Some Snow and Sun Fun!

The boys and I are headed over to Becky's (neighbor) to go hang out in their hot tub on a chilly morning! They thought they should be prepared and wear their goggles over! 

Hot Tubbin' It!

 I hung up a wiffle ball from a tree and the boys love giving it a good whack!

I knew Nick would love it because he is my ball boy!

I was surprised to see how much my Caders would love it!

A beautiful day calls for a beautiful trip to the ZOO!

We went with the boys buddies (and my buddy...their mom) Hard to see but there is an orangutang in the picture

My little zoo keeper/vet (or gator boy is what he likes to call himself)

The boys are getting the salad ready to feed the turtles at the Loft (one of our fav places because you always get to feed the animals)!

Keystone Trip

We went on a family ski trip to Keystone the second weekend in January. Jake was the only one that went skiing - he had a lesson. We went ice skating twice and played in the snow. The boys had so much fun! Mom and dad did too!

Headed up the gondola!

We walked through the village as everyone was headed to the lifts.
Nick loved looking at the people so he walked backwards. :)

Playing in the snow

Ready for the slopes

Practicing the stop

Ice Skating on the Lake at Keystone! The loved it!

Winter is here and time is flying!

November and December have been full and fun! The first picture is of a Magic Treehouse Book Club that Jake is in. The club consists of 10 pre-kindergarten kiddos and their moms! The first one was at our house and was about dinosaurs so the kids are digging for dinos in hardened sand. The last picture is at the 2nd book club meeting which was at Glen Eyrie Castle (an amazing place in Colorado Springs). The book was about knights so this was a very fun location for our meeting! :)
The climbing and sliding pics are at fun climbing wall place in Colorado Springs! We went there for a birthday party and the boys loved it - of course!
We had Thanksgiving at Earl and Val's this year and it was fun. Following Thanksgiving we headed out to a little tree farm in Black Forest where we get our tree. Next year we will head to the mountains but this is about the perfect speed for our little guys!
Christmas is next and the boys are quite excited! We went to see Santa a few days ago and Cade just couldn't get enough of staring into his eyes. He first ran and jumped straight into Santa's lap. Then he stood in front of him holding both his hands telling him about the alligator that he wishes for for Christmas. The world stopped for Santa and Cade and it was quite touching for a momma to see!

Digging for Dinos!

Climbing!

Sliding!

Magnetite sand from Douglas, AK. Grandma brought it for us to play with and we love it!

Nickers thinks it is cool!

That cheese is something else! Cade likes to scoop it with his loader.

Jake likes to drive race cars in it!

Thanksgiving at the Ballards (Earl, Val, Derric, & Isaha's) house. We are very Thankful indeed!!!

Cheesin' with my Oma!

 We deep fried another turkey a few days after Thanksgiving! The boys each got a big old leg to chomp on and they thought it was the best! Jake polished his down to the bone!

Our tree spot is getting a bit sparse but we found the "one"!

Jake is helping trim the tree with his safety gear

Cade is helping Dre drag the tree out

Now it is time for ornaments!

Knights at the Castle! Jake is with the green and blue stripes.

Practicing the silent "K" in knight

Gramma (Ra-Ra) and Papa Come to Visit!

There may be heaps of pictures but we had an eventful week (or just shy of) with grandma and papa visiting. They boys enjoyed their time wrestling and snuggling with their grandparents! Cade is ready to hop on a plane to Alaska to do some fishing....and wrestling! We got our first snow while they were here and made a couple snowmen! The boys went ice skating for their first time which was quite fun! We went to Wishing Star Farm for pumpkins and then turned those pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns! For Halloween the boys were all sharks! We go trick-or-treating with our Ballard cousins and it was beautiful weather! We got more snow today but luckily it waited a couple days because sharks don't like the snow!

Yummy Snow!

I loved to roll down the hill in the snow!

Our little hill isn't much but it was just right for Caders and Nickerbockers!

Munching on some snow while grandma tries to start the snowman

The snow on the lawn is looking sparse after making these two beauties (the snowmen that is)!

Now for some skating! Ra-ra and Caders

Jake loved it!

Need for speed!

Now I'm cruisin!

Fun for momma too!

Headed to the farm!

 

Feeding the animals was a hit!!!

Riding the ponies was pretty fun also!
Giddy 'up!

 

This is about the longest we could get the boys to sit for a family pic!

Now for the pumpkin carving...

 

and now for our trick-or-treaters...

Sharks and Army Dudes! Happy Halloween!