Winter Wonderland

These kids spent their Christmas Break doing one of the things they love best:

playing in SNOW!  Thank goodness we have grandparents who live where it snows in the winter.

We got to Grammie and Poppa's the evening of the 26th, and Nathan, Anna, & Aimee didn't waste much time.  They hit the snow without even changing out of their jammies!

It wasn't the best snow...a few days old and kind of hard and icey.  Nathan, however, was determined to make a snowman.  Here it is with the baby carrot nose.  Is that the cutest snowman you've ever seen, or what!?!

The best part is that those three can go out together and play as long as they want...and the grown-ups can stay nice and warm inside by the fire drinking hot cocoa.  Ahhh....so glad they have each other! :)

The next morning was better...and warmer.  We pulled the sled around the yard for a while.  It went crazy fast on that hard, slippery snow.  Darn...no pictures of the sled, but we had a lot of fun!  (Except for Ryan who decided sledding is NOT his thing...maybe next year!)

Fast-forward a couple of days to Grandma Beth and Grandpa Mark's house.  We'd been waiting and waiting for a storm, and it finally hit.  Yay!  Off to build a snowman with Grandpa...in -4 degree temps.  I didn't stay out to take pictures long!!!  These guys are crazy:

Bella getting in on the snowman action:

Saying goodbye to that wonderful whiteness:

We had to get one picture of Ryan in the snow...

Hooray for Utah!  Hooray for snow!

And hooray for the 70 degree weather we came home to! :)

Christmas 2010

The boys helping Daddy put the finishing touches on Grammie's table for the cabin:

...what good little helpers!

Ryan loved the fire...he just sat a watched it for the longest time!

Until he discovered the cookies the kids put out for Santa:

                               

I think this was his third one...but he was sweet to share and not take all of the bites for himself... :)

                           

Hey, where'd they go???  Oh well, on to Christmas morning:

                           

Ryan went straight for the candy...

                           

Aimee got a soft-serve ice cream maker...I think she liked it!

Nathan got a bike upgrade since his was getting a little small...and check out those cool snow boots Santa brought.  They got a lot of use that next week in Utah! :)

Ryan trying out big brother's bike (he got a little one of his own...)

Anna got a cake decorating kit and immediately started practicing:

In all it was a very fun and relaxing day...how lucky are we to have spent it with these cuties!

Six Years Old

This handsome guy turned six today...oh, my heart aches just writing that!

Time has flown.  Hard to believe it's been six years since this sweet little guy came to our family:

These girls were pretty excited to have a baby brother!

I remember being very nervous about the whole "boy" thing after the ultrasound.  Scout camps, a mission, bullies (we had just seen Napoleon Dynamite)....yikes!  But as soon as I laid eyes on that sweet baby boy I knew that he was sent to me for a reason and I was completely in love.  I would just sit and hold him, staring into that cute little 'boy' face.  He was so different from the girls....I hadn't expected that!  But he was my little prince, and I have enjoyed him so much the past six years.  He is one special guy. 

Love you buddy.  Happy Birthday!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Love, 

Anna, Aimee, Nathan, & Ryan

Ryan at 16 Months

My Little Singers

Last night the girls got to perform in this amazing (sold-out!) concert hall:

The word that kept coming to mind was "Wow!"

It was pretty fabulous.  I was a "concert mom-helper" during the second show so I got to hear it twice.  Lucky me!  The choirs were angelic.  Absolutely beautiful...

Definitely worth all the effort.  After the concert the girls both said they were "for sure doing this next year!"

Good job, girlies...you were wonderful!