Skiing with Papa

The time had come for Allie to head off with Papa Jim to the mountains.  Allie hadn't been up to the ski hill this year and she was thrilled when Papa invited her up for the day. Papa Jim is an avid skier on the mountain and is much more patient than her mom or dad when it comes to helping Allie on the ski hill.

Bundled up in her ski gear ready to hit the slopes

Allie and her Papa!

First up was the "magic carpet."  It's a little track that takes you half way up the bunny hill to practice.  Allie ended up going down this countless times.

After a few runs, it was time for lunch.  Gotta love that feeling of being wiped from all the skiing.

Enjoying a view from inside the lodge

After lunch it was time for the chair lift.  Allie did awesome once she got to the top of the hill.  She loved going fast down the hill.  Papa came back with lots of video's of Allie from the day and his famous words were, "Slow Down!"  So glad she had a great day on the ski hill and a big thanks to Papa for his patience.

Cabin Snow Days

 It finally snowed up at the cabin, which meant that we got to go enjoy some sledding and fun in the cold.  We have made it up to the cabin a few times and wish we could go more.  The girls both loved sledding and playing in the snow.

There is a perfect little kid's sledding hill right outside of the cabin; it leads right down to lake

The hill was perfect for Sophie to tackle on her own when she was strapped into the sled.  Every time she got to the bottom she would say "MOOOOR"  It's one of my favorite words that she says

We had a duo of the sisters together and the sledding stunts just kept getting crazier the more times we went.

Sophie tried sitting on Blake's back.....she loved it

We then tried a dog pile on Uncle Rod.  The whole bunch amazingly made it down to the bottom of the hill this way

Off they go....

Then we sent all of the cousins together and they made it down all together

After we got in enough sledding, we moved on to snow angels.  We are so lucky to have a place to retreat to and enjoy the snow.  We all love it!!!

New Years Eve

We headed to Blake's Dad's house for New Years Eve and they had decided we were ringing in the new year with a Mexican Party.  We got some Mexican dinner, had a pinata, and created our own Mariachi band with a house full of wild, excited kids:)

The pinata with the Sombrero that you had to wear when you took a swing at the horse

Sophie loves hats and tried the Sombrero on for a bit; the hat was so big you could only see Sophie's little legs sticking out underneath

Sophie checking out the donkey

Let the fun begin...we went youngest to oldest taking turns with the ensemble; the hat, blindfold, and stick in hopes that someone would bust open a hole to get to the candy  

Peyton got the hang of things really quickly and in true boy fashion, loved waking the horse with a stick

We first lost the head of the donkey and it became Blake's new hat

Someone finally busted a hole and the kids went crazy, gathering all the candy they could

Thanks Papa and Grandma,  we had a fun night ringing in the New Year.

Christmas

 I was ready for the Holidays early this year, which was so nice to breathe during the month of December. Allie is getting older and Christmas with Santa and our Elf (which we finally got a girl whom Allie named Snowflake)  is getting more fun every year.

Grandma Julia buys the grandkids all Christmas PJ's every year.  Natalia and Lilia's happened to match my girls this year

Blake was King Herod, and a wise man this year; playing dual parts for our family:)

Sophie was my angel for about 2 seconds



I love singing Christmas carols and love that my husband can play the piano for us.

Looks like Santa made it to our hosue...Allie's request for her Alexander Doll was fulfilled

Sophie also received a doll, but she absolutely LOVES stuffed animals.  I guess that is why she loves her stuffed pig so much.  She loved these stuffed animals her and Allie got and wouldn't put them down.  We are grateful for another Christmas season we have had to reflect on our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Yurt 2011-Whispering Pines

It had been a few years since we had taken our annual yurt trip on December 22nd.  I was excited we were back on this year.  It's such a fun tradition and memory for the kids:)



All bundled up ready to ride in the Wee-ride

I can't believe that the kids are getting old enough to get themselves into the yurt; or it could also be the fact that the families are growing in number and kids are getting the boot out of the sleighs.  Cam skiied/hung onto the wee ride/rode in the wee ride, but he made it.  The conditions for skiing were not in our favor this year.  It had hardly snowed and the trails were not groomed.  It was difficult for all of us to make it in the 2.5 miles; we actually ended up carrying our skis and hiking in our boots for a good mile, but we made it



The Whispering Pines Yurt




The view from our yurt.  I love being out in the middle of no where, soaking in all the birds that chirp, the wind that blows through, all by ourselves



Allie was my little greeter

Allie and Sophie hanging out on the bunk beds...the kid's favorite part about the yurt

Sophie was so cute!  She was exhausted from the day already; this kid only loves to sleep in her bed.  When we got inside the yurt and I set her on the bed,  she immediately put her head down and said, "NiNi," meaning, "I'm ready for bed mom!"

Allie immediately got her bed all made up for the night

As you can see from the marker....we didn't have much snow.  The snow level was just hitting 18" which is crazy for this time of year

The rest of the gang finally made it in and the kids were all in heaven

It gets dark early, so the kids were quickly turning on flashlights to color

Sophie was quickly loosing her sanity and didn't know what to do with herself.  She finally laid down on the ground for awhile trying to fall asleep

These kids were also going crazy on us.  I guess late nights in the middle of no where will do it to ya.  You can be as silly, loud, and as crazy as you want and no one will hear you

This was a wonderful site for me....she finally gave in and fell asleep.  Way to go Sophie!!!



The next morning we had breakfast, packed up, cleaned up, and headed outside to play for a little bit before heading back to the cars

Allie and Cam getting ready for some sledding

Sophie cracked a smile for me in the wee ride; I guess she was thrilled to be in there or thrilled to know we were leaving and heading home

The way out is much quicker than going in.  Even though the conditions weren't great, we were mostly heading down, so by gravity you just go.  Cam hitched a ride on the back of the wee-ride for a bit

Allie decided to ride in our sled being pulled behind the wee-ride and Cam quickly jumped in on that opportunity.  What a fun way to get out!  Allie wasn't to happy when the sled would get going fast, it would freak her out and she would bail out

Everyone survived and made it out alive though



Just had to post a picture of my gear that I took in.  Blake was shuttling the kids in, and I had to carry in our clothing/sleeping bags.  There were a few awkward things about carrying this bag.  The first being it was a men's bag and it was way to tall for me.  I couldn't keep my head up because it was forcing me to just look down.  Secondly it is awkward to ski with a backpack; I kept wanting to tip over and on the way out I did many of times. But, it was all worth it and we'll be back next year!!!