February 5th we pulled the little kids out of school (the big girls were off) and headed up to the mountains. As my mom would say "The mountains were calling."
We couldn't have ordered a more BEAUTIFUL day!! It was GORGEOUS!I skiied without gloves the whole day. The kids had their jackets opened and a few people on the slopes were skiing in short sleeve t-shirts!
Ethan has decided to stick with skiing for now. He told us he "likes the wind in his hair" when he skiis. Brad's stickin' with the snowboard It was nice to have Brittany to ski with the big girls as well. See what a beautiful day it was??
Days like this are the ones skiiers live for (at least this one!). GREAT day!!
Elise started taking saxophone lessons in September, and her school beginner band had their debut concert in February. While it is difficult to see Elise's face from my vantage point. She is the one in the pony tail with the blue elastic. I have recorded a few pieces for you to enjoy. Nice job Elise!!
We rang in 2010 in a more quiet fashion this year. My dad made it down here just in time.
Somehow I don't have many pictures of my dad's visit, but we had a good time.
Here we are out to supper one night.
Samantha was invited to participate in another honor band. This group included the best players in Central Oregon. It was probably my favorite concert of Samantha's I have ever been to. It was nice music, entertaining and not too stuffy.
Way to go Samantha... another honor band!
January also means "Pinewood Derby" time. Ethan did a great job of cutting the wood all himself, even sustaining an injury. When he sliced his hand and saw all the blood he turned white as a sheet and told me "I feel dizzy," so we quickly sat him down to help him recover. It was a pretty good gash. He didn't use any power tools at all. It was all done with a saw, chisel and sandpaper. I was very impressed that he kept with it.
So, here it is. The completed car It was not very fast however :-(
Here they are waiting for their turn on the track. Ethan was a really good sport about his losses, and Brad has vowed to help a bit more next year and look into the fine art of Pinewood Derby car creation.
We recieved sad news in January of the sudden passing of Brad's uncle, Gary from a heart attack. Sharon and Gary were able to come out and visit us a couple years ago, and the kids always described him as "the uncle with Peanut." Peanut is Gary's beloved dog, and it appropriate that they included this photo on the program for his memorial service.
Gary and Sharon lived in Boise, which is driveable from Bend, so Brad's mom flew in to Bend, and they were able to go to the funeral and spend some time with family, which was nice for them.
Here is a nice picture of a bunch of the cousins together at the funeral Near the end of January, Samantha and Elise each brought a friend and I took them to the "Hairspray Sing-a-long" at the Tower Theatre down town. What a fun night and a great idea!!
What's more fun that going to a musical an the theatre and getting to sing along?
I was SO FUN!
Well that about wraps up January. Now to catch up on February!
January 8th 2010 would have been Elvis Presley's 75th birthday.
We were "all shook up" about it so I grabbed the kids and my "Big Hunk O' Love" and headed to a local diner for a special dinner to celebrate
Lyle the owner and his wife came up with this fun menu
They also had fun trivia cards on the table, but "A Fool Such As I" didn't do so well with the answers. I had never had a signature GRILLED peanut butter and banana sandwich, so I figured "It's now or never" and ordered one and it was really "Too Much"... no "Return to Sender" with this meal. It was delicious!! Check it out!! (Mmmm... now I want another one!)
They had Elvis music playing over the speakers in the restaurant and were playing an Elvis movie on the TV and I "[Couldn't] Help Falling In Love" with Elvis and his music and charm.
Now "Don't be cruel" and judge me too harshly, but we couldn't resist getting a peanut butter and banana shake for dessert too. Mmmmm!
It was such a fun way to celebrate and educate the kiddos on "The King"
I love this video. He looks so great in that leather outfit
This is probably my favorite Elvis song. I SO wish I could have seen him perform in his prime!
This one's a classic!!
Elvis, it was fun to celebrate "The Wonder of You"
Samantha got the phone she's been asking for, for forever!! And used all 250 free texts in a matter of minutes!! Ethan's swiss army knife from grandpa
Ethan had been bugging my mom about what was in a present she had for him under the tree. My mom jokingly told him it was a tutu, and so the running joke began. Ethan would joke about what he was going to do with his tutu and how excited he was to get it. So... my mom couldn't resist actually going out and buying him one. It was so funny Christmas morning when he opened it... :D
Thanks to the Markels for our awesome Tony Hawk game!
Abby got this pretty quilt from grandma Whiting, with lots of hours of love and care sewn into it.
Another big hit was Owl City tickets
It was fun to have Granma and Karl to share Christmas with us. We haven't ever had someone share Christmas with us at our place our entire marriage, so it was a nice treat.
Brad was super excited about "helping" put this toy dinosaur together for Ethan
Elise working on a new fashion design
Ethan wasn't too bad at it either!! :D
Santa brought Abby a desk. Here she is at 12:20pm
Here she is at 4:50pm
Here she is at 6:41pm!
She was busy, busy, busy in that desk ALL DAY!!
While we didn't recieve snow for Christmas morning, late Christmas day came a fog that produced this beautiful hoar frost for Boxing Day.
December brought more fun, like the ward Christmas party. Although we are not coordinated at all in this picture from the party, I think everyone looks pretty good. Thanks to Lora for taking the pictures- we haven't had a picture of us all together for a very long time! I went to help in Ethan's class to help them make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. All the children in class were carefully following the model the teacher had shown them and my son comes up with this....????
I also went with the YW to wrap presents for the needy seniors in the community. I thought it turned out to be a really nice event. Some of the younger girls joined us as well. We also went for a snow shoe trip up to Virginia-Meisner snow park. It was a little chilly to begin with or if you stopped moving. We did about 3 miles.
At "the top"
Very pretty day and pretty view.
Abby's tuckered out!
Brad took the little kiddos out sledding one day over the break.
And the kiddos and I joined the YM/YW for tubing at the tube park
Ethan has decided to stick with skiing for now. He told us he "likes the wind in his hair" when he skiis.
Brad's stickin' with the snowboard 
It was nice to have Brittany to ski with the big girls as well.
What a fun night and a great idea!! 
Well that about wraps up January. Now to catch up on February!
Santa brought Abby a desk. Here she is at 12:20pm
While we didn't recieve snow for Christmas morning, late Christmas day came a fog that produced this beautiful hoar frost for Boxing Day.
