Saturday, February 23, 2013

the blur that was january

January flew by so fast for us. I suppose that's how it goes when you have something going on every weekend. We took advantage of the holiday on the first to hit the ski hill. Jason got pretty good, but took a pretty bad fall and hurt his arm. Ethan loved his new face mask, the wind gets pretty cold up on the mountain, but he didn't even notice.
The next day we were back at hockey practice.
Because Ethan is about the most ridiculously spoiled 9 year old I know, his dad decided that even though we just had Christmas and Ethan's birthday, that he needed a mountain bike. You know, in January, in Montana. Makes perfect sense right. Haha. We surprised him with it after school. Gave him the manual and said guess what your surprise is.  
Then he had to find it hidden in his room. He looked just about everywhere else first though. That smile says it all.
I have to admit, it's a pretty awesome bike. 
And of course it needed a test run (notice all that snow).
This is just one of my favorite pictures from January. Elliott is forever making us laugh. 
The cold days mean that Elliott and I spend a lot of days inside after he gets home from school. He made a paper snowglobe at school, and wanted to make another at home. I opted for the real thing though. He loved it. 
Thanks to my friend Erica, I have taken up knitting. I am still getting the hang of it, but I have made an ear warmer, a couple pairs of baby shoes, some scarves, and a pair of fingerless gloves. It's fun, but I have a lot to learn. 
Ethan had hockey games the first 3 weekends of January. I love hockey weekends. This line was one of the VERY few times you'll see Ethan as a wing. 
And this could be the first of many times you find his jersey number in the penalty box on a score sheet. 
I still cannot believe how far he's come from that 3 year old that wouldn't even get on the ice that first day. 
Poor kid got run down though, and ended up with the flu. Lucky for me, he was nice enough to share with everyone in our house. YUCK. 
This was the next weekend, and he was right back at it. I had some training in Missoula, and for the first time in 6 seasons, I had to miss his games. I was crushed, but luck that Jason was home to be there for me. 
I missed some good games. 
When I did get home, Elliott and I worked on Valentine's Day gifts for school.
Simple, but handmade is always the cutest. 
Elliott has either been growing or something, and when he starts getting in trouble, it's usually because he's tired. There were several occasions in January where he would be told to go rest, and we'd find this. For a kid that hasn't had to nap since 2 years old, he did a lot of it last month. 
He's also become quite the artist and he loves watercolor. This is my favorite piece. It's a hockey player if you couldn't tell.
He's also always wanting to play games. Go Fish, Memory, Angry Birds, and just about anything else to challenge him. Looks like he's growing up on us. 
Whew. Like I said, January went by in a flash, but it really was a great start to the year.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

and now...the rest of december

I know, I'm totally behind, but it was requested that I catch up. So here I am. :) 
For Christmas, we headed to Sheridan to visit all of Jason's family. It was a great Christmas, and a much needed vacation from our lives. The boys got Creationary from Erica for Christmas, and we played it a lot that week. It was perfect.
Of course Jason and Ethan are way better than myself or Elliott. 
The next day was gorgeous and perfect for skating on the awesome outdoor rink in Sheridan. 
Jason's getting pretty good on skates, I think he might be getting comfortable.  
After some convincing, we got Elliott on the ice. 
Ethan and Tyler had a blast.  
And Ethan even helped Elliott some. 
Man I love this kid. He's just awesome. 
Elliott started to get the hang of it, and dare I say, was a little excited. 
My skates KILL my feet, but I loved spending this time with my family and friends. 
Thanks to Jenny for the pic. It was a great day. 
Jenny, Chris, Abby and Tyler all joined us on the ice.  
The next day was Christmas Eve and in this family, that means special ordered Italian Beef sandwiches from Portillo's in Chicago. Yeah, their totally worth it. 
Uncle Jason loves Henrik. 
I still can't believe how fast this kid is growing up. Wish they lived closer. 
Then it was time for presents. 
Of course Henrik got to wear the hat too.  
I bought myself a little gift. A new Nikon D3200. I may have splurged, but we're calling it a business purchase. 
Christmas Day was relaxing. 
Some thumb sumo wrestling went on. 
And some legit finger hockey with pads and all. 
And here we are, enjoying some time in the kitchen making breakfast while the kids play.
Later, our niece Taylor, and I made some cakepops with her new cakepop maker. It was so fun working with her. 
And our masterpiece was born. Abby's birthday cake.  
Abby and Chris got the boys the Angry Birds game, so we also played a lot of that. 
While this is a classic bday pic, I really tried to get her family in with her, but Chris bombed my shot when he decided to sneeze in the middle of her blowing out candles. Oh well. :)  
I took this for Joe. It's been a LONG time since all the kids were together for a photo opp. 
Elliott ended up sick this day, so Chris, Abby and Jason took Ethan skating. I love this picture. 
Chris and Jason got handy and put up Joe's Christmas present from all of us. 
Joe got in some Henrik....... 
...and Elliott time.  
Aunt Mer got some Henrik time. He loved doing "Patty Cake" with me. 
More Angry Birds.  
Henrik is too cool for all of us. 
Jason and I got to babysit. Henrik was less than impressed unless he was eating. 
But then I took him to go to bed, and he was so good. 
And Tucker got some Aunt Mer time too. 
After we got home, we had a chill day before getting back to life. 
Jason took on snowboarding.  
Then New Years Eve was spent with our friends playing board games, eating and laughing. 
2012 was a great year. We are blessed in so many ways, and we certainly couldn't ask for more.
Cheers to 2013.