West Yellowstone

Craig and I had an awesome opportunity to head over to Eastern Idaho and Montana for a Vision Source conference (work).  My sister Melissa came and stayed at our place and took care of the kids while we were gone.  We left Wednesday February 6th after Craig got home from work and drove to Rexburg and stayed at my sister's house.  Thursday morning we got up and drove to Grand Targhee to ski for the day.  I had not skied in over 8 years so I was pretty nervous, but after we rented skis and my little brother helped us get discounted passes, we headed up the hill.  It was -18 at the top of the mountain and man could you feel it.  Out fingertips instantly froze, Craig's came back pretty quick but I had to keep warming mine up every time on the lift.  Craig would head off into the powder and I would ski down a groomed run and meet him back at the chair lift.  We completely lucked out with the conditions, the resort had gotten over 2 feet the few days before, but it was clear skies and the sun was shining the whole day.  It was truly the best snow we have ever skied, I even ventured off into the powder a few times.

After our legs were burning and we could go no more, we decided to drive south and head to Jackson Hole, WY.  We walked around some fun shops, bought the kids some stuffed animals, tried on some awesome fur hats, and grabbed a yummy dinner.  It was a fun little town and hope to go back when we have a little more time to spend there.  It would also be a blast to drive through the Teton Pass in the spring time.  After dinner we then drove back up north to West Yellowstone, MT where we would spend the next few days.

Friday morning after breakfast we met up with all of the other doctors, wives and reps to go snowmobiling.  Craig grew up snowmobiling, but I had only ever been one time and it was for like 20 minutes.  Luckily West Yellowstone was a little warmer than it had been previous days, I think it was a whopping high of 8 degrees.  Once we were all outfitted with all of our gear and our snowmobiles we headed off towards Island Park.  We had a group of 36 and got separated a few times, but eventually made it all the way to Island Park for lunch.  Craig only got his snowmobile stuck one time when he was off playing in some powder, but luckily there were plenty of people to help pull it out.  Craig also had to help pull out a snowmobile after one of the doctors wives ran off the trail and into a small tree.  Luckily no one was hurt, but the snowmobile was a little damaged.  After lunch we played around in a big meadow, we were able to get the snowmobiles up to 52 mph.  We finally made it back to the hotel after 5:00 p.m.  We then had to shower real quick and then head to dinner and listen to some speals from some of the reps.

Saturday morning after Craig went to a breakfast with the other doctors, we got onto  this huge bus thing to go on an excursion through Yellowstone.  I had never been to Yellowstone before so I was pretty pumped to see a little bit of it.  We had a great tour guide that showed us water falls, geysers, mud holes, hot pools, wild life and everything in between.  We eventually made our was into Old Faithful and ate our lunch while we waited for the next blow.  I guess it was kind of a wimpy blow comparatively, but it was still very cool.  It was really amazing to see all of these amazing natural phenomenons and I am so excited to see it all again in the summer when we head back with the kids.

That evening we were supposed to go to another dinner, but because of a storm that was coming in the next morning, we decided to head back to Rexburg that night so we could get a little head start the next morning.  Luckily my sister was willing to let us stay another night.  Sunday morning we got up early to start our drive back home.  We drove through a blizzard for a little bit, but it would have been much worse had we waited.  We made it back home to the kids right about nap time, McKay was a little too excited and didn't end up taking a nap that day.  According to Melissa they did pretty well.  We talked with them each day and they seemed to be having a lot of fun.  Luckily McKay slept pretty well for her, well actually a lot better for her than he does for me.  I know Melissa was exhausted by the end of it, but everyone was all smiles by the end of it.  It was a great weekend away, especially because it is not something that we would have done on our own.

Dance Recital

Brooklyn had her first dance recital with her new studio, The Dance Academy.  She is taking a jazz/ballet combo class and we love that the studio is at the front of our neighborhood.  She goes to class every Thursday right after school for an hour.  At her recital they only did a jazz dance this time and they were supposed to be candy canes.  Brooklyn practiced a lot and was very excited.  I was not so excited to drive all the way out to Ontario, Oregon or that we had to get a baby sitter for McKay because Craig was at work and we had to be out there at 11:00 for rehearsal and then 1:00 for the show.  Well it turns out we were supposed to be out there at 9:00 am for rehearsal, my bad, so at least we didn't have to sit there all morning and I saved a few bucks on the babysitter.  I felt really bad for being late because being on time is a pet peave of mine, but Brooklyn knew what she was doing and it didn't seem to bother her at all.  She did a great job and was so excited that she got a ribbon because she turned in her practice sheet every week.  She was also very excited that Daddy had flowers for her when we got home.  I'm still not sure if I'm cut out to be a dance mom and I might be hoping that she will really like soccer again this spring, but I will do the dance thing as long as she wants to.

Merry Christmas!

We had such a magical Christmas with the kiddos.  Brooklyn was so excited and it rubbed off on McKay which in turned rubbed off on me and Craig.  We had a lot of fun, but it sure was a busy few days.  Christmas Eve started with a trip to the gym, because who doesn't go to the gym on Christmas Eve.  After we were all showered for the day we headed up to my parents house for Chinese food and movies.  After McKay was up from his nap and the movies were over, we then headed over to Craig's parents house, luckily they only live about 5 minutes apart.  We ate a yummy ham dinner with 2 of Craig's brothers and their families and his parents.  After dinner we read through the nativity while the kids acted it out.  Brooklyn was a lovely angel, McKay was a fantastic shepherd, and Craig was a wonderful Joseph, and I forgot to take pictures.  We then headed home to get cookies set out for Santa and get the kids to bed.  Craig helped out Santa by setting up McKay's race track, while I got a few things ready for Christmas breakfast.  We went up to bed around 10:30 and Brooklyn poked her head out of her door asking if Santa had come and if it was time to open presents.  Sadly we had to tell her that we hadn't even gone to bed yet.  Luckily she went back to sleep easily, but both kids were up by 6:00 am the next morning.

We finally let the kids go downstairs at 7:00, once I had the Monkey bread in the oven.  McKay just continued to feed off of Brooklyn's energy and they were so excited to see what Santa brought them.  Brooklyn got a new backpack, a snow leopard, candy, stickers, coloring books.  McKay got a race track and some cars, candy, stickers, coloring books.

We then opened the rest of our presents.  McKay's favorite was his garbage truck, which he claims Santa gave him, but a close second was some new binkie's (which he now at least only uses at bedtime).  Brooklyn really liked her new game, Operation.  Mommy really liked the diamond necklace Daddy bought her and hopefully Daddy liked the BSU socks and movies Mommy got for him.  After presents we ate our monkey bread and then got ready to head back up to Grandma and Grandpa's house for brunch.  We ate a ton of yummy food and then the cousins all exchanged their gifts.  Brooklyn walked away with a super soft pink blanket form her cousin Akirah and McKay got some Melissa and Doug building things from his cousin Mason.  The kids also opened their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.  Our children now own tablets, still trying to decide how I feel about it, but they will be used only in the car when we go on long drives (for now at least).  We then headed over to Nana and Pops house and let McKay lay down for a nap before we opened presents with them.  After a short nap the kids opened their gifts.  Brooklyn got a coloring set, Beauty and the Beast movies and  a Belle dress (all of which a didn't get a picture of).  McKay got a new balance bike, a helmet and the movie Planes.  He was very stoked for his bike and we of course had to go outside right then to ride it.  After presents we headed back to my parents house for a delicious prime rib Christmas dinner.  Needless to say we ate really well for a few days, we were not hurting for calories, hence why we went to the gym Christmas Eve.  It was a crazy busy Christmas but it was so good to spend it with so much family.  I hope that we have taught and will continue to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas, our Savior, who lived and died for us and He is the real reason for the season.

Pre-Christmas Festivities

We had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas this year.  McKay is old enough now to get excited about Santa and the joy of Christmas, it helps that he has an older sister who helps bring the excitement.  First off we decorated the house, which isn't much, but we did finally have a real sized tree this year.  The kids got to decorate the 4 foot tree all by themselves and keep it up in their play room and we made chains to help count down to Christmas.  At the start of December we went to the Winter Garden A Glow at the Botanical Gardens.  They put up a ton of lights and we got to see Santa and Mrs. Clause.  I wasn't sure how McKay was going to do, since last year he was not a big fan of Santa, but I prepped him and he kept saying "Santa nice guy".  We all enjoyed the lights and hot chocolate and luckily this year wasn't as cold as a few years ago.  We then had a lot of fun building gingerbread houses together.  Brooklyn helped me put the structures together and then McKay helped decorate  a few.  They had a blast, even though they weren't feeling great.  They had just gotten over a yucky stomach bug.

Brooklyn and I had a lot of fun at the Nutcracker Jr. and Clara's Tea Party with Grandma and Riaan.  Brooklyn has had so much fun going to this every year and it is something we look forward to doing together.  The girls got their faces painted and danced with the ballerinas.  We all ate some treats before we headed over to the show.  We really enjoyed our time together and it was fun doing it with  my mom and cousin Riaan.  Craig and I then went to the real Nutcracker the next week, always a fun date night.

We then rounded out our pre-Christmas festivities with a walk through of the lights in downtown Caldwell with some cousins. They do such a great job and the kids loved walking through them. Its amazing how much joy Christmas lights can bring.  Every time we would drive passed Christmas lights McKay would say "lights, my side. Pretty".  A few days before Christmas we had some friends over to decorate Christmas cookies.  It was a mess, but a lot of fun to get cookies ready for Santa.  It was fun talking to the kids about Christmas and about the real meaning of Christmas.