Big storm Feb 24, 2014

 Ok,  Well we thought the snow was finally gone and then we got this BIG storm with about 15 inches in a few days.  For family home evening we went sledding on a hill near our house.  The kids had a blast.

 Shane  and Reese going down the hill.  Reese loved it until she got to the bottom when the snow would fly up in her face.

 Aren't those three cute!

 Reese was so bundled up that she had a hard time moving.  She got cold before the other kids so I brought her back and got the hot chocolate ready for everyone when they got back.

There are some benefits of living on a hill.  Like this one.  When  there is a big storm there isn't much traffic out so you can just sled down the street!

Building a snowman Feb 14, 2014

 Ryker had asked us to build a snowman all winter.  Our winter was not a great one for doing this either the snow was all powder or it was slushy.  We didn't really have a ton of chances to get out and build one.  But on this day the snow was almost gone.  Only the snow shaded by our fence remained on the ground.  We gathered up as much as we could to make this little snowman.  Ryker was so excited!  Once Lauren and Reese realized what we were doing outside they wanted to help.

I think our little snow man lost his battle and was gone within a week.  The kids loved watching him melt.  The end of a cold no good snow winter is a great thing!!!!

Winter Fun Feb 17, 2014

 Brianna and Paige ready to hit the slopes.  One thing that we have learned is that Paige loves going fast.  Brianna likes to go down the steep slopes but likes to take her time.  They both have become good little skiers.

 Brianna is waiting for everyone to be ready.

 Lauren in-spite her size has a no fear policy.  She just wants to zoom.  I guess that is one benefit of learning when you are so young and close to the ground.  :)

 Shane loves to ski.  I wish it didn't take so long to get there and cost so much.  I'm sure he would love to go up every weekend.  He is a great teacher for the kids.

Paige is waiting by the ski rack.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2013.  We were blessed with the company of Grandma and Uncle Tanner.  I don't really care for Thanksgiving food so having more mouths to feed that will actually eat it was nice.

Brianna turns 12

 Brianna turned 12.  Can you believe that?  I can't.  She wanted to have a neon, glow in the dark, mustache party.  At first I thought this can't be done.  But it ended up turning out really cute.  We got some black lights, glow sticks, neon poster boards, and some neon paint.  The girls all had a good time.

 Even though Shane was still with his mom I was able to throw a party and keep all the little kids busy. I contribute this to the age of the girls at the party.  They just wanted to be really silly and entertained themselves most of the time.  They played glow in the dark twister, hide and seek out side, bowling with the kiddy set we have, danced and ate.  It was a full night and clean up went quickly with some extra girls that got picked up late.

The pictures are not great because I wanted you to be able to see that it was glowing.  In the picture above the girls are playing twister.

Tanner's Surprise Visit 11-13

 Well- Tanner surprised Shane and came up with mom for Thanksgiving.  While he was here they went out skiing/snowboarding.  The snow wasn't great but that didn't really matter.  It was time to spend together.

 Don't you love Tanner's beard!  Crazy huh!

Christmas 2013

Here are the kids waiting to come down on Christmas morning.  The rule is everyone has to be awake before they are  to go and look around the tree.  Shane always takes his time.  A couple of times he even took a shower before he came down.  That was very hard for the kids!  We video tape the kids as they run down the stairs and look at all that Santa has left them.  The anticipation is touchable.
















































Here the kids are before Christmas in-front of the tree.  It was a good Christmas but Shane and I agreed that it did feel different.  We believe that it was because we had just lost dad.  He is greatly missed.   For some reason there are not a lot of pictures of Christmas.