February 2017

February began much the same as January ended: lots of snow and skiing and winter fun.

Adam took Meredith and Parker to the Roots Tech conference in Provo, UT this month too.  They spent two days learning more about family history and how to further this great work of seeking out our ancestors.  

They also stopped by to visit Granny in the Jamestown retirement facility where she currently lives.

 On the 14th, we also had our traditional family Valentine's Day fancy dinner.  We've done this for quite a while now and it's a tradition that we thoroughly enjoy. I pull out our fancy stem glasses and fill them with sparkling cider and we always have salmon, some type of potato and a steamed vegetable on the side and we eat by candlelight.  Of course, there is always a decadent dessert to round out the meal too.  Some years we dress up, some years we don't, but we always enjoy this dinner!

January 2017

January brought plenty of cold, snow, skiing, and a birthday. 

We received a storm int he early part of the month that brought a few inches of snow.  Of course, this is like a cloud-sneeze in Michigan where we lived for eight years, but is nevertheless quite exciting and makes for some fun snow play.

Declan was happy to play outside for the 20 minutes that it took them to build the snowman and then walked his frozen, soggy jeans back inside for some hot chocolate.

Yes, that's a Halloween mixing bowl they're using to scoop the snow.

The masterpiece is complete!

During this month we went to the Purgatory Ski Resort every Saturday.  Meredith, Rhece and Corben were in ski school every Saturday morning and we spent the day there skiing with friends from the ward, especially the Mings.  We kind of have our ski routine down so it doesn't seem quite so cumbersome as it did when we first started.  Between getting everyone in their snow gear and loading up the equipment as well as packing food, it is quite the process!  Now that we've got it figured out, we have come to enjoy this activity as a family quite a bit.  

It is so incredibly beautiful skiing through these mountains and seeing the beauty that surrounds us!

Here is Corben at ski school. He has done great!

Corben turned five on the 13th of January.  I always take the kids to lunch for their birthday, and Corben chose the illustrious Burger King joint here in town (primarily for the crown, I'm assuming).  Declan was clearly pleased about the event.

Our festivities at home that evening included Corben's choice of cake, which was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  The candles were especially fun because the flames were the color of the candles.

Parker had a Scout camp out in January also and his Scout leader sent us these pictures of the boys having a great time.

Parker flying off a homemade ski jump.

In a snow cave that they constructed.

Taking turns catching air off of the aforementioned jump.

It's a great start to 2017!

The Year in Review: 2017

Well, that was a bit of a break. Since I last posted we have moved twice (to a rental home in Farmington, NM, and subsequently to a home that we purchased here in town); Adam finished all of his medical training (!!!) and bought into a practice here in town; we've added two more kids to the family (Corben and Declan); we now have kids in high school, middle school, and elementary school.  We are happy and well and the kids have said on multiple occasions that they wish I were still writing the blog because they love seeing the pictures and reading about our family. I will try to devote a post or two to each month for 2017 and start fresh on 2018.  If I get really ambitious, I may try to fill in the other years too, but I'm not making any promises yet. In the meantime, welcome back!

Hiking in the foothills and an anniversary!

Yesterday we went on a hike in the foothills near our home.  It was just warm enough, and blessedly overcast.  The only annoyances were the gnats that were flying around, but other than that we had a great time.  As it turned out, we finished just in time.  As we were hiking back to the car, a thunderstorm rolled over the mountain and it started raining.  Thankfully the lightning didn't start until we were IN the car!

I would be remiss if I painted the picture as being too rosy though.  In the first half of the hike there was enthusiasm and excitement.  Mid-way through the hike, the excitement began to wane a bit as fatigue set in.  Adam and I had to supress our laughter as one of our children, fed up with the gnats and large ants yelled, "get me off of this stinkin' mountain!"  I told Adam I felt like we were on the set of the original "Parent Trap" when Vicki yells something like, "get me out of this stinkin' fresh air!"

The other big news of the week is that Adam and I celebrated our ten year anniversary.  Since it was a busy day during the middle of the week, we decided to stay home and celebrate our family's "birthday" with a nice dinner and tasty dessert.  The kids loved being able to take part in the celebration.  We've had a lot of fun and made some wonderful memories in the last ten years, and I can't wait to see what the future holds!

It appears we're back in business . . .

I'm not sure what the problem was with the last few posts not publishing very quickly, but I think it is fixed now.  I won't even try to go back and fill in the blanks in the family history, we'll just start fresh :)

We are now residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It's kind of an interesting mix of Arizona, Utah, with a little California thrown in.  We live right up against the Sandia mountains, and while it doesn't replace my love for the Michigan treescape, it is quite beautiful nonetheless. 

For the last two weeks Madelyn, Parker and Meredith have been in swimming lessons.  All three of them LOVED the lessons.  This was Meredith's first time in lessons and she could not have been more pleased to join the club.  Rhece and I hung out poolside while they explored their inner fish :)

Other than swimming, we have been unpacking and trying to do so quickly since before we know it, it will be time to pack it all back up again!

Stay tuned . . . . more to come!

Jennie

testing . . .

I've written a post or two, but it hasn't been publishing, so I'm just seeing if this thing is on :)

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!