Visits from Family

In the last couple of months we have had two visits from family!! We feel loved. And we look forward to more visits after the baby comes-although we know those visits have nothing to do with us and everything to do with this little girl ;) First, my family drove up for spring break. We packed a lot into a few days but had tons of fun.
We had lots of hugs...

and lots of red hair...(Alyssa, then Kayla, then me)

and boy time-watching sports and playing with cars...

and girls time-making flower accessories...

and explored Kansas City, traveled through a snow blizzard, ate yummy food, and had a great time together. Thanks for coming!!

And then a couple weeks ago Shanna and Austin came to visit!! Shan and Matthew ended up with an extra flight and decided we needed a visit. I was so excited! We also packed a ton into the week. While she was here we held a booth at a local event selling our aprons. We had so much fun doing it together and had a very successful time. We hope to do more in the future! Preparing and getting ready for that took a lot of our time but once that was over we...

watched our boys play together...

and took our boys to the zoo...

and bathed the boys together (Austin had so much fun with this. So much that it almost took 3 of us to contain him. And then he pooped in the bath which totally freaked Cade out and made him weary of baths for like the next 3 days. I am literally laughing to my self right now because it was SOOO funny)...

and spent quality time with Aunt Shan... (sorry Shan-I know you will hate the first picture but it was so cute of you all in jammies and snuggling!)

Thanks for coming Shan! It was a huge help and we had tons of fun!

Utah County Surveyor

The past few weeks have been stressful as my dad has been running for Utah County Surveyor. He was by far the most qualified for the position, and all things considered, deserved to win the election. I'm proud that he ran an honest campaign and remained true to his values.

In order to avoid a primary election, my dad needed to obtain at least 61% of the votes. Fortunately, 65% of the ballots looked similar to this:

Congrats Dad!!! We are glad the delegates were able to see what we know-a hard working man of integrity who will continue to serve the people of Utah County with all diligence. Love you!

-Cole, Jenna, & Cade

Easter Picture Attempt

We have had 6 long months of really cold weather. Now with warm weather finally coming Cade is just itching to get outside. And when he does-there is no holding him back. He just loves to run around. Even at a park-he will play on the equippment for a while but then he will resort to running around in circles. On Sunday afternoon we took some pictures outside. Well, we tried to. The trick is to get Cade to hold still long enough. Our header is the only one that was close enough. Here are all the other "tries" and little snippets we caught of Cade before he dashed off again! 

I Want To Go Here

I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I have read the books over and over and love them all the more each time. I would love to go and be able to experience the world of Harry Potter first hand. J.K. Rowling has done an amazing job creating this magical, yet believable, world. How amazing for her-to have this idea she created turned into a theme park to be visited by millions world wide! Crazy, but brilliant! I have only read a little about the theme park but it sounds amazing. I know it will include the castle, something from each book, the village of Hogsmead, three main rides, and virtual experiences like a wand choosing you. They are still building, but it is suppose to open the middle of June. I know it will probably be several years until I get the chance to go but it is definitely something I am looking forward too!

Speaking of Harry Potter, on campus the other day, Cole saw on a sign that K-State offers a Harry Potter class. What a great idea for a class. But it is no easy going class. It is like a 400 level class and quite intense. I like the fact that it is not just a blow off class but it really delves into the writing, its influence on  literature, and stuff like that. I know in all the elementary schools I spent time in, you would be really out of the loop if you were not familiar with Harry Potter. It is amazing how far reaching the Harry Potter influence has gone, and as far as I am concerned, it can keep on going.

Tummy Update

This was last week- here is my 28 week shot. Mommy and baby are healthy and my doctor said I finally popped.

 Still has been a bit of a rough pregnancy. I have had lots lately to keep me busy and things to look forward to so that has been nice. Those things are still yet to be blogged about. I wanted to get this private transition done first. Hopefully nobody got left behind. I am kind of sad to be private now but I know with the way the world is now it is probably for the best. It was sort of fun to see who really did read our blog and had enough interest to want an invite! Thanks for sticking with us and feel free to leave comments-we know who you are now! ;)

Going Private

Our blog will be going private in a couple of weeks. I know it's a pain, but the time has come. When a blog goes private you will need to sign in with an email address and your email password. If you would like to continue viewing our blog, please leave an email address in the comments. If you are uncomfortable with that, but would still like to view our blog, you can also send us an email at coleratcliffe@gmail.com with your preferred email address.

Shortly after we receive your email address, you will receive an invite from us (through your email) to view our blog. The invite only lasts for a short time, so if it expires please ask for an additional invite.

We make our posts for ALL of our friends and family (even those who never make comments on our posts) and hope you will continue checking our blog-so PLEASE send us your email address!


***Even if you blogstalk us (we know this happens because we do it too!) and we don't know it (because you don't want us to know it) but would like to continue to do so, we would love to hear from you and send you an invite ;)

Like Father, Like Son

If you're not a Ratcliffe, you may not appreciate this (Jenna has made progress, but not quite there yet).

So in my former life, I REALLY enjoyed wrestling. I started from the time I was really young and competed throughout high school. I contemplated competing in college, but decided it wasn't the best thing for me at that time.

Since then, I have had my fair share of withdrawls. I have debated whether or not I would introduce wrestling to Cade, and figured I still had a few years to make that decision. However, I think I made up my mind without realizing it.

Cade is a pretty intense little boy, so him and I have been working on some wrestling moves to try and harness his abundance of energy. If you're not wrestling savvy, the move in this video is called a "Stand-up" or "escape." Basically, the point is to get up off the ground and break free from your opponent. I have to say that Cade caught on quite fast and I was very impressed.

I doubt Cade will be as much into the sport as I was, but it sure is fun to have a little boy around to wrestle with.