Guest Blogger - Tammy

Hi everyone! I'm excited to be a guest blogger today on New Years Baby. My husband, Kevin, and I met Chad and Katy a couple of years ago through our church, St. Mark's. We were new to the Twin Cities (from California, by way of New York), and were looking to meet other young couples in our new home state, and we were excited when we met Chad and Katy. Though it took a few months for the four of us to get together after our initial meeting, we eventually realized that the four of us together = a good time (my 26th birthday party was a particularly memorable occasion). :)

When we heard the happy news that a little West would be joining us all in the winter of 2011, and then when Nina made her fashionably early entry into the world in December, we were thrilled for our friends! Nina, we think, is one of the cutest, sunniest, sweetest little girls, and we think her parents are pretty awesome as well. We love having the three Wests in our lives, as both friends and neighbors (about a year after Chad and Katy bought their home, Kev and I purchased a home only a couple of blocks away from them), and we've really enjoyed watching Nina grow - from her first tiny days in the hospital, to now, a fun and sunny almost 7-month old.

It's such a fun stage of life we are all in --- marriage, house buying, babies, growing families --- and to be able to share in it all with good friends feels like a true blessing. We look forward to many more good times with the West family in the coming years!

Here are some pictures from the 4th of July - Kev and I had hosted a bbq at our house, and then we all watched the spectacular fireworks over the Mississippi, from the Science Center in downtown St. Paul --- it was a great 4th!