Sledding

We sure had fun this winter sledding in the back yard. The boys loved racing down to see who could get to the bottom first. Aidan loved going down the side with all the "bumpy parts"

Ice Party!

Every year Rich's uncle has a party on the lake. We always have a blast. Family and Friends come to hang out, eat food, ride snow mobiles and just hang out. Every year they bring the grill out so we can grill whatever people bring to eat. This year they also brought out a couch, so people could just sit and relax. (I thought I had a picture of it, but couldn't find it. I also realized I didn't take many picture at all...oops!)

Aidan had a blast playing ice hockey with his 3rd cousin Chase.

Warming up with Grandma T. After a long day on the ice.

Rich's cousin recently had a baby. Cameron enjoyed feeding him. It was so cute! He didn't even want me to help him hold the bottle. "I do it Mom!" He took this job very serious. It was just to precious.

Aidan had fun playing monopoly with a friend.

Here is a fun video of Rich on the snow mobile, pulling Scott around on a tube!

We Love Snow!

We love to play in the snow... and we got a lot of it this winter. As much as I like playing in the snow, I am glad it is melting. I am exciting to play outside without having to bundle these cute munchkins up and having extra mittens and tissues on hand. It will be nice to just walk outside and play. Here are some more pictures from winter....DID YOU KNOW TOMORROW IS SPRING?!?!?!?!?!

The kids love riding with Daddy on the snowmobile in the back yard. Cameron is in the picture above and Aidan is below.

Fun in the snow!

This is what we have been up to lately!

We have this fun little creek in our back yard. We like to throw snow in it and what it how fast in floats down. .

Hard at work putting the arms in! My boys just love playing out in the cold. Last winter we spent hours outside one day. We even had snack and lunch out there. If it weren't for a cold mommy these kids would stay out there all day.

Happy New Year!

For New Years, some friends of ours invited us and some other families over for a New Year's Eve party. We had home made pizza and veggies. After dinner, the kids had fun watching movies. eating popcorn, and playing with each other. Later in the night Cassie got pillows and blankets out for all the kids. (in hopes they would all fall asleep, but they didn't) Aidan is in the front row in the middle and Cameron is in the back on the right side. The adults had a ton of fun playing games and enjoying each other's company.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Day!

We woke up Christmas morning to many presents under the tree and proof that the "big man" really was there. There were foot prints of Santa's boots all over the sheet we had laid from the fire place to the tree the night before. The kids thought that was pretty cool.

I was still not feeling well that day and so what I took for pictures is what we got. I didn't try getting the perfect picture.

We opened many presents, had a great breakfast, and then we skyped with my parents and brothers while we opened gifts from them. In the afternoon we headed back to Rich's parents to have dinner, relax, and play wii. It was a blast...until I became more sick and couldn't breathe. Rich brought me to the ER at the hospital. I was immediately hooked up to who knows what, given steroids, breathing treatments, and xrays. I have acid reflux and now bronchitis. Between the two it just wasn't my night. I eventually was able to breathe, and was sent home with antibiotics, steroids, and an inhaler to continue using throughout the week. Luckily, I haven't had any breathing problems since then. (knock on wood)

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve we always get together with Rich's Dad's side of the family. We had a great Christmas Eve and were BLESSED with many gifts. I wasn't feeling well, and i didn't take many pictures. I didn't even attempt at a family pic. (sad, I know) But here are the pictures I did take.

"I've got a big one!"

1st day of Preschool.

Can you believe it? Aidan is in preschool!! At first we decided we weren't going to put him in preschool because it is so expensive out here. I was just going to continue teaching him at home. We decided to put him in school 2/week, because he is so shy and we wanted to ease him in before kindergarten. Thankfully my in laws said they would help pay for his school. We are so grateful for that. As part of his schooling he goes to a dance class one of the days and music class the next, as well as the normal abc's 123's and such. He LOVES it. I am so glad he does. He looks forward to it. Cameron is the one who has had the hard time with it. The first day we went inside to hang out for a little bit, to make the transition for Aidan easier. When it was time to leave, Aidan said "ok, bye see you soon....are you going to miss me?" so cute. Cameron didn't want to leave him there. This is the First time they have been apart. I was so surprised how hard it was on him. But it's been great having the one on one time that we have never really had.

First day of school^
Cameron had to bring his back pack along too! He wants to be just like Aidan.

Night time walker

After we put the kids to bed one night, Rich and I were super tired so we went to bed as well. Soon after we hear their bedroom door open. It was Cameron. (I can tell who it is from the sound the door makes when each of them open it) Rich and I decided to pretend we were sleeping in hopes that he would just go back into his room to sleep. He came into our room walked around a little...then walked into the living room....made some noises. opened and closed the fridge. Then I heard his bedroom door shut. We assumed he put himself back to bed. We decided we would wait a little before we check on him. Well we both ended up falling asleep. The next morning I woke up all worried that we fell asleep before we checked on him. I checked in his room, he wasn't there. Checked in the living room, and realized he wasn't there but he turned on the Christmas lights. Finally I checked in the play room. There he was tucked in a ball on the bed we put in there for my dad when he came to visit. So cute!! His feet were a little cold. But surprisingly the rest of him wasn't.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"

My Dad was here on business last weekend and stayed the night. We loved having him here!

Making the gingerbread house.

My first 1/2 marathon

Yes, that's right. I ran my FIRST half marathon early in November. My sis-in-law ran with me. (not only was this her first half, this was her FIRST RACE) This course was very challenging. Several runners said they thought it was harder then the Boston marathon. CRAZY. Some people were doing the relay for the full marathon. They said they would never run the whole thing again b/c of the difficulty of the course. I am glad I only did the half. During training I took a few weeks of b/c of a possible stress fracture and an infected big toe. OUCH. My doctor told me not to run...but I did. So my time was not that great (o.k I will be honest....my time was horrible) But I am so glad I did it, and glad that I was able to accomplish this with my sister.

Us at the beginning. Amanda forgot her race bib at home....so she quickly went home to get it, and we were lucky to find each other like a minute before the race started!!!

YAY! We did it. We are planning on running this race again next year. We can't wait to see how much we have improved over the year.

Gallons of wasted water!

The kids LOVE to help me with the dishes. I cut them off at about 45 minutes of scrubbing the dishes. But this was more then just wasted water. It was the opportunity to teach them the meaning of chores, working together, and don't worry I also talked about conserving water.