Enjoying the snow

So, it has been snowing here for the last 2 weeks off and on. There has been some that has stayed on the ground. So far my kids have been able to roll our entire yard up into one giant snowball that sits in the front yard for a day or two. Today it finally snowed enough that it would have been impossible to push the snowball around, had it been made. Schools were even canceled. We took a little break too. The kids were out playing in the snow almost all day. We dug out our snow clothes and the kids stayed warm. I thought I would share a few pictures of our snow day. They were jumping on the trampoline. It gets pretty slippery, it is a good thing it has a net or they might slip right off. I think the kids would agree that the best part about
playing in the snow is coming in to a cup of hot chocolate. A fun treat that we don't usually get to enjoy in the middle of the day.

Kaya's Homecoming

Last night, Kira and I drove down to Sacramento to pick up Kaya. Kara had to rent a car and drive up from Ridgecrest because she had jury duty on New Year's Eve. Crazy huh! Anyway Kaya came along for some company in the car and so the boys could enjoy the T.V. at Grandma K's. I understand the only movies playing all week were Bug's Life and Fairytopia.

As Kara and Kaya were getting close, Kara said "Kaya, we are almost there to see your mom." Kaya very enthusiastically said " I can smell her breath." Wow! I had no idea that my breath was that distinctive. Pretty funny. To my defense though, Kara said the song playing was saying something about "I can feel your breath..." And since Kaya is definitely into repeating let's hope that explains it. Anyway, I have started some laundry and swept my kitchen floor. Back to work, I am now officially on mom duty again. But it is great, I definately missed that little girl while she was gone. The boys will be back later in the week. I am easing back into my job slowly.

Christmas Morning

Christmas Fun and Surprises

We had a great holiday filled with family and lots of fun. We started off celebrations on Christmas Eve morning by heading up to Eli's parents to celebrate together. The kids all had a great time playing and enjoying their cousins. Now that my kids are getting bigger and are able to be playing on their own a little bit, I was able to get involved in some of the board games that usually get pulled out after dinner. It was very fun. We had to leave before it got to late because the celebrations were not yet over for my family.

We were hosting the Christmas Eve dinner at our house when we got home. My parents and Kara and Eric were at our house all day getting ready for that. I'd say when you're hosting at your house, making plans to be somewhere else and having some one else do the work is a great non-stress way to go. My grandpa and The Coupe family were there. This picture of the grandkids under the tree is not really complete without the Rush family and my brother Chris. Many more people here and we would cover up the tree. We exchanged gifts with one another and played with our toys. About 11 o'clock my kids finally went to bed. It was a pretty late night. We had a lot of mess to clean up and put away, before Santa was able to come visit.

The kids were up about 7:30. It is fun to be in control of when the presents get opened. We always had to go wake up our parents, let Dad get some coffee and then they would be ready. Now it is Eli and I that get to do the stalling and sure enough, they have to go gently wake up their dad, go peek at the presents without touching, wait for the coffee and wait for the go signal. Canaan wondered where the stockings went because they were hanging in the front room and then in the morning they were gone. He was pleased to see that they had just been moved to the back room for more space. Kaya said "There are presents in my boot."

When we all couldn't stand it any longer we gave the go ahead and paper started flying. Later Eli asked Ethan to open the window and let in some light. To the kids surprise Santa had left a trampoline in the back yard. They ran out to jump on it, even though it was covered in ice. It was a great morning. Later in the day we went down to visit Grandad and Grandmom Blachly. We had a lovely dinner there with them and fun spending the day together. Eli, Kira and I left Ethan, Canaan and Kaya there with my parents who took them home for a little vacation.

It is pretty quiet here at my house, which explains this nice long post in the middle of the day. Usually I am interrupted many times and it is not completed until late that night. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Ethan has been Tagged

Ethan was tagged by his Aunt Kim.

1. I like lizards, spiders and other creepy crawler things. I like to hold them and play
with them, but my parents always make me let them go.

2. I have been in the hospital three times. The first was when I was born. I don't
remember one single thing about this time though. The second was when I
dislocated my elbow. The doctor only had to move my arm and it popped right
back in. The third time was when I had a concussion. I only remember parts
of this because I had amnesia. I had a cat scan and had to hold very still. We
waited for a long time. At least the bed was comfy.

3. I have played soccer for 5 seasons. I love to get the trophies at the end, and it is
fun to play. My favorite positions are goalie and forward.

4. I love to read joke and riddle books. The hardest riddle that I have ever read
goes something like this...
Two legs sat on three legs
Holding on to one leg
In came four legs
And ran away with one leg.
Up jumped two legs,
And grabbed three legs,
And hurled it after four legs;
And four legs dropped one leg.
See if you can figure this out.

5. For my birthday I got a pet rat. Her name is Pebbles. I have always wanted one.

6. The grossest thing that I have ever done was sleep peeing. My mom caught me
in the hallway with my pants down. She asked If I had to go to the bathroom. I
told her I already did.

7. My best friend Lucas and I go to school together and like to play video games.

8. One of my favorite things to do is take apart old electronics. I like to try to
unscrew all of the pieces.

Beach slide show

This is the slide show from our vacation part 2. It was so fun to
be together as a family. It is a weekend that we look forward to
every year. The kids are already counting down
toward the next one.

We had a couple of days that it was raining and a couple
were sunny but still cold. So on this part of the vacation
we used the hats, gloves, big coats. My kids who are
spoiled and been to Hawaii a few times, were disappointed
that the ocean was so cold. Kaya was really wanting to put
her feet in. God answered my prayers went she thought it
was too cold to go for a swim. I was worried that she
wouldn't care (because she is as tough as nails) and then I
would have to be up to my knees in that freezing cold water.
After one wave came up and washed over her little feet she
was content to dig in the sand all day!

A Vacation of Two Extremes

It was almost as if we took two separate vacations. First we went down to my parents in the desert. We just relaxed there. It was nice to not have to do a lot. The kids were hot and filled up the baby pool to cool down. We drove to Red Rock Canyon and met Matt Sprague. Here is a slide show of us hiking there. The words I said most often were "Ethan, please be careful," as he was on the edge of a cliff.




Then Eli enjoyed his vacation by pounding some metal down in my dad's shop. I'm sure that it was very therapeutic. Here is his knife in process.

Then we drove up to Fort Bragg to meet all of the Hooper's for our annual weekend together. It seems like it is just not a vacation for us unless we have to drive the entire length of California.