Christmas love and joy

Colter was so excited to get his real snowboard. We went out in the 10 degree weather and tore it up! He did really well and always has such a good attitude about learning new things. Next photo is for Daddy- he loves to dress the boys up in motorcross gear.

More snowboard smiles.He has already decided that he will snowboard most of the time and ski sometimes. Dylan wakes up more like Mommy- Colter was ready to get to the presents.

All dressed up for Christmas Eve service. Aunt Ruth sent that sweater from Europe, so cute.

Colter asked for a Nutcracker that cracks real nuts. Grandma and Mac-Mac came through and he was thrilled. We quickly found out that it can crack pecans, but not almonds- oops. Thanks to Gorrilla Glue, we are back in the pecan cracking business. Our wonderful library had a cute little Holiday PJ party for the kids. Behind Colter and Dylan are friends Finn and Rocky.

There is now an obsticle course with jumps and sleds to pull, the snowbiling keeps progressing.

Ahhhhh.......

Brrr...

Cute new Christmas jammies and tree decorating-yeah!

More sand dune time in Moab, chillier this time but still fun. Daddy "dog pile".

A little Santa time, Colter wants a real snowboard, legos and tools. Dylan wants the "boo shoful" and toys. Skiing on Thanksgiving, it was sunny and warm!

This is Colter's first snowmobile. Yes it is real, but it has a thing that doesn't let it go very fast. He and Eli love it and rip around the pasture at Rob and Sheila's going about 8 mph. So funny to watch. This snowboard is more like a sled and although all of the neighborhood kids have fun going down the slide on it- Colter still wants a real one!

It has been cold here. Like below freezing for days with lots of snow and wind cold---yuck! The good news is that the hydroplant has decided to run for days through these crazy temps and that means no hiking up to the intake! We have spent alot of time working on it this fall and are hoping that it will run smooth from here on out. Ski season started and we have already been out a good bit. Colter is skiing well, still jumping off everything, and Dylan is on the harness and yelling "go faster Daddy!" Dylan is such a happy little guy and he can talk- alot! This week he has added "nuffin","everyfin","somefin else", and "miss you mommy" (even if I'm just across the room) among many other sayings. He tells great stories, usually about Colter or school. He loves to help me shovel snow and I hope he doesn't lose that desire anytime soon. He can sing most of his ABC's, eieio, spider, paddie take and twinkle- atleast he can sing enough to get someone else to sing it to him. Dylan is a dancing fool and loves to "me play hockey, Colter too". School has been going great for both of them. I am so happy about that- they are both very happy and the teachers are very nice. With two weeks till the "holidays", things are ramping up and the energy is increasing. I understand why parents use Santa to bribe some good behavior----I'm tempted sometimes! It looks like another incredibly busy year for the property management crew as more people are choosing to come to homes they already own instead of other more expensive options. Trevor, as always, is a rock star and is getting it all done. We have no major plans for the near future and just hope to ski, snowboard, play hockey, work and enjoy the winter!

Warm weekend in Moab, in November?

This giant sand dune north of Moab was incredible! We had so much fun and got some dry land training for skiing. This thing is so steep and HUGE, but the kids kept running up and down. Colter went all the way bottom to top twice and then up and down the lower half for over an hour! Dylan made it to the top as well and giggled the entire way down. We will definately be visiting this more often, we were exhausted.

Dylan starts the "Daddy, moped" chant as soon as we enter Moab. He loves that thing. The next pic is Dylan riding his little bike on Fins'n'things. He and Colter did really well for their first official Moab mountain biking adventure.

Yes, mud pies in November! Lilly is in the dress and Kendahl is in the blue tank top. I love the one where Colter is about to get splashed--he didn't mind at all! Do you like how Dylan is pushing up the legs on the already soaked sweats?

This was our November 8th rafting kids crew. Lilly, Dylan, Colter, Katie and Lucia in front. We had all five kids plus four adults on the boat. Again, super fun day! The kids and weather were on great behavior and we enjoyed the changing fall colors. The kids got in the water--not warm, but they are crazy children of the mountains.

Loved it- great time! Now it is snowing outside and it is time to change gears for ski season. Moab, we will return in the spring.

Halloween and other fall fun

I was hoping to sit down and give a big update about all the goings on around here during my morning when the kids are at school. Instead, I did laundry, dishes, actually took a real shower and guess what?, it's time to pick up Dylan. Oh well, atleast all the chores are done! The boys are liking school and I am starting to enjoy my few hours a week of quiet work time. Colter started hockey on Wed. It is so cute and he is loving it. He had never been on hockey skates before and couldn't even stand up at the beginning of practice. He had a wonderful attitude, a great team of coaches and lots of padding---by the end of practice he was skating by himself with his hockey stick. He laughed, smiled and joked with the coaches the entire time and was very proud of himself at the end. I love seeing him learn things and have such a great attitude! The next morning he wanted to go skate some more and practice to surprise his coaches at the next practice. By the end of that session, he was skating and then sliding across the ice on his belly just like the big kids were the day before. Very funny. Dylan also wanted to "play hockey" when we went to the open skate session and it was hilarious! He looked like Bambi out there trying to stand up. He had a walker and his legs were moving non stop trying to run across the ice! He laughed so hard he fell over several times- and he was trying to slide across the ice like Colter. So far being a hockey mom is fun, guess Trevor and I will have to get some skates and try it out! Star Wars Halloween was great. It was chilly, but not freezing for Trick or Treating and freezing for the parade. We had a great time and are still dealing with the candy----couldn't we all start a fun tradition of giving out something remotely healthy??

Off to get Dylan for naptime...

Leaf piles,pumpkins and hiking

Pumpkin painting is serious business!

Colter has been wearing his Clone Trooper costume from the moment he took it off the shelf. He is very excited about Star Wars and the entire neighborhood of boys gets together to play Star Wars and also street hockey- more on that later. Cute pic in the park.

A bit cold out and these two bust out the ski goggles and gloves. "I a knight Mommy!", "On guard"

Giant leaf piles at Modee and Pappy's provide hours of fun!

We squeezed in as many beautiful fall hikes as we could. This one was up Bear Creek and it was a great day!

I can't believe another month has gone by. We have been outside playing and enjoying the last few warm days of fall. Every afternoon when the neighborhood gets home from school the streets come alive with games and activity. The new game is street hockey as most of the boys will be playing ice hockey soon. They get all dressed up in their pads and wack the ball around--very cute. Before that it was Star Wars and trampoline time and tag...... these kids have a great time together. More on the Star Wars stuff after Halloween. The boys started school a couple days a week last week and so far, so good. I miss them, but am happy to have even a few hours to get my work done. It makes it easier to focus on the boys and not be so distracted when they are home. Colter is so social, he loves to be around his friends and loves his preschool. We are looking forward to a great winter there. Dylan is a bit unsure about the whole idea and we are helping him adjust very slowly. He enjoys playing for a while and loves to see Colter when he is playing outside. He stayed for a few hours today and told me he had fun, so that was a good sign. We have been busy rebuilding the intake system at the hydroelectric plant and as usual it has consumed all of our free time. The new system is operating at a very minimal level, but it is working. One more weekend and we should be cruising for the winter. Dylan is rattling off sentences and words like crazy. He is starting to sing songs and loves to dance and play his "mumic" on the CD player. He continues to be Captain Busy Hands and is making us laugh every day. How did we get so lucky as to have two active, funny, smart and physically coordinated boys who love adventures? I love them so much! One day last week the boys and I hiked from the hydro intake back to Modee and Pappy's (Dylan hiked the whole way) then Colter got on his bike and we walked/rode another 2 1/2 miles to Orvis to soak in the hot springs.

Part of the series of questions tonight at bedtime started with us listening to R. Carlos Nakai (a native american flutist)

"Mom, will I ever be as good as he is?" "Sure honey, it took him years of practice, but no problem, you can do whatever you want to" "Can I have guitar and flute lessons everyday?"

"Mom, can we go to the red rock canyons where he plays and listen to him sometime?""Sure honey, that sounds like fun"

"Mom, do you think he wears lots of feathers on his headdress or just one in the front?" "Not sure honey, we can look up his picture tomorrow."

"Mom, pickles and cucumbers really look alot alike, are they related?" "Yes dear, good night."

Yup, never a dull moment. We should have invested in Google years ago, I end up using it almost everyday to find answers to Colter's questions. When I don't have a quick answer for him, he says "Let's look it up, what .com do you think it will be on?"

We will post some pics after Halloween- should be a good one this year. Star Wars for the entire family!