Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Once there was a snowman...

I've decided that lately I have not been a "cool" mom. I haven't been finding activities to do with my kids and I need to do better. So, yesterday I took them to the Park City Rec center (Basin Recreation) and for $4 the kids could run around and play in 4 different bounce houses and had all sorts of balls to play with. They had a great time, I had a great time, we were able to eat lunch with Cody, so, all was well. : ) Today I decided that the kids needed to get out and play in the snow. We got about 3-4 inches of new snow and the driveway needed plowing, so after lunch and the little boys were asleep I made the older kids get bundled up and outside we went. I say "made" because Tucker didn't want to. I had to threaten him with an afternoon of boredom in his room. He decided the fun thing to do was to be outside with the girls. I'm really lame and have never made a snowman with my kids so we set to work. I love that the snow man is just a little bit taller than Aubrey. She's just so dang cute!
 Tucker was mad at first when we began building snowmen. He wanted to build one in the field next to our house, but I didn't, so I convinced him to build one on the opposite side of the lawn from Aubrey. His is a bit smaller and looks a little forlorn, but Tucker is proud. He even made his snowman facing the house so that he can look out the window and see him staring back at him.
 And lucky me, Cody bought me some new ski boots! I've never had anything brand new so I'm super excited to hit the slopes. Aubrey is a lovely model.
 And in case you've never been to this before, this is a picture of one of the MANY ice castles that are at the Midway ice castles. If you've been to Swiss Days, the ice castles are on the north side of town square. I think it's about 100 North and 200 West. A guy that use to live in our ward makes them and they are pretty amazing. He did it at the Zermatt last year, so if you need an evening or weekend getaway from the valley smog, head up the canyon and check it out.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

New Year's Eve

This was our first New Year's Eve in a long time that we weren't able to spend with our good friends Mike and Leah. We decided to go back to the cabin instead and be with my Grandpa, Mom, Heather, Dan and Ethan. The weather was so cold (I don't think it got above 8 degrees) so we spent all our time indoors playing games instead of riding snowmobiles outside.
Cole gave Cody shoulder ride.
 The men watching their football.
 This is how my Mom spends her evenings and New Year's was no different!
 Heather and I have the hardest time getting our husbands to smile.
 Ringing in the New Year with our glass bottom cups!
 Someones excited!
 Cousin time.

After Christmas Cabin Fun

After church, the day after Christmas, we headed up to the cabin for some fun. The kids rode snowmobiles and played outside as much as possible. They love playing with their cousins and we're so lucky to have the cabin to go to and hangout together. This is Aubrey, Parker, and Halle on a snowpile.
 Cruising the field with Daddy.
 Kevin hooked up two sleds and drove the kids all over the place.
 Parker, Tucker, Halle, Aubrey and Mckenna
 Cole LOVED the snowmobiles. I swear he must have been freezing at times, but as long as he was riding, he was happy. Don't you love his pink boots - hand me downs are the greatest!
 A couple of my boys and me.

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas this year (technically last year). Cody's parents came up on Christmas Eve and his sister and her boyfriend came up in the evening for dinner and games. We played some Nertz, Mexican Train and had a good ole time. Christmas morning Mickey and Cerola drove back up to be here when the kids opened their presents.
 Santa brought Aubrey her first Barbie, Tucker received a remote control truck, Cole got a car and Blake a toy.


 Cole has this thing for tractors and was loving all of his loot!
 After opening all the gifts we got ready for our day and headed down to my Grandpa Foster's house for dinner. I love that all the family still gets together. We eat, then sit in the living room and open more presents, then play the white elephant trading game, but we play with good gifts. Once that was finished we headed to my parents house and opened more presents with them. Christmas really lasts all day long! Aubrey fell asleep on the way and was out for a little while.
It's fun having kids to enjoy Christmas with. They got some good stuff that is still keeping them happy. : ) I received a treadmill as my gift (I was just able to enjoy it for the month before Christmas) and Cody got a nice big stackable toolbox thing. Not quite sure what it's called but it fits all his stuff nicely in the garage. We also received a 50 gallon water drum from my parents for our food storage. I love all the get togethers with family around the holidays - that is a huge part of what it's all about for me.

Baby Blake 6 months

 Blake is now 6 months old and still the cutest thing ever! He smiles at everyone and has an adorable laugh. I took him in for his appointment this week and he was 16lb 11oz. (36%) and 28.25in. (95%). He is such an amazing baby that he didn't even cry when they gave him his shots. I was shocked at first and had to look at the syringe and make sure the nurse really put it in his leg. We've got one tough baby!
Blake loves his exersaucer and he's been rolling over for a few weeks now. He started rice cereal and applesauce last week and he's so good at it. With Tucker it was exactly 4 months when I started him, and I've learned with each kid to put it off as long as possible. I just wasn't ready for one more mouth to feed and mess to clean up. All the kids love Blake - Tucker informs me daily that Blake is the cutest thing and that he's cuter than his pet Squeaky. Good thing he's cuter than a guinea pig! He mainly takes a bottle now - I'm down to about 2 feeding a day (morning and night). He sleeps 10-12 hours every night and takes 2-3 naps during the day. Life is good for this baby!