President's Day Off

Today was designated as a big clean up day. There were bathrooms to clean, garbages to be taken out, stairs to vacuum, rooms to organize, piles of laundry to be folded and put away, etc. The kids worked pretty hard all morning and got their jobs done. Their reward request was a trip to the park. It was very sunny out, so I said "Yes". Too bad it was not as warm as it looked. We played a little bit and got some cute pictures. Adam stayed home, but vowed he would take Sandy for a walk instead. Riley washed my car for me and restacked some wood in the backyard. Not too bad!

Happy February Hearts Day!

Honestly, this is probably the last entry for February. Just not a lot going on. The girls exchanged Valentines at school and Adam did not. Too bad for middle schoolers!

Here is Amy with her class bag full of Valentines, wearing everything hearts. Those tiny dots on her shirt are in fact hearts. Her belt has a heart buckle and the holes are hearts. And her socks had hearts all over them.

Elli went for the pink shirt and had already dumped and sorted her treats.

Adam refused to look or make a heart with his hands or crack a smile. He claims the heart sign is Justin Bieber's and would have no part! He was also trying to sneak a sucker.

Amy Turns 8!

For Amy's 8th birthday, she wanted to have a shark cake, go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, and have her friend, Kaitlyn, spend the night. I think we can handle that!

After Texas Roadhouse, the girls set up their beds and were ready for cake. Too bad the shark turned out purple.

Amy had been planning the big day for weeks! Here is the schedule she came up with. I think they stuck to it exactly as written.

Happy Birthday!

Only Christmas Photos

I did a horrible job at taking pictures this Christmas. This is all I came up with. Here is Elli in our friends' manger scene. We had never had the kids in a manger scene before. I'd heard of people doing them, but I thought it was old fashioned or something you did at church. I guess people do them with their own kids! So I brought a towel to the Christmas Eve dinner/party we were invited to and Elli got to be Mary. I really liked it! It was so sweet to see the kids be the parts and to watch their excitement. Must do again. Thanks Stacia, or Codi for sharing that tradition with us!

There is the baby! Only the most important person!

And this is the only picture I took on Christmas Day. Here are our fuzzy slipper sock feet after a fun morning of presents! Thanks Grandma for keeping our tootsies warm! They all fit great!

Christmas Eve Hike

Riley had the idea to go for a hike on Saturday morning and sent out an invite to all the locals. We were happy to have two families join us, the Willardsons and the Lauberts. I am so glad they decided to join us. Otherwise I probably would have complained most of the way. It was a bit chilly.

We started off at about 9:00. Here's Nash, the dinosaur/dragon king. He walked a lot and got rides a lot. Makes me remember trying to do things when our kids were little. It's a little easier now.

Walking, walking. Riley said the trail was 4 miles long and that we would be done by 11:00. I had a lot of baking to do!

Amy taking a break.

Alice in the pack.

As we climbed higher and higher, the ground suddenly changed to frosty frozen. There was no snow, but frost all around everything.

Brr!

Then we reached the top and found snow! I think it was made by the ski resort, but fun to play in for a while. Sandy was let off the leash and loved running all over.

Elli couldn't resist a cartwheel. I stayed as much out of the snow as I could. I know from cold Idaho winters that once you get wet, you never get warm! No cartwheels for me!

Riley so happy that we all came out on this crazy hike.

Sandy likes to run right passed people as fast as she can and here she comes!

"Mom, no pictures of me! Seriously!"

All the kids except for Adam and Alice. Let's see if I get this right... Annika, Elli, Ariel, Amy, Dallin, Nash, and Adriana.

And the rest of the group minus Nikoli and Alice, and Christina.

Dallin was surfing down the ramp.

Darin almost got Riley to sit next to him on the chair lift.

Christina couldn't resist a ride with her sweetheart.

So cute!

"Now how do I get off this crazy thing?!"

Coming down was much faster and easier. The Lauberts split and went a way we thought was longer, but they beat us down! We stayed on the trails thinking we were going so fast, while they shot right down the ski lanes. They were enjoying a snack in the car when we walked up. It was warming up a little by then and it turned out to be a great way to start the day. Thanks for joining us Willardsons and Lauberts!

2011 Gingerbread Houses

Usually I buy the big gingerbread house kit. It comes with one big house and all 3 kids try to take a turn and make it how they want it. Not always a happy time. So this year, I saw a kit at Target with 4 small buildings and thought it would work out much better. They each got their own pieces to build with and decorate however they wanted. And when Elli's dropped on the floor, we even had an extra house for her to start over with. But, it quickly turned into a competition and Dad was going to choose the best one.

"I'm going to put coconut on MY roof so it will look like snow."

"I'm going put a big driveway on MINE."

"I'M going to put on all the candy I can!"

Adam won best roof, Elli won best driveway and Amy got the award for most candy. Smart judge.

Our Trip To Mexico!!!

My family (mom and sisters) had been planning a vacation for over a year. Since Elise wanted to get married in Mexico, we decided to make that our destination. It seemed like forever away, but slowly the time passed until finally it was time to pack up and go!

Here we are at the airport after waking up at 4 a.m.

After playing Slap Jack for a while, we boarded the small plane that was the first of 3 flights that day. But, because of an hour delay due to a small electrical problem, the rest of the day was canceled. We were sent home and told to come back tomorrow. To compensate for our troubles, we were escorted by limo to another airport. This time we had to wake up at 2 a.m. to make the flight.

Even though we were super tired, it was our first time in a limo and we all thought it was pretty cool!

Adam did say that we probably shouldn't even go at all and that it was just too much trouble. I said "NO WAY are we staying home! Get me to Mexico any way you can!"

There are a lot of photos to follow. Beware. It might get boring unless you were there.

Welcome to Sayulita

We finally made it! The first thing the kids wanted to do was get in the pool. They had seen it in pictures of the house online and had been talking about it the whole day.

Khanya was already in it when we got there.

I think the girls got in everyday. Even after a long day at the beach, they still wanted to swim in it.

Mom and Brandy were a still little unsure of the whole house situation when we got there. They had arrived the day before and had already experienced some unpleasant things. Mostly bugs and a long hike up the hill from the town to our house. By the end of the trip though, the trek up the hill was invigorating and welcome exercise after all that yummy Mexican food!

That evening, we had a rehearsal for the wedding. The house where the wedding was was so neat. I love these huge doors!

Then a dinner on the beach ended day one with both families. I think my kids were so tired, they fell asleep with their heads on their plates. We had been up since 2 in the morning, remember?