First off, we started off our celebrations with an early birthday party for Malia. She had three girlfriends come over and we planned a few games and a movie. I'm not sure why I even try to plan games, these girls were CU-razy and had the attention span of toddlers. (except malia:) So basically we just let them do their own thing. ( This first picture I had to post, mainly because I wanted to immortalize the "cole squint." He doesn't like to wear his glasses, so we see this face a lot when he's trying to see something.)
Malia was most excited to receive some Barnes and Noble gift certificates! Malia is an amazing 11 year old. She is mature, responsible and smart. Claire adores her and Malia is SO good with her. We are so lucky to have her as our oldest. 
Christmas eve was spent at Grannie's house with all of the other Ditto's in the area. There were 10 adults and 12 kids. We had a great Christmas eve program, complete with lots of food, a talent show and a white elephant exchange. Late that evening we headed home to spend our first Christmas ever at our own home. Yes that's right. Since we've been married (12 years) we have always spent Christmas at someone else's house. I was a little worried about doing it on our own, I thought it might be boring. I was wrong. It was pretty great. We took our time looking at what santa brought the kids. Took a break for cinnamon rolls and orange juice and then opened the rest of the presents. It was relaxing and pretty much perfect. It was so great having Christmas on a Sunday, I loved going to church and being reminded of my savior. Christmas afternoon we headed back to Grannie's for a delicious meal and plenty of games to follow. It was the perfect Christmas. The week that followed was a bit of a whirlwind, but fun! It was all out playtime for the kids and their cousins. We went to sky high (trampoline place), watched movies, played games,ate, had more birthday parties. Brent spent his birthday skiing with his brothers. I spent my birthday hanging out with my sis-in-laws followed by a small party at home. It was a fun week.
Yesterday Malia had her first piano recital. She started piano lessons in November and has picked it up quickly. She did really well, she must have learned her mad piano skills from her mom. :)
Monday Brent and I took the boys on their first skiing trip. The girls opted to stay with Grannie. The boys LOVED it. We wanted to start them out really slow, but after three trips down the bunny hill they were begging for something harder, so off we went. They never did quite pick up the concept of "downhill traversing" (impressive huh?) or going back and forth down the hill. They just basically zoomed down. I had a hard time keeping up with them. There were lots of crashes, but they loved it and keep talking about when they can go back. The only downside of the day was that it was freezing! About 10degrees on the top of the mountain. I had so many layers on I felt like the pillsbury dough boy, but it was fun to ski again. It had been years for me.
I included this picture because of the view behind Jacob (and because of jacob of course) We went to Silver mountain which has the world's longest gondola ride to the top of the mountain. I have to admit, I was a little nervous and kept trying not to think about the cable snapping and falling to my death. It was a long way down. In the background is kellogg idaho where we boarded the gondola.
Today we enjoyed our first SNOW DAY! I was wondering if those even existed here? We have over a foot of snow at our house and we were all praying for a day off. The kids had a great time playing in the snow today. And I enjoyed watching them from the comfort of our warm home :)
Yesterday Malia had her first piano recital. She started piano lessons in November and has picked it up quickly. She did really well, she must have learned her mad piano skills from her mom. :)
Monday Brent and I took the boys on their first skiing trip. The girls opted to stay with Grannie. The boys LOVED it. We wanted to start them out really slow, but after three trips down the bunny hill they were begging for something harder, so off we went. They never did quite pick up the concept of "downhill traversing" (impressive huh?) or going back and forth down the hill. They just basically zoomed down. I had a hard time keeping up with them. There were lots of crashes, but they loved it and keep talking about when they can go back. The only downside of the day was that it was freezing! About 10degrees on the top of the mountain. I had so many layers on I felt like the pillsbury dough boy, but it was fun to ski again. It had been years for me.
I included this picture because of the view behind Jacob (and because of jacob of course) We went to Silver mountain which has the world's longest gondola ride to the top of the mountain. I have to admit, I was a little nervous and kept trying not to think about the cable snapping and falling to my death. It was a long way down. In the background is kellogg idaho where we boarded the gondola.
Today we enjoyed our first SNOW DAY! I was wondering if those even existed here? We have over a foot of snow at our house and we were all praying for a day off. The kids had a great time playing in the snow today. And I enjoyed watching them from the comfort of our warm home :)
