SNOW Much Fun!

We spent the Christmas holiday over in Spokane this year.  We were so excited to head over this year, be with family and have a "WHITE" Christmas!

We arrived on Friday afternoon and more snow fell Friday night.  The boys were out Friday morning helping Grandpa shovel.

Harley was loving the snow!  She played for hours outside with us and didn't show signs of quitting. She ran and played and jumped and dug.  We enjoyed watching her!

A walk with Colson down the road.

A quick family picture after sledding.

The boys and Chris made some great sledding trails.  We had so much fun sliding down the hill and we eventually made it down the one section and then down the second hill, into the road below!

More snow fell Monday night and the boys had fun romping in the fresh snow.  Snow angles, snow balls, and snow sculptures!

Enjoying every moment!

Let's Find Snow

We were ready to go play in some snow!
We don't get very much snow here.  And when we do, it doesn't stick around very long!

So we were headed to the mountains to play.  Sebastian and Mindy invited us up to play near Denny Creek, but they ended up not being able to go at the last minute, so we went up past Greenwater.  It was a very pretty drive as soon as we turned off of Hwy 410.  The snow covered road and the trees flocked in white.

Chris backed right up to a snowy hill, started a fire, set up a table and we were set for the next few hours!  The boys didn't waste any time sledding down the hill and romping around in the deep snow. It was nice to stay warm by the fire, drink some hot chocolate and munch on meat, cheese and crackers.  We took a walk up the road that was closed off and watched the boys climb up hills.

It was a perfect way to spend the day and we loved every part about it!

Enjoying every moment!

Annual Christmas Party

It was the time of year for the Truss Company Christmas Party.  We headed up north to Marysville where we checked into the Tulalip Casino Hotel.  These rooms are pretty fancy!  It was fun to get dressed up for the party and be served an amazing dinner.  Such good food!  

This year, all of the employees played in a modified gift exchange.  The company provided all of the gifts and then the 'normal' rules applied.  Everyone drew a number and they choose gifts or could steal.  Chris ended up with the iTunes gift cards.  He's excited to download some new music!

Also, each employee was given another gift and they opened them all at the same time. $250 in chips for the casino.  Very generous!  We did not play them, but cashed them in. 

The following day we hit some shops close by and then headed to a movie.  It was snowing up north!

Before the movie, we went to Dickey's BBQ for some yummy lunch.  They always have something that hits the spot.  We saw the movie, Allied after lunch.  It was not what I expected but was okay. Not great, but watchable.  

It was a great time away for Chris and I, something we look forward to every year!  

Enjoying every moment.

UW Women's Game

We've talked about attending a Husky Women's basketball game over the last year or two and we finally made it to one!  The Lady Huskies are ranked in the top 10 and were exciting to watch.  They are still in the pre-season and scored a convincing win over their opponents today.

We parked at the Des Moines Link Station and rode the train to the game.  So simple and easy.  No traffic or parking fees.  Perfect.  The boys loved it!

The boys enjoyed climbing to the top of the area between games.  (We stayed for the first part of the UW mens game.)  Colson was a little apprehensive at the height!  But they sure thought they were cool!

 Kelsey Plum, their senior, star player, hit the record books during the game.  She became the PAC 12 All Time Leading Scorer.  She scored a mere 44 points in this game!

I think we will have to make it back for another game!  Fun times!

Enjoying every moment.

The Grinch

Our church put on a production of, The Grinch.  It was fabulous!  We all enjoyed ourselves.  It was funny and the acting was great.  We enjoyed hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and we even had snow!  It was snowing as we drove to church.  Enough that the ground was white.  Everything about the evening put us in the Christmas spirit!  
Good times together as a family!  

Enjoying every moment!

Christmas Tree Hunting....Kind Of

I love this time of year! 

The boys really love this holiday season.  

Getting the Christmas tree kind of makes it "real!"

We had a couple of busy weekends so we decided to get our tree on a Friday after work.  Thank goodness we only had to go a 1/2 mile down the road from our house to the local Christmas tree farm.  And this year, because it was getting dark very quickly, we went Christmas Tree hunting from the already cut trees in the lot!  It did take a bit to find just the right one.  We looked up and down rows and stood trees up, looking at some side by side.  Finally, the boys and Chris out voted me and picked one.  

It was nice to get it home and it the house.  Cannon helped me put up the lights and also put up a number of decorations, too.  We got it all decorated Friday night and now can enjoy it the rest of the season!  

Enjoying every moment. 

Another Award

We had our monthly Honoring Kids assemblies on Friday.  This month, Colson was honored for his seatwork.  Mrs. Webster said some pretty wonderful things about Colson!  He works hard.  He has very nice handwriting.  He's a mathematician!  He's reading books.  It makes me feel so great to hear such great things about Colson.  He is doing such a super job in school and we are very proud of him!

Enjoying every moment.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  We were all ready for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We were ready for some time off of school/work.  We were ready to sleep in.  We were ready to hang out at home. We were ready for some yummy food. We were ready to celebrate all of the things we were thankful for.

This year we spent Thanksgiving Day at Dan and Claire's. We had brunch over there and then spent the rest of the day watching football, watching Finding Dory, preparing the for dinner, looking through the ads, doing some crafts, etc.  It was nice to relax.

Claire bought a new game, Watch Your Mouth, which is one of the latest crazes in games.  One person wears a mouthpiece and they have to say phrases while the other people guess.  It is so funny! Here are the boys practicing wearing the mouthpieces!

The kids painted Christmas trees for a craft.  They had fun picking colors and painting!

Cannon helped with the mashed potatoes!

Both Cannon and Colson are very patient with Natalie and Maya.  They love watching the baby and got to hold her today!  

Happy Thanksgiving from us!

Enjoying every moment!

Colson's Award

Colson was nominated for the Wolf Pack.  This is an elite club where only the kids that exemplify all of the Timberwolf rules.  Colson was nominated by his kindergarten teacher, Ms. Webster.

Chris came for the luncheon and brought Colson McDonalds!  I was able to stop by for about 10 minutes and see Colson receive his award.

Colson was very excited and we loved watching him.  His smile tells it all.  We are proud of him for being such an excellent student and friend!

Enjoying every moment!