2 Year Photos

Late in posting these too, but here are a few of Madison's cute 2 year photos...so hard to believe that she is 2, but as you can see in the photos, she has quite the adorable personality which we simply love and adore!

"Little Miss Diva" (as the photographer called her) :)

Super Smile! Love this one :)

Our little sweetie!

Love this girl!

Madison loves Minnie Mouse!

So happy!

Loving on her Build A Bear Birthday Bear that she made on her actual birthday

**Family- I'm making your copies of these photos and they will be on their way soon!

1st Haircut, the Stockshow, and the Hospital :(

Well, I finally got the BIG post up (the last one about the holidays), so now I can finally get back to regular, shorter posts that don't take you an hour to read...promise I won't do that to you again :)

Our 2012 so far has been filled with fun and new 1sts, but also a scary time in the hospital with Madison. She is definitely on the road to recovery and we are so thankful for all the thoughts and prayers. Without going into too much detail, because I dont really want to re-live those days again, Madison was admitted to the hospital this past Tuesday with viral pneumonia. It was a very sad and scary time for us, but again, Madison is on the recovering and is going to be just fine! She is already acting more like herself, but she is still a little congested and is not back to normal eating yet. The doctor says that it will take some time for her to fully recover but she is doing remarkably better. We have a follow up doctors appointment on Monday and she still needs a little time to rest and get back on track. We have been hanging pretty low and trying to catch up on hours of lost sleep. Unfortunately, I am now sick...ugh! Thank you again though to everyone for their kindness, phone calls, food, flowers, and prayers. It means a lot to us.

On a different note, Madison had her first haircut (more like a quick trim because she didn't have too much hair to start...we just wanted to make it a little more even) and Madison went to the Stockshow Rodeo for the first time. Madison did a great job getting her hair cut and sat so still, it was impressive for a first haircut! She also really enjoyed the rodeo and loved seeing all the animals.

Thank you to my dear friend Sarah for a wonderful girls night out for dinner and dessert to celebrate my 31st birthday!

On my actual birthday, Matt and I had an evening out alone (THANK YOU Drew and Bethany!!) for sushi and drinks by the fire at the St. Julien. My co-workers also brought in lunch and a cake, which was a fun surprise! And on Sunday (the day before my birthday) Drew, Bethany, and Quinn had us over for a birthday brunch following church. It was a great birthday!

Cool kids (Elliot and Madison) hangin' out in the Barbie Jeep!

Madison's 1st haircut at Tapestry!

Such a good girl

Just a tiny trim :)

"I love it!"

You look beautiful sweetie...and so grown up!

We of course saved the hair, but it wasn't much :)

Checking out all the horses with daddy

We had a great time at the Stock Show

Such a natural cowgirl!

This picture breaks my heart :( This is the only picture that I will show of the not so good moments though...

The beautiful view outside our window

A happier girl!

On the day she was discharged, Madison was definitely a little more upbeat and even pretended that her bed was a slide, with tubes on and all!

And she's up and running! "Go faster daddy!!"

Keeping her busy and happy...she was SO ready to get out of there!

The only thing she would really eat...a fewfrench fries! Not even the ice cream next to her...whose kid is she?!

Discharge day! "I'm out of here dudes!!"

Happy, Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year...WOW, its been a LONG while!!

We're back!! As you can see from the title, it has been a LONG while since I have posted!! I pretty much missed the entire holiday season! The holidays were very busy for us, but also very fun! We stayed here for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and were fortunate to have our families come in town for most of that time! For Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a great dinner with Matt's brother Peter, our sister-in-law, Anna, and friends, Lisa and Lydia. Madison also turned 2 on December 19th! Crazy to think that two years has gone by already, but she is definitely becoming more fun the older she gets. We absolutely adore her personality and all the funny moments that she brings to our life. Madison had a great party with many of our friends and family, and even got a surprise arrival from my older brother, Kyle, my sister-in-law, Jessi, and my nephew, Carter! My Nana, younger brother, Bryan, and my mom and dad were also here for the big day! For Christmas, Matt's family was in town and we had a great time celebrating, sledding, and being together. We also joined them in Durango for New Year's along with some other family friends and had a fun time ringing in the New Year. 2011 was a great year, and we are excited for the new memories that 2012 will bring! We hope that you had a blessed holiday season and a Happy New Year as well!

**Warning: There are a lot of photos here and because it took me several different evenings to get this blog together, the pictures are not all in order (sorry, but you'll get it!)

Thanksgiving Day-My friend and kitchen helper, Lisa.

This was our 2nd time hosting Thanksgiving (1st time in our new home) and while its a lot of work, its fun to set "the table", decorate, and cook!

The perfect turkey (thanks to Matt)! Unfortunately, we had to buy 2 turkeys that day because we had a little confusion about cooking time/type of oven (convection vs conventional) and we experienced a true Griswold Christmas Vacation turkey moment...the turkey actually turned gray and was starting to smoke! Realizing that I had guests coming over in less than 2 hours, I began to panic, but thanks to Whole Foods and Matt's quick, non-emotional thinking abilities, he had a new turkey in the oven within an hour. With a few spices, and a quick few hours in the convection oven, Matt made the perfect Thanksgiving turkey that made the day!

We are so thankful for the wonderful friends and family that we have in our lives. Thank you for celebrating with us Peter, Anna, Lydia, and Lisa (not pictured because she was taking the picture).

The delicious spread!

Thanksgiving night, Lisa and I searched through the hundreds of ads and actually did it!! We went shopping at midnight for Black Friday! Unfortunately, after a ling day of cooking, we were pooped and only made it to Target...oh well, the experience was fun and at least we can say that we did it :)

Our Christmas card- Happy Holidays from the Fargos!

Silly scrunchie smile!

So sad!! She was NOT a fan of putting on her snow suit, but once we took off the layers underneath, she was able to breath and was much happier.

Helping daddy shovel all the snow

Madison loves to catch snowflakes

Ellie is an even bigger fan of the snow!

Such a big girl! She loves drinking from her lid-less cup!

Our little conductor playing with trains on our play date with Emery, Turner, and Miss Dru at the Children's Museum

Madison thought it was so cool to play "grocery store" and act as the clerk

Catching bubbles with Emery

Crazy hair!!

Cool chick!

SURPRISE!! Carter is here! I knew that my mom, dad, younger brother, and Nana were coming in, but we had no idea that Kyle, JEssi, and Carter were coming in town until we showed up at the restaurant for dinner and they were sitting at the table. When the hostess went to seat us, my mom stopped at a table that already had people at it and said, "oh this table is fine". To this, I exclaimed, "Mom! There are people sitting here already!" Well, those people were K, J, and C!!!! Thank you so much to you guys for coming in!

Madison and her Uncle Bry-bry (Bryan)

Papa reading a potty book to the kids...not sure he knew what he was actually about to read when Madison brought it over to him :)

My AWESOME worker bees!! Jessi is a no-nonsense, get to it machine in the kitchen and Kyle is a killer sous chef! They both worked tirelessly for hours in my kitchen prepping the night before the party an the day of the party. While the idea was cute and I loved the finished product, Kyle and Jessi especially loved cutting up and stacking the fruit on the rainbow fruit kabobs! I guess when I originally saw the idea, I didn't think it would be quite that much work...oops! Thanks for being awesome troopers guys!

Another worker bee...my Nana, ironing the letters onto Madison's birthday shirt.

The amazing birthday party food spread... homemade quiche, homemade pigs in a blanket (another project that took a little longer than anticipated), waffle kabobs, rainbow fruit kabobs, and bagels with smoked salmon dip! It was delicious and again a HUGE thank you to my brother, Kyle, and sister-in-law, Jessi for the help! I really could not have done it without you!!

The big hit at the birthday party...the bouncy castle that we got Madison for her birthday present

Cutie Miss Glynnis

Handsome Mr. Elliot...don't you just love that argyle?!

My two sister-in-laws (Jessi and Anna)

Beautiful Miss Emery

Adorable Anderson enjoying the bouncy cow

Handsome Houston

Crazy Colby

Our dear friend, Drew, and my younger brother, Bryan

Awwww!! My beautiful friend, Dru, and her cutie pie boy, Turner. You can tell that he is hers!

Look at that hat! Thanks Miss Kiki!

Carter being cautious about eating his cupcake

And Quinn is just goin' for it...you girl girl! That's the way to do it!

And that's a good way too! But, hey, she's the birthday girl, so she can eat her cupcake however she wants to :)

"Oops! Sorry Papa, let me get this off your shirt!"

Madison loves baby Turner so much that she almost took him out of my mom's hands :)

Hot chocolate cups for the kids...thanks Nana for your great gluing skills!

The flower arrangements to match Madison's bright and beautiful personality

Cupcakes for everyone! Mad icing skills Jessi!

Happy 2nd Birthday from Minni Mouse!

Papa putting together the house that he and Nana got Madison for her birthday...you wouldn't believe how many pieces that thing took to build!

My brothers bet my dad that he couldn't fit through the house, so of course he had to do it! And he made it!

Opening the presents...thank you to everyone! Madison received some really awesome gifts!

Dinner at Lulu's BBQ...Carter, Nana B, Madison, and Nana

The cool kids :) Bryan, Mel, and Jessi

Me and Matt...gosh I look pale! Hopefully it was just the flash :)

Sorry guys, I had to put this in, though it was too funny. Nana, my mom, and dad all ordered the ribs special and they were HUGE!

Starbucks with my brothers

Madison's first time with peanut butter...she loved it and no allergic reaction, yea!

Love this picture :) Thanks Nana and Papa for the Santa snowmen hats

Where's Madison?! She's the best present of all!

Before most of my family left on the 18th, we celebrated an early Christmas and had a special day together

Thanks Uncle Bryan for the baby high chair and seat!

Thanks Nana B for the baby car seat...it always goes with us!

Cousins playing toys together

Nana and Papa spoiling their grandbabies!

Cousin love!

My dad showing off his new shirt to my brothers who are notorious for stealing his stuff

Reading with daddy in the bouncy castle

Happy 2nd Birthday Madison!!

My mom and dad stayed to help Madison celebrate on her real birthday and we had a great day together, starting off at the Huckleberry for pancakes.

"So how does this work now..."

"Oh yes, I got it...2"

The Birthday girl and breakfast pancake

Having fun on the dinosaurs at the mall

Deciding which Build A Bear to make

This is the one! Heart Birthday Bear, and it actually sings to her :)

Thanks for the awesome house Nana and Papa!

Birthday day dinner and dessert at Pasta Jay's...don't look so serious Madison!

Not so serious anymore...she's diggin' that ice cream!

A great birthday day, weekend, and celebration! Happy 2nd birthday sweetie!

Thanks for the vacuum Nana B! Madison is a great helper now and is so on top of vacuuming anytime she sees dog hair on the rug, which is hourly!

Christmas Cookie time! What a fun night with our friends Drew, Bethany, and Quinn! We sure made a mess Bethany, but boy was it fun!

Thumbprints and Russian Tea Cakes...so yummy!

Carter and Madison visiting Santa...clearly Carter was not impressed :(

Come in Grandma! Like my bouncy castle?!

Christmas Eve dinner

Drinking tea with Grandma

Fargo Family Christmas Eve dinner

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Minnie Mouse shopping cart

Christmas morning...presents galore! We are so thankful for all that we have and the time with family.

A cash register from Santa

So cute! Thanks Uncle Danny for the snowshoes and sweater!!

A cute present :)

Just love this picture...its so sweet

Giddy-up cowgirl!! Madison already had the hat from Grandma and Grandpa, but they gave her these cool light up pink cowgirl boots and pony (which Madison decided to ride...with just a diaper on :) )

And cowgirl books to go along with the boots

A pink Strider bike with a horn and pouch. Thanks G & G!

Christmas Day sledding...this was Madison's 1st time down a real big hill and she loved it!! Most of the time she went by herself and had absolutely no fear...that's our girl!

Family fun

Off to Durango for New Year's...Madison's 1st airplane seat of her own

Crazy boys! Matt and Jeff (Grizzly) playing in the old school phone booths at the Strader Hotel in Durango

Madison loved playing the piano at G and G's house...maybe she will have a musical ear, because I sure do not!

On a walk with Grandpa

Playing in downtown Durango with Grandma

While Madison was enjoying a day with Grandma and Grandma, Matt, Jeff, Lydia, and I went skiing at Durango Mountain. It was a great day and we all had a blast! The rest of the gang went too, but its always tricky to stick with a big group.

Its been quite a while since we went skiing together, just the two of us, and it was a blast!

An amazing day at the mountain with open, groomed runs!

HAPPY NEW YEAR's and a great 2012 to everyone!!

Tim, you wear that so well :)

And the clock strikes 12!

Back from Durango and lookin' cute in her sweater from Uncle Danny

Thanks Nana and Papa for the Jeep (Madison and Carter both got Jeeps for Christmas from Nana and Papa and they both love them). Madison is anything but a good driver, but she sure enjoys pushin' that pedal to the medal!

Thanks for bearing with us through this extremely long post, but there was SO much to catch up on...and still 2 more posts to come, believe it or not!