Winter Wonderland

 

As always we tried to spend as much time as possible up at the cabin playing in the snow as we could.  The kids love the snow and the cold doesn't seemed to bug them as long as I have hot chocolate waiting for them.  Snowmen were made, sledding was done, snow angels created, icicles licked, ski hills were conquered and all with smiles on our faces.  Craig and Brooklyn headed up to Brundage 5 times this winter.  Brooklyn graduated to the bear chair and continues to get better each time.  She is still a little timid but her skills continue to get better.  McKay is very excited to start skiing next year and not to be stuck at the cabin with Mom.  Craig and I were even able to enjoy a day up at Brundage all by ourselves.  I even got up skiing to Bogus Basin once with my mom and sisters.  I got in 4 ski days this winter and it was AMAZING! 

We got one big snow that stuck in Boise and it was the weekend Craig and I were in Jackson, but luckily we left the kids snow stuff with Grandma and they played with cousins in the snow all weekend long.  When the sun was out we bundled up and would head outside on bike rides or jump on the tramp or hit golf balls.  We enjoyed the winter and the snow and all the time we got to spend at the cabin with family.  We never get tired of McCall, but we are excited for spring and summer and the adventures that await.

visiting Great Grandpa

McKay can crash pretty easily in his booster seat

practicing their golf swings in the backyard

he fell asleep during quiet time in their new tepee

this was the after math of a quiet time, every puzzle piece and game piece dumped out in one big pile. Not a fun next few hours for anyone.

Brooklyn's Baptism

 We are so proud of Brooklyn for making the decision to be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  On March 6th her Dad baptized her in front of a lot of supportive family members.  As much as Covid has sucked, for a lack of better word, one bright spot was that Brooklyn was able to have her own baptism.  She was able to have Pops give a talk about baptism and Grandma give a talk about the Holy Ghost.  Cousins and aunts said prayers and played the piano.  Nana and I were able to be her witnesses.  It was really nice to be able to have it has just family.  After a beautiful baptism and confirmation we headed over to Craig's parents house for a brunch.  With help from my mom and Diane we were able to feed the crowd, I even made homemade cinnamon rolls.  She was so happy all day and just had the biggest smile on her face the whole time.  She is so lucky to be surrounded by so many people that love her and support her.  Craig and I are so lucky to have such a sweet girl who has the desire to do what is right and follow the example of her Savior.

The following day Brooklyn had a neat experience that helped strengthen her testimony of her most recent gift, the Holy Ghost.  Sunday was fast Sunday and we encouraged her to fast for a little bit.  While she was fasting she got in the shower to start getting ready for church.  While she was in the shower we realized that she had lost her new CTR ring that her Grandma had given her.  She couldn't remember taking it off or where the last place was that she had seen it.  Craig and I were frustrated because it was actually the 2nd time she had lost the ring.  After some tears had been shed we encouraged her to say a prayer.  After she was ready for church she was ready to break her fast.  Craig said a prayer with her and right after Craig said amen, Brooklyn remembered exactly where she had taken her ring off. She and her brother had played play-dough the day before and she had taken it off while she played.  She walked right into the tech room and picked it up where she had left it.  Mind you Craig had already looked in the tech room.  It was so great to be able to talk to her afterward about the power of prayer and how the Holy Ghost can help us.  I hope that she never forgets that feeling that she had.  What a blessing that was to help her budding testimony!

8 is GREAT!

 

Well it is official, we have an eight year old!  I really can't believe it.  8 is a big year so we wanted to throw her an actual party this year.  She invited a few friends from school and a few from church over to the house the Saturday before her birthday (2/20/21).  The girls and McKay decorated aprons and then made their own pizzas for lunch.  After lunch they decorated their own cupcakes and we sang happy birthday and opened presents.  Then the girls just played until parents came to get them.  Craig had to work that day so luckily my Mom was willing to come help keep things under control.  Brooklyn had such a blast with her cute friends and McKay too of course.

Then on Monday the 22nd, her actual birthday, after school she opened up her present from McKay (slime, a puzzle and coloring book) and then we met Stan and Diane for dinner at Smoky Mountain Pizza.  McKay was a little upset he didn't get a free pizza like Brooklyn and we had to remind him that he could still get a pizza, we just had to pay for it.  After a yummy dinner we headed back to Stan and Diane's to let her finish opening up her gifts.  She was very patient all day while waiting to open her gifts.  Nana and Pops got her very own scriptures and will take her to go pick out a scripture bag and get a treat.  They also got her 3 books.  Craig and I got her a BB Gun, some bb's and targets and some clothes.  After presents it was on to CAKE!  Diane made a super yummy, beautiful cake for Brooklyn and me.  Seriously sooo good! So then we sang happy birthday and stuffed our faces.  Brooklyn also got to go pick out a CTR ring and purse with my mom the weekend before while she was watching the kiddos.  I think it is safe to say that Brooklyn had a fantastic birthday and was spoiled rotten.  McKay was a great sport and was just so excited for Brooklyn the whole time.

Brooklyn is such a joy to have in our family.  She is the perfect mix of tom boy and girlie.  She loves to read, play sports(basketball, soccer, football, tetherball, etc.), play with friends and cousins, watch a good movie (especially Star Wars).  She is a great big sister, most of the time, she is in a phase that she finds everything McKay does annoying but fingers crossed that won't last until she leaves for college.  She loves to smile and tease.  She loves to learn new things and understand how things work.  She excels at school and is always hungry to learn, her favorite things at school right now are P.E. and math.  She has her sassy moments, but really just brings so much happiness and joy to our family.  We are so lucky that she made us parents 8 years ago.

Ski Weekend

 Craig and I decided to take a little weekend away to go snow skiing.  Over President's Day weekend which was also Valentine's Day/My Birthday Weekend, we headed to Jackson Hole Wyoming.  We dropped the kiddos off at my Mom's on Thursday and made the 6 hour drive, which is like nothing when there are no kids to entertain.  Friday morning we were up early to catch the bus from our hotel to the Jackson ski resort.  We initially thought we would try to ride the tram up first, but the wait was over 2 hours because only a quarter of the people were allowed on because of Covid. So instead we just stayed on the chair lifts the whole day.  The area had been dumped with 3 feet of snow the week before and then another foot the week we came with an additional 8 inches the night before.  It also snowed lightly on us the whole day.  Needless to say we were skiing powder the whole time.  Craig is a much better skier than me but I feel like I held my own and didn't slow him down at all, I just didn't look near as pretty.  We skied hard all day and got some amazing snow, sometimes up to our waist.  We were tired out and grabbed the bus back to our hotel around 3:30.  We grabbed dinner and then hit the hot tub before heading to bed early.

Saturday morning we were up even earlier, like 5:00am, to head back over the Teton Pass to Targhee Ski Resort.  We had skied here a couple of years ago and were excited to get back.  We knew it would be busy just like Jackson because of all the snow they just got so we made sure to get there an hour before it opened to get in line for the lift.  While we were waiting in line we met a girl who actually went to my high school but now lived locally and she kind of directed us around the mountain for a few hours.  Again the snow was amazing, but our legs got tired pretty quick after each run.  We did our best to hit as much of the mountain as we could and really get our money worth.  I think each day we hit about 15 runs or so.  Once we were worn out we made the hour or so drive back over the pass to Jackson, showered off and grabbed some dinner.  That night the hot tub was busted so we watched part of a movie and went to bed early.

Sunday was Valentine's Day and after "sleeping in", which was like 7:30, we got ready and walked to the town square and walked through a bunch of shops on our way to brunch.  I had the eggs benedict and Craig had chicken and waffles, both were delicious.  After walking around a little more we headed back to the hotel to read, relax and take a nap.  It was a pretty lazy day, but it was really nice to relax a little bit.  That evening we walked to dinner and then started packing things back up.  Monday morning after a quick workout we were back on the road.  We were ready to get back to the kiddos.  They had a blast with my mom and playing with cousins all weekend in the snow.  Boise got a big storm while we were gone and the kids built snowmen, went sledding, and played in the snow to their hearts content.  We had a blast skiing and hope to make this an annual thing to check out new resorts and hopefully in a few years the kids will be good enough that they can join us.  We had a great time and it was so nice to get back to something that we love doing but haven't had the chance to do a lot of in the last decade.  The lines were long, the snow was great and the company was even better.