Just another ski day

Since our lives consist of work, school, and skiing lately, the only pics we seem to take are skiing. Go figure.

We all went skiing today. P had practice, and the rest of us went to enjoy the beautiful day. I keep thinking we're bound to get hit with another bout of winter weather, but so far, so good! I can't believe how amazing the weather has been this winter. I almost don't want to admit it because #1, it might take a turn for the worse, and #2, I kinda don't want to admit that I've almost enjoyed winter this year!

Today was warm, sunny, blue skies: beautiful. We got to the mountain early, and it wasn't too crowded, despite the multitude of ski resorts nearby that are closed, or have bad conditions. The afternoon got a little crowded, but we were mostly tired out by then!

Tired boy!

Vacation!

Winter in N. Idaho makes me feel blah. It's SO cold. And snowy. And just blah. I thought I could go without a vacation this year (that was the plan, given the new-business-owner status), but about a month ago, John and I started to get the travel bug. We thought maybe we could swing another cruise (by far our favorite way to family vacation!), but when it came down to it, we couldn't justify the cost. I ended up finding a pretty spectacular deal on a Disneyland vacation - after way too much time searching and piecing it together! John only had to take 2 days off work, which was a definite bonus, and the kids only missed 3 days of school. Plus, we got to enjoy some BEAUTIFUL weather! It was close to 80 degrees most of the time we were there, and lots of SUNSHINE! 

So, while it wasn't necessarily a "relaxing" vacation, it was a much needed getaway for us. I'm a little sad to be back to the cold, drizzly weather, but I'm thankful that we had a few days of warmth, and also thankful that there is no snow here right now!

On the way to the airport

Stopping for milkshakes on our way to the airport at John's favorite spot

Kitty Baby & Ducky

This kid is constantly bouncing around!

No, this didn't last. We had to separate them before we even took off!

Disney/Legoland pics to come!

Christmas!

We almost had a white Christmas this year. We got snow on Christmas Eve, but it all melted off before Christmas! And we had a couple of days of snowless weather before we got hit with the snow again. John's mom took the boys overnight on the 23-24th, so John and I got to take a nice, snowy walk to the store on Christmas Eve.

We did Christmas with Grandma on Christmas Eve, and then stayed home on Christmas Day. It's nice to have quiet (well, as quiet as it gets in our house anyway...) holidays at home. We had a fun relaxing day. The boys got to spend some time enjoying their gifts, and playing games. 

We finally got Just Dance for the Wii and the kids love it! 

We decided to go skiing (first day this season) on Saturday. When we left in the morning, it was very light snowing, but it got kinda crazy while we were on the mountain. On the way home, cars were sliding all over the road and pulling over all over the place making for some interesting driving conditions. It took us about twice as long as usual to get home! Not a fun time. But then short after we got home, the cousins arrived! My brother and his family stopped by for a night on their way back to Oregon from Canada. It was so fun for the kids to see their cousins, and we had plenty of snow for them to play in! 

I can't believe how quickly break is going. We only have one week left! I'm not ready for school to start again. I think we need a longer break!!

So Little Time

So many things going on, so little time to blog about them!

Where to even start...

We re-sided our house! We are still waiting on one window, and we need to paint the trim, but that is obviously not happening since the weather outside is very un-Spring-like. 

And on that note, we just spontaneously booked a vacation! We were planning to go next Fall, but for various reasons that is probably not going to happen, so we're going on a cruise! We went last March and had an amazing time...hopefully we will repeat that. I can't wait. And every day, I have to give the countdown to the boys who are bouncing off the walls excited. They had so much fun in the kid's club last time that they can't wait to go back. Sadly, I think they are counting on their favorite person working there and they might be a bit disappointed when they realize new boat = new kid's club employees. 

Otherwise, birthday parties:

Lost teeth...

A little dental work...

Lots of time in the snow...

And rainbow loom messes...

John was gone this weekend (working in Boise), so I've been trying to keep the boys busy which is difficult considering it "feels like -6" according to my phone. And I would agree - it's COLD. The snow is currently falling, and blowing horizontal as it does. Good thing I have a warm weather vacation to look forward to!

Is it Spring yet?

No. No it's not. 

Instead it's currently dumping snow on us. I thought things were taking a turn for the better after our negative temperatures/highs in the single digits, but instead we have low 20's and snow. Ugh. Not sure which I'd prefer, but I'm definitely not a fan of either one! Give me 80 degrees and sunny all year round please! Or at least above freezing. I'd take that at this point.

6 weeks until Spring, right? I can make it!

Oregon just had a huge snow storm (well huge for Oregon), and I was reminded of why I used to like snow and now despise it. In Oregon, everything shuts down. People enjoy the snow because it comes maybe once a year (maybe!), and only lasts for a few days. Here? School and work go on like normal, even with 3 feet of snow on the ground. Ice? Deal with it. Temperatures that feel like -30 with windchill? It's okay, just keep the kids inside during recess (yes, this happened all last week...I felt so sorry for the teachers!).

But enough complaining. For now. And a few pictures to liven things up!

Monster jam!

Swimming lessons...B has now learned to take breaths while swimming, and Arch can swim the width of the pool (no breaths yet). Preston is working on perfecting a few different strokes. I'm so proud of them & impressed at the crazy progress they have made since we started in September!

Ski Day

The snow has finally arrived. It showed up Tuesday night and has been dumping constantly ever since. Obviously I am not a snow girl, but my boys have been beyond excited. John happened to have today off work, so we decided to let the boys skip school for a ski day. 

They woke up ridiculously early (before 6!) so we got an early start. I made it up the "big lift" (and back down obviously!) twice, which was a big accomplishment for me. B & Arch did a kids program for a few hours, and P took a lesson with me while John got some skiing time in. Overall, a good day! I still panic occasionally, but I'm having fun surprisingly. 

Yay! Excited for a family day!

Lunch break

Cutie boy ready to go back out!

The Bunny Hill

I conquered the bunny hill yesterday skiing. It has been over 12 years since I have attempted to ski. John was just teaching me to ski when he blew out his knee for the first time, and when I finally got up the guts to go again after his recovery, I got hit by a snowboarder who was totally out of control. So needless to say, I have avoided it. I said I was never going to ski again, but I was wrong. I did it! 

John talked me into taking a lesson, and after the morning "beginner lesson" with 14+ other people and only one instructor, I had basically learned to put my skis on. Thankfully John asked why there were so many students, and they said there shouldn't be that many in a class and offered an afternoon class to me. I was hesitant (didn't want to waste more time!), but I ended up being the only student in the class! I was cruising down the bunny hill in no time. :)

The boys were my little cheerleaders. They were cruising up and down the hill (lapping me of course) and cheering me on every time they saw me. The instructor (who has grandkids) loved it and gave me lots of advice about parenting as well as skiing. Two for one deal!

I have 2 lessons left to go, and while I don't think skiing will ever be my "thing" like it is for John & at least some of the boys, I am hoping that I'll be able to keep up with them (for the next couple of years anyway)!

Me waving to a boy on the lift

John & the little guys on the lift

Arch after a wipe out!

And when we got home we were all EXHAUSTED! We crashed out on the couch & headed to bed super early!

Tubing

My brother & his kids are visiting for the weekend, so we took the kids tubing today. (And they got to come for the party last night!) It was a beautiful day on the mountain - so sunny & warm it felt like spring. I know I've been gushing over the weather lately, but I just can't get over how PERFECT the weather has been. We have hardly had any snow, and it's been above freezing almost every day. 

We had 5 kids between the ages 4 and 8 along. It was a bit of a chore keeping up with Archer at times (he tried to go down the run with the tow rope at one point), and B lost his tube down the run at least once, but the kids had SO much fun! It was so cute to see them racing down the runs and dragging their tubes over to get towed up again.

12

John and I celebrated 12 years of marriage on the 29th! It's hard to believe that it's been 12 years! 

My parents decided to come for a short visit, so we got to take advantage of free babysitting services which doesn't happen too often around here. We started off going ice skating (my first time! And by the end I was able to actually skate around the rink, which I consider to be a success!), shopped, grabbed a little bite to eat, saw Ender's Game (not impressed with the movie. I would've hated it if I hadn't read the book.), and finished off the evening at a Mexican restaurant (not our favorite one, but it was still good!). 

But the best part was just spending time together, uninterrupted, doing whatever we wanted. Because he's pretty fun to hang out with. :)

We have definitely been busybusybusy. Last night we had a surprise birthday party to go to, which was also great adult time, and tonight we will be celebrating the new year with some other friends (along with our kids!). After that, I feel like I should be entitled to a nap, but we have Preston's birthday tomorrow (although his party will be in a couple of weeks). 

Merry Christmas!

We had quite the eventful Christmas this year, mostly due to one of the boys' Christmas presents: a new puppy! Ender is a tiny (so far) lab/blue heeler mix who is only about 7-8 weeks old. She is sweet, cute, and loves the boys.

(Above: Ender's first walk on Christmas Eve...no snow! Woohoo!)

Last night we went to the Christmas Eve service at church last night, and then did our Christmas celebration with John's mom. This morning we woke up bright and early (5:30!!!!!!), the boys opened their stockings, we has breakfast, and then opened presents. Ender loved all of the excitement, and she especially loves the wrapping paper and bows! 

The boys spent most of the day playing with their gifts of course. The favorite gifts being skylanders (for all of them), spy kit (Preston), roller skates (Bryton), and Jake & the Neverland Pirates playsets (Arch).

And one of my favorite presents:

I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of Jesus with my little family. It's so nice to be able to just focus on spending time together and not feel pressure to split our time in a million different directions. We seriously relaxed the entire day today! The boys cuddled with the pup, and John even cooked dinner! And I may or may not have played my fair share of skylanders... :)

Next up...12th anniversary celebrations in 4 days, and 8th birthday of the oldest on the 1st!