Ski Trip 2012

Thanks to a very kind invitation from some friends, we had the opportunity to join them on a 5-family ski trip in Utah last week. Jill stayed in Texas and enjoyed some extended time with the grandparents while the rest of us suited up for the snow!


The view from our bedroom at the lodge:



On the slopes with Josh.


Girls ski day with Sunee.



This was directly after Kate's first and only day at ski school...she was just a little tired.

Although Kate did well at ski school (we sneaked some video of her going down the bunny slope), she much preferred just to play in the snow. So, for the remainder of the vacation Kate's time outside consisted of eating snow, sledding, and eating more snow. There were 13 kids at the house--needless to say Kate had a marvelous time and played non-stop.



We made some great memories and are so grateful to our friends for including us in this fabulous trip!

Dinosaurs!

We recently took the girls to see the Dinosaur Park near Bastrop. Basically, it's a walking trail through the woods with life-sized dinosaur replicas throughout. Living Social had a 50% off deal, so we took advantage of it and enjoyed a fun day trip.

Jill's Barnyard Birthday!

Jill turned 2 on January 12, and to celebrate her birthday we had a few friends and family over for a barnyard themed party. We dressed the part, and had some fun farm crafts and treats!

The kids decorated their own barns with farm animal stickers.

Then we headed outside for a few games, like farm animal charades.





Back inside for some healthy snacks (before getting all sugared up).

And then, the good stuff. :) Jill picked the sheep cupcake, I think because it was covered in marshmallows.

Jill really enjoyed opening her presents. She was so excited about each gift. (Thank you to our sweet friends and family!)

Signing "Thank You."

Happy Birthday, Jilly billy! We love you so. You already have such a distinctive personality. You are spunky, silly, and sometimes downright hilarious. When you do test boundaries, you are quick to give hugs and apologies. Your snuggles can (and do) melt anyone! You and Kate are becoming such great playmates. It's so much fun for your Dad and I to watch. We pray that you two will grow into lifelong best friends. We love you and look forward to the wonderful developments and blossoming personality that your third year will bring!

A New Accessory

Our beautiful girl is now donning a new accessory...glasses! Thanks to a very thorough vision screening at preschool (and a diligent screener who caught what our pediatrician's office missed), we discovered that Kate has an eye condition similar to what her dad was diagnosed with in elementary school. She has one strong eye and one weak eye (amblyopia). We were concerned that she may have to wear a patch to strengthen her weak eye, just as Josh did as a child. We took her to a pediatric opthalmologist, who told us the current research says to start with glasses, and if things don't improve then a patch may be the next step. We're praying that the glasses do the trick, because a patch just doesn't sound like fun at all. But, for the time being, we are so thankful that Kate loves her new glasses! And, doesn't she look all grown up!

Kate and Kiwi

In Kate's preschool class, every child gets to take Kiwi the monkey (sort of the class mascot) home for a weekend. They are told to record their adventures with Kiwi and take pictures, then add them to a class journal. Kate was so very excited for her chance to take Kiwi home. He went with us everywhere!

They made bread together, enjoyed snacks, went to mom's allergy doctor's office, and even took a trip to a local farm with Adelaide & Abe.

Halloween 2011

I'm playing blog catch up tonight. Here are some pictures from Halloween this year. We invited Bible study friends to join us, so we had a whole herd of trick or treaters. Kate and Jill were, of course, princesses. However, these princesses also wore super hero capes. I think it gave them a regal air.

We hadn't even started, and Kate already had the gleam of candy in her eyes...

The whole gang.

"Hey guys, wait up!"

Fall Camping Trip

I've been rather slack in blogging this summer. I'll blame it on the extreme heat. Thankfully, we're finally getting a break in the weather. And, of course, the record setting drought that has stricken Central Texas was brought to an end . . . on the weekend we scheduled a camping trip. :) If we'd known that was all it took, we would have gone camping 6 months ago.

We met some friends (the Conlys, Carters, and Kinmans) at Inks Lake State Park. The plan was to camp Friday and Saturday night, but the rain forced us to pack it in a day early. Still, the kids had a lot of fun--during the day. Sleeping was another matter. This was Jill's first camping trip and she didn't quite take to sleeping a tent, even though it is a XL 3-Room Vacation Lodge.

We were teased just a bit about the size of our tent, but I was happy to have the space. :)

The kids were great at entertaining themselves and getting very dirty. We spent Saturday morning at Sweet Berry Farm and really enjoyed the pumpkin patch, feeding the goats, and picking beautiful flowers.

Saturday afternoon we fished at Inks Lake. Jill was a really determined fisher-girl. She didn't want to quit, even though we didn't get a nibble.

Jill also enjoyed riding around in our wagon. She had the best mode of transport.

Despite the rain and lack of sleep, we enjoyed spending time with our good friends and look forward to our next camping trip in the spring.