will often start throwing things. We were driving home one evening and eating dinner in the car, she got upset for some reason and ended up throwing her hamburger and french fries all over the car. Arrrgg! She demands a ton of attention and will scream if you aren't paying attention to her. She also like to poke Jade in the face and sometimes is a little rough with her.

Parachute fun at a friends birthday party

How many Welsh's can fit on two bikes? The answer is 4! Family bike rides in Usery Park. Jade now gets to go riding!

Looking at Christmas lights and making sugar cookies with Grandma

Preschool Christmas program. She was so excited for her program. They sang a lot of cute songs. Lots of family including Grandma Venice and Grandpa Ivan came to watch.

More Christmas decorations

San Diego (again)

Dave says:

We decided to head to San Diego for a few days after Christmas with the Leavitts. We quickly discovered how much more we love San Diego in the fall when it is warmer and less busy. Over the holidays, all our favorite places were very crowded and we remembered how only a few months ago they were empty and enjoyable. As usual, we took our trailer and stayed at Campland on the Bay. The hot tubs and pools were one of the big hits on this trip and Skye went swimming every day.

We brought bikes and when we first arrived we spent the afternoon on a ride out along Mission Bay where the kids played in the sand. Jade seemed to really like the sand and got very dirty. Jade was also very good at falling asleep right away when Alisha put her in the pack. The next day we walked out to the jetty and had a lazy morning. When we headed to La Jolla Cove in the afternoon it was very busy and Parker had to drop us off and drive around in circles. The cove beach was nice and Kaylee, Rachel, and Charlie all got wet and then discovered how cold the water was.

On the next morning, it was time for a nice long ride along Mission Bay that ended at a nice playground. The kids had fun playing for a long time. When we got back, we headed to Balboa Park to walk around. There was a food truck festival and the park was very crowded until we walked out from the main area. Skye and Jade had fun riding the carousel. Alisha found us a great new Vietnamese restaurant and Skye discovered how much she liked drinks with boba in them

The last day was perhaps the most successful because we got an early start and returned back to La Jolla cove before the crowds for a nice walk. Skye really liked seeing the sea lions and watched them for a long time. Then, we went to Old Town for some empenadas and to walk around. The kids especially liked the model railroad museum.

On our way to and from San Diego, we stopped at the discovery park in Yuma which has proved to be a great mid-trip break and is perfect for Skye. Jade is also getting good at crawling around everywhere and walking while holding onto things. This time around, Skye really liked this swing that you sit in that has a track above it. She thought it was like a roller coaster. San Diego is always fun with kids but we've decided that fall is the time to go.

11 Months

Alisha says: Jade continues to be a joy. We feel that she is entering a new phase and is acting a little bit more grown up. She now has 4 teeth, front two on both the bottom and the top. She is not quite walking on her own. She likes to clap her hands and shake her head back and forth. She can be both extremely needy and then also at time will play on her own for quite a while. Skye likes to crawl around with her and often times will make her giggle which melts my heart yet I also can not leave them alone together because Skye likes to poke Jake in the eye and can be a bit too rough with her. I can't believe next month we will be celebrating her birthday!

Christmas Day

Alisha says: We had a wonderful Christmas this year! The girls woke up to find a kayak (for rafting the river in the summer), matching outfits and dresses, stockings full of treats and new toys to play with. It was a really chill relaxed morning. They were content to play in the boat for a while, open a gift and then play with it for a bit before opening another one.

We went over to Christine's for brunch and to watch their kids open gifts before continuing on to Anne and Tom's for more family time and presents. We then returned home for nap time before heading out again to Jim and Donna's for a yummy Christmas dinner. Skye danced and danced around, entertaining everyone as Christine played Christmas music on the piano along with Daniel on the trumpet and Kaylee on the violin. It was a really great day filled with lots of nice family time celebrating the birth of Christ!

Jade's first Christmas! Cutie

This lollipop may have been one of Skye's favorite presents, she was obsessed with it. Haha

Christmas Tree

Alisha says: We got a new Christmas tree this year. It is 9 ft tall and looks great! It really made it feel like Christmas time once we put it up. The kids really liked the tree and we spent lots of time just playing on the floor by it. Jade liked to look at it but really didn't mess with it too much. Skye liked to take some of the ornaments off and play with them so we just didn't decorate the bottom too much and put a few things down low that I didn't mind her playing with.

November

November included:

Trips to the Children's Museum

A family outing to the Arboretum

An overnight visit with Christine and family to Payson

Skye's artwork from preschool

Bike rides with Dave on the new bike setup

10 Months

Alisha says: My baby is 10 months old! Jade is still sweet and cute as ever. She is even more sweeter now that she mostly sleeps through the night! Yipee, hallelujah!! She is still not a great napper and only takes two short naps during the day but hey if she sleeps through the night then I'll take it. She now has her two front teeth in on the bottom. They look so cute when she smiles but I've also been bitten a few times and the are sharp! During the past month she has really perfected the pincer grasp and can pick up small objects such as cheerios between her thumb and and pointer finger and successfully transfer said item to mouth. Jade likes eating cheerios, crackers, pretzels and cottage cheese but her favorite food is gouda cheese.

Bike Racing

Dave says: It had been several years since we raced our bikes. However, Alisha is a competitor at heart and so it was only a matter of time after Jade was born before she was looking for some events to do. This race happens every year right in our backyard (Usery Mountain Park) and is put on by our friends at the local bike shop so this year it was time to do "The Showdown."

It's an 8 hour mountain bike race and we did it as a duo team which means that one of us was always riding. Each lap was about 45 minutes and we traded off every lap. Most teams just traded a timing chip but we also traded off on the same bike because we have the same seat height and only one fast racing bike right now (our trail bikes are not fast for this type of event).

The event started with a short uphill run to the bikes to spread things out which was not my favorite thing. However, I got a good start and was in second place overall for most of the first lap. However, this was much too fast a pace to be riding at for a long race like this. Alisha also put down a good first lap. About midway through the day we faded a bit from heat and fatigue and were the second duo team with third place right behind us. However, Alisha came on strong late in the day and I started feeling a bit better as well. We got first place which meant we won some apple pies. Alisha also won some cash prizes for fastest time of the day and some of the fastest segments on parts of the course. I don't feel like I'm in racing form right now but it was fun to get to do this event with her. I imagine she'll be ready for more of this sort of thing soon.

Alisha says: Two weeks after the Usery race I did another relay mountain bike race at McDowell Mountain Park. This time it was a 12 hour race and I was on a four person women team with Jennifer, Nicole and Victoria. Victoria put together the team and is an amazing friend that I met earlier this year. She is currently going through her second round of breast cancer and is right in the middle of radiation treatments but she still gets out there and rides and wanted to race. It was a fun day with lots of cool people to hang out with in between laps. We did 9 laps total and I did two of them. My first lap ended up being the fastest women lap time of the day and my second one was mostly in the dark. It was a fun course and we took first place in our category!!

New Bike

Alisha says: Yes, my new bike definitely deserves a post of its own. New bike day is one of the best days only beaten out by my wedding day and the births of my kids. Haha, I'm kidding a little bit but new bike day is very exciting. My new Trek Madone is the best looking bike that I've ever owned and is one sweet ride.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Alisha says: Happy Birthday to our spunky, sweet Skye. We celebrated with a big family dinner. My mom was here and helped make the traditional potato soup that she made for us when we first brought her home from the hospital 3 years ago. She loves sprinkles right now so I made her a cake with lots of sprinkles. She was spoiled by everyone with lots of fun presents including a remote control jeep, moana necklace and hair bows. She is still a great sleeper and says "please" and "thank you". She is a daddy's girl and still sucks her thumb. She loves dancing to you tube videos and dressing up in the princess dresses.

3 Year Pediatrician Stats:

Weight: 30 pounds

Height: 37 1/4 inches