Winter wonderland.....

New Year's sledding party at Mom and Dad's new neighborhood. These people take their sledding very seriously- they are pros! It was so much fun and mildly dangerous. We probably made 20 or more laps with the truck and others had been going for hours when we showed up. Fun new tradition on a HUGE hill. The pic thing is screwing up on my blog today, so the other pic of sledding is at the bottom.


So cute---

Quick trip to Keystone to visit our friends the Noldes, Adam's parents, and Trevor's parents Fun trip with lots of sledding, swimming and playing. The kids were awesome and we love travelling with those guys (they went to Mexico with us a couple of years ago). Both Colter and Dylan are swimming great these days. I wish we had more access to pools- one drawback of mountain living. Dylan was even sticking his head underwater, blowing bubbles and swimming to me.

More Keystone fun with Legos. We went to the Ouray Ice Festival this year and Colter had his first Ice Climbing lesson. He loved it and was so excited because they gave him TWO ice axes and "spikes" (crampons) for his boots. He now takes screw drivers out to the snow banks near our house so that he can climb with his "picks"

Dylan received this cute Curious George tea set for Christmas and the boys love pouring all of their drinks with it. Very cute. All friends that have come over have enjoyed it too, hours of entertainment so far. The boys make honey lemon water for people with sore throats and bubble tea (emaergen-C) for tired mornings, they understand that herbs and teas can help heal. I love it!

The next one is my boys sledding down the giant hill on New Year's.

Life is good, we are having fun and laughing alot. The other day, in a moment of frustration, Colter asked me "when exactly did you lose your mind" It made me think......"not sure honey, I'll have to get back to you." Dylan is continuing his rampage on the English language. He tells little stories now and is starting to make little jokes. He loves to sing and dance. Ei-ei-o is a current favorite and the entire reggae kids cd. I wish I had a mental tape recorder for these moments. I'm sure I will miss them as the boys grow. Colter has his first hockey games tomorrow. I can't wait to see these little guys racing all over the ice! Definately a video camera moment! Speaking of, time to go get boys for hockey practice......

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...