Keystone

This year we decided that we would take the family up into the mountain and try a little skiing.  It was a great weekend to head up to the mountains.  Lots of new snow and more in the forecast.  Eric has never tried before and the girls are now old enough to be left alone with someone else.  So we went up for the weekend.  We traded Alex ski days for watching the girls.  Emily wasn't able to come up with us because she had conflicts with the school play that she was working on.  So Alex brought a friend.  We drove up Friday morning and Eric and I hit the slopes.  It didn't take him long before he was cruising down the mountain side faster than I could keep up.  I play it a little cautious, I don't like to fall at all.  

After we were down skiing the boys went to the snowboarding park.  We had dinner and sat in the hot tub with the girls.  It was so nice to just get away.  Something that I wish we would do more of.  

The next morning we dropped the boys off early so they could spend the day one the slopes, yes they got the better end of the deal.  Then we went exploring around the village.  We showed Savannah and Brittlynn what we did and Savannah was ready to try herself.  Perhaps next year we will take her up and let her try.  

They had free ice skating on the lake.  Savannah loves the ice.  She had so much fun she didn't want to leave.  If it wasn't for the sound of hunger for Daddy then we would have stayed longer.  Brittlynn didn't enjoy the ice as much.  They had a little sled that they let us use to pull her around in but she was quickly done.  So dad stayed on the ice with Savannah and I watch Brittlynn entertain herself with everything that she could.  It was a lot of fun...kinda weird to be skating on a lake when you can see through the ice to what is below.  

We decided to hit a local pizza shop right there in the village.  The food was good and the girls had fun.  After lunch we headed back to the condo to get a little rest before the big evening.  

At some point we realized that we had forgotten the ticket for our dinner that we paid for.  I was ready to drive back to get the tickets....that would have been a 6 hour trip.  Luckily for us we were able to get a hold of the place we bought the tickets and the sent us an email confirming that we purchased tickets for the evening.  It wouldn't have been a big deal but it was a $30 dinner per person.  Before we went to dinner we decided to walk around Keystone and explore and get some shirts to remember our trip by.  Of course the girls found everything they could do and they did it. We even ran into Alex and his friends while we were there. 

It was time for dinner to start and luckily for us they let us in without any problems.  They had face painting, balloons, we ran into some friends, and the best of all there was a little dancing.  That was the girls most favorite part.  I love taking them on trips because everything is so much better when you are with them. 

This is a little video of the dancing fun the at the girls had at dinner.  

Overall the weekend was great.  I just wish we had more chances to spend time together like that as a family.  It seems as if our little family is falling apart.  

Alex is a Senior

How does time go by.  It was just yesterday that I remember picking up Alex from 2nd grade...and now he is about to graduate.  When people tell you time goes by fast, enjoy every minute of it, they aren't joking.  I was able to take Alex's pictures this year and it was a lot of fun.  Of course Savannah wanted to be part of the whole thing, and of course she was more than ready to have her picture taken.  Alex and Emily's mom moved here in October so we didn't spend time with him on his birthday, but he did end up coming with us on our trip, which turned into his birthday present.

So much has happened in the last year, some good and some...well not so good.  Alex got his first summer job, he letter in soccer for the last time, he is a senior in High School...the not so good...he hurt his knee and couldn't play most of his season, he started making choices that lead him and a hard path that pushed his family away and because he had two houses to go to he played each parent back and forth.

We love Alex when he is Alex...the big brother that is kind and loving to his sisters.  Its hard to watch him when he is angry and hateful.  We know he has some amazing potential and we hope that he realizes sooner than later what difference our friends and our choices make in our life.

Hockey on the Hill...

What do we do as a family during the winter?  Well you guessed it we spend our weekends watching a little hockey.  Eric loves watching hockey especially when the team he is cheering for wins.  Air Force has been doing really so we spend every chance that we get watching them play.  I guess it also helps that we don't have to pay for the tickets.  Savannah and Brittlynn love going and it is always fun when it becomes a daddy date night with them.

Happy Birthday Eric

Another year and another birthday.  The best part about Eric's birthday this year was watching Savannah and Brittlynn get so excited.  I am not sure if this is a well known fact, but you can't have a birthday without balloons.  So we got balloons and the girls were so excited.  They get so excited to give him even the littlest of things.  I hope they never loose that excitement.

So many new things were accomplished since Eric's last birthday...He promoted to Senior Master Sergeant, He ran a Marathon, purchased a new car...his toy, one of his children became a senior in High School, Got a new job at the Academy, received his first calling in church working with the YM, got a few more grey hairs, and of course got a year older.

It is crazy how old 40 is when you are young and then when you get there it seems that you have so much more to do in life, you are just starting.  Here is to another year and all the adventure that it will bring.