Sisterknapping

My baby sister's birthday is in early February, but we have a trifecta of complicated schedules.  My mom and I wanted to surprise Ashley with a getaway weekend, but had to do it a month early to accommodate said complicated schedules.  Brandon was in on the secret and played it off beautifully.  Mom showed up bright and early one Saturday morning in January at Ashley's house.  Mom was dressed up - which is astonishing on a Saturday morning - so Ashley immediately knew something was up. 
Mom told Ashley to shower and pack a bag before she whisked her away.  They cruised by my house to get me.
Our first surprise stop was to a fun little coffee house where we revealed our secret plans for the  weekend. Shopping, eating, drinks and a full nights rest.  Sweet!

We didn't have reservations for a hotel, but mom and I had a premeditated plan to get a swanky suite at a nice hotel and our plan worked beautifully.  We had so much fun we really didn't have time for a lot of picture taking, but we did get a quick shot of birthday girl and mom....

.....birthday girl and slightly older (and wiser) sister.

And a nice shot of the birthday girl enjoying a refreshing glass of wine while the three of us conspired about our next "girls only" weekend in April or May.  We are definitely getting used to this little plan.  I sure hope the guys don't catch on. 

More Snow Fun

When the second round of snow hit we were getting a little tired of our own house and really just needed another house to terrorize so we headed to my mom and dad's for some country-life snow fun. 

I failed to take pictures, but we hitched the saucer sled up to the four-wheeler and my dad took us on a few spins around the fields.  Brayden was a rookie so I had to show him how it was done.  There wasn't enough snow to provide appropriate shock absorption so I didn't last long.  Cow crap freezes really hard and bouncing across a frozen pile of the stuff nearly snapped my spine. 

Anyway, once we gave up sledding it was time to feed the cows.  Kennon supervised.....

while Brayden and Grayson walked Papa G through the steps of what he needed to do...i.e. fill buckets, carry to trough, dump.  Repeat five times and get really excited when the cows to chomping away before your bucket is empty.  

Then we took another spin (or 10) on the four-wheeler.

Even Kennon got in on the action at just 8 months.  

Grayson returned to the corral to work on his gate opening and closing skills before we headed to the house with five sets of frozen fingers, tired eyes and happy smiles ready for some cocoa.  

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ....Happy New Year

In 2010, life past by in a whirlwind.  Try as we might to enjoy things, it felt like we were going through the motions just to get to the next adventure.  I wanted to change all that for 2011 and just enjoy life.  So far so good. 

We have enjoyed a lot of snow in January and February and many, many snow days.  As a mom I've been challenged to be creative with our indoor activities, break out some ugly dance moves to keep everyone energized and encourage long, long, restful naps.  When it isn't subzero we've enjoyed some great snow play and sledding. 

Brayden is a real pro with his Mu*k boots and sledding gear.  He thinks he is pretty hot stuff. 

Eleza, our neighbor, spent one day with us and the boys had a ball playing inside and sledding with her.  I love her visits because she is awesome with the boys and it takes a little entertainment pressure off me. 

Kennon enjoyed his first sled ride.  He took everything in and loved being outside, as always.

When we aren't outside or eating we practice self-portraits.