Uncle Arlen comes for a visit.

This year, we didn't get to see Uncle Arlen at Christmas.  But he came to visit once in January and again in February!

I snapped some pics from his visit in Feb.

We went out to a couple dinners while he was here.  Clara donned Pop's hat for a funny shot at Bittercreek after a trip to the bookstore where Clara was treated to three special books (thanks Uncle Arlen!).

Another day, we walked the greenbelt while Clara rode her bike.

Then we popped into Zoo Boise because Arlen had never seen it before.  Clara showed him all around, and not surprisingly, we all enjoyed viewing the animals...

and acting like animals!!!

Thanks for coming Uncle Arlen!  We always love to see you and spend time together!

Clara's 4th birthday party.

Clara turned 4!  This dinky little thing...

is now 4 years old!

So we invited family over for a little celebration.  All the aunties and uncles were able to come (except we missed Emmy...she was busy at the hospital doing her preceptorship in preparation for May graduation).

I snapped some shots of all the guests having fun.

Jeff had the most fun while scooping dog poop... one chore we didn't get done before the party.

Clara had wonderful helpers while opening gifts!

She is pretty used to being the center of attention...

She wanted a Frozen cake.  I was lazy and printed out some cupcake toppers, jazzed them up a bit, and shoved them in the top of the cake.  She didn't mind!

Just look at her...

We enjoyed lovely weather on her special day.  The kids made it out to the playhouse for some fun!

Too bad the sun was so bright... we didn't get a great shot of the three of us.

And from here on out, the pics are out of order...

These were the cookies Clara took to preschool (along with milk and CARROTS?- her choice) to share with her friends on her special day.

And finally, we celebrated Opa's birthday the day before with some delish coconut cake.  All the children wore red tops and blue pants that day, just like Opa...a total coincidence!

 This was my birthday trap for Clara.  She made it out just fine, but the first thing she said to Kurtis and I on the morning of her birthday was, "Mac's stuck!"  Our big, black lab Mac sleeps with Clara on her bed each night, and he couldn't quite figure out how to escape through the scary crepe paper!

The morning of the 22nd, Kurtis made Clara some pancakes fit for a four-year-old!

Here's the big girl showing off her amazing preschool crown!

Emmy came over later in the evening to celebrate with us!  Clara was thrilled to see her, as always!

What a special little girl Clara is!  We're so lucky to have had her around for 4 years!

February fun.

We've been to the zoo a few times since we received our ZOO pass for Christmas, and it never gets old (for Clara and I).

On a particularly warm day, we capped off the Zoo fun with a trip for frozen yogurt.

Kurtis and I went to Sakana for sushi, which we've done for most of our Valentine's Days.  The only photo I got was of my food...but sushi is so pretty!

Clara and I have had some tea parties together since she got her tea set for Valentine's Days.  At this particular party, we had tea and carrots with hummus.  We live on the wild side!

And Clara and Emmy and I went for dollar sushi one week night, and Clara loved it!  She entertained the other diners with her enthusiasm for her food.  However, she did have a wasabi incident...

McCall Winter Carnival 2015.

Steve and Teenie have a great landlord who has a place in McCall, and they let them stay there (and they were ok with us crashing the party, too!).

We holed up in the cabin for a lot of the weekend, but we did get out to enjoy the sunshine for the parade.  Clara was a little moody because she didn't catch candy right out of the shoot, so Oma worked the crowd and jumped her way around to nab sweets for her.  Thanks for saving the day, Oma!

We saw a Frozen snow sculpture...

And after the parade, while we waited for the guys to go retrieve the vehicles, we walked toward the cabin and took a pit stop at the fire station.  We took a little break, and the nice firefighters invited us in for some fire truck fun and free helmets.  Bonus!

PS - Will was the king of getting free stuff at the parade.  We think everyone saw how short he was and gave him extras.  The kid was on a sugar high and was wearing millions of necklaces!

We also went to the Boise State vs. University of Idaho hockey game.  It was wild and crowded, but we had fun!

We also found lots of time for games...this is always Kurtis' favorite part!

And the day we headed home, the guys spent time outside with the kids sledding.  And after a weekend of gorgeous 40 degree weather, the snow poured down as we drove out of town!

It was a great weekend getaway...and to top it all off, Kurtis and I listened to almost all of Serial (the podcast) while Clara watched movies in the back seat...parenting at its finest!