Sledding and Snow!

Hannah and Jacob in the morning after the first snow this winter.....getting ready to go to school.  They were hoping for a snow day -- but no such luck. 

We have had one good storm before Thanksgiving -- which gave us 6" or more of snow.  So the cross-country skis and sleds got dusted off and brought up from the basement; the snow boots and ski boots made an appearance; the coat rack and bench is fully loaded with hats, mittens, snowpants and winter coats; and the kids started asking for hot cocoa and marshmallows.

We skied around our house with the kids while Lois was visiting and the kids loved it!  Sophie even tried the strap-on cross country skis and loved "sliding" as she called it.   Luke struggled at first but then was determined to get back out there with the big kids.  Hannah and Jacob had a lot of fun skiing on the hill from our neighbor's house to ours.  

Luke on real skis this year!  No more strap-on skis!

We also took a trip up Hot Brook Canyon
 and went sledding at the Bastian's house.  It was a fun day of sledding and fellowship with good friends.  Pat and I got a new sled for the kids at Ace Hardware that morning that all four of them can ride in together.

Our friend, Sky

Sweet brother helping his sister up the hill

The boys were both very good about helping Sophie back up the hill.

I LOVE this picture!

She was a trooper!  And had such fun - she would giggle most of the way down the hill.

Our Christmas Tree

A new tree!  We have had a little table-top tree for the last 4 years.  It was fun to get a bigger tree this year!  I found a tall, skinny tree which fits perfectly in our living room.
After several years with our small tree that didn't hold many ornaments, the kids had so much fun discovering all the ornaments we could hang on our tree.  

Each year the kids receive ornaments from us and from Nana and Papa (a tradition my parents began when I was young).  There were several ornaments that we have never been able to hang up because they were too big for our little tree.  What a gift for me to watch the kids unwrap and discover the ornaments - each one had a special memory for us - from different times in our lives.  It was fun to talk about them with the kids.  And to share the ornaments that I received as a child.  They learned new things about me and what things I liked as a child.  A great afternoon together!

A visit with Santa

Hannah and Luke wrote letters to Santa this year.  And hand delivered them to Santa when they saw him and Mrs. Claus on Saturday.  They were so proud of their letters.  

 

The girls wore their Big Sister/Little Sister shirts for their visit with Santa.

 I thought for sure Sophia would be scared.  But she got right up on Mrs. Claus' lap and talked a blue streak with her.  They gave Santa their letters and he had a special book to put them in which he showed to them. 

 This is the first time our kids sat on Santa's lap (Jacob had a few experiences with Santa when he was young but they always ended in tears).  And this year he said he was too old to take part.  The small-town Santa experience was wonderful.  They took time to listen to the kids, interact with them and this helped our kids not to be afraid or shy.  They each gave Santa a hug goodbye.  Sophia talked about giving Santa a hug for the rest of the day.

The next day Luke found our Santa hat and he and Hannah had fun playing Santa and Mrs. Claus together.  Hannah stuffed his belly to make him look fat and they made pretend lists which Santa read and then delivered presents to our stockings.  I love their creative play!

Halloween

Friday Night.....Our Family at the Fall Carnival (Pat and I decided to dress up a bit too)

Sunday Night.....The kids waiting to trick or treat

An angel 

A glowing angel 

(I made her wings out of carboard which I spray painted silver - I like how they glow in this picture)

 A silly Baseball Player

Another silly baseball player 

(didn't have any non-silly pictures of  J. this Halloween!)

A Mouse

 A silly mouse

A Princess

A pouting princess (I wouldn't let her have another piece of candy)

 

  A silly princess

A tired princess

Happy Halloween!

Vail, Colorado, Part 2

Finally a wrap up from our trip to Vail....

Carrie and Kailyn at the resort pool

Warming up in the hot tub with Papa

Jacob the fish....

Kailyn and Sophie -- it was a bit cold for swimming --- the little one's spent a lot of time wrapped up.

Sophie loved this thing! It was really springy and I was amazed at how she could get it moving!

Sisters! They had fun on the new equipment at this park.

Nana even got in the action on the cool things at the park.  This thing made my stomach feel funny

Luke had a great time exploring

Taking a shot -- Jacob brought his basketball on the trip and was happy to have a chance to play

Score!

Jacob and I had fun taking action shots of one another on the court.

Giant, kid-friendly (and parent friendly) teeter-totter

The river in Vail

Nana and Sophia

The covered bridge and the clock tower in downtown Vail

Jacob, Hannah and Luke posing with the Ski Paratrooper

Gondola Ride up the mountain

Dad and Mom on the gondola

Luke, Mommy, Sophie and Jacob

A view from the top

At the top with my kiddos - it was breathtaking!

Beautiful Colorado!

Vail, Colorado, Part 1

We traveled to Vail, CO for a week-long vacation in the mountains with Nana and Papa, Aunt Carrie and Kailyn.  This is a view from our balcony.  We stayed in Lion's Head Village at Vantage Point Condominiums.  We had a beautiful view of the mountains and enjoyed watching the gondolas travel up the mountain.  And watched the extreme mountain bikers and runners on the mountain. 

Here's a view zoomed in on the chairlift.  We waited all week to ride up to the top of the mountain.  This time of year the gondolas only run on the weekend. 

Pirateship Park

 We spent two afternoons playing at this park -- it was unique and had a peaceful setting right along the river.

Hannah rocking on the little boat.

Jacob climbing on the funky crocodile.

Luke poking his head out the port hole.

 It was fun to be together -- it had almost been a year since we saw everyone!

 Aunt Carrie and Kailyn arrived on Monday.   Sophia was eager to climb in Carrie's lap -- but wasn't very eager to smile for this picture.

Kailyn and Hannah didn't miss a beat -- they started playing together right away and played well together the whole time.

Betty Ford Alpine Gardens
We visited the gardens on my Mom's birthday before going out to dinner together.  The gardens were gorgeous and there was a really fun park adjacent to the gardens where we stopped afterward.

These were my favorite flowers at the gardens!

Group shot at the little waterfall.

Sophia and I were pals at the garden so I have a lot of pictures of her by the scenery.  She loved to find flowers laying on the ground to carry around because she knew that she couldn't pick the flowers.
It looks like she's pretty close to picking something in this picture.....

  There was a old log cabin on the grounds of the gardens.

 Dad and Mom at the gardens

Funky Tree at the gardens

There were cool rocks carved to look like birds.  The kids (big and little) had fun climbing on them.

Mom and Carrie with the bird

Hannah and Kailyn on the bird

Some really cool park features I had never seen before....

Civilized teeter-totter for little ones

Luke really loved this park!

We had dinner out on the town and then stopped at this fountain on the way home.  Sophie was fascinated.

Time to celebrate Mom's birthday with fresh strawberry pie!

and presents to open.  It was fun to be with my mom on her birthday.  That doesn't happen very often since we are so far away.

This blog entry is getting so long -- and so overdue that I've decided to call this "part 1" and post it tonight.  More pics of our week in Vail to follow.