Our Very Own Christmas

Santa was kind enough to come a couple days later so that Ken could be with us to celebrate.

Our traditional pre-present breakfast.  It's a different breakfast every year, but the tradition is to have a nice breakfast together before opening presents.  This year?  Crepes--mmmmm.

One of the kids thought it would be fun to turn on our fireplace to set the mood, unfortunately, it also melted all of the candy in the stockings.

Opening stockings.

Kailyn's gift from Ava.

Ava is happy now that she has chocolate.

A cardboard rocket ship for all of the kids.

Angel Jordan...

Our First Mini-Hike in the Mountains

One of the big reasons we wanted to move to Colorado is because we love the mountains. Unfortunately, by the time Ken joined us it was late in the year and a bit chilly. Even with the chill, Ken and I took Chase and Ava hiking while the big kids were in school.

Excited to hike even if it means bundling up.

Chase was not very fast, part of that was due to the fact that he insisted on picking up and carrying rocks.

Looking out for all of the cactus on the side of the trail.

Ava didn't last quite as long as Chase... it was nap time.

Gorgeous!

When we were there the elk were in the rut and were gathering in large herds.  Driving home we saw this herd right next to the road.

Misc 0ct. & Nov. Kids Pics

We got a skim of snow and the kids got SO excited. They dug out all of their snow gear to go and play in the snow. 

Caden's self portrait of him eating his favorite food, yogurt.

If Caden was getting his picture taken then Chase wanted his picture taken too. Chase is such a cutie. He has this little high voice that is so cute but hard to understand.

Watching a play at the library. Left to right: Jordan (in orange), Tessa (Jordan's friend), Caden, Chase, Ava, and Kailyn.

Too tired to even finish lunch. (Ava)

Opening a Halloween package from Grandma and Grandpa Jones.

Mmmm, brownies with frosting and sprinkles!

Ava quickly claiming the chocolates....

....and the marshmallows. (Ava has such a sweet tooth.)

Chase and Ava (on right) playing with their cousin Becky. Chase is such a good sport he loves Becky so much, he is even willing to play Barbies to make her happy.

Ava watching the snow come down.

Chase ready with his gloves.

Not sure how this started but these two brought down their pillows and blankets and were just having the best time. They would lay down and then look up at each other and laugh and laugh and laugh. They were laughing so hard.

Ava.

Chase figured out how to use the girls' basketball jersey as a cape. Ava of course had to have one too.

Ava showing her super hero flying skills.

If you don't have enough hands the mouth always comes in handy.  This was Ava coming up to Ken.  The kids were getting ready for school and were about to walk out the door.  In a panic, Ava arrived carrying everything she could in all the ways she could--hands and mouth.

Chase liked Ava's style and copied.

Chase was standing on the side of a bar stool when he tipped over and fell. The barstool landed right on him. He  had the biggest bump over his eye. This is a picture taken a few days later when it settled into his eyes. Almost a month later and he still has a bump on his forehead over eye.

Jordan played basketball for the first time this year. It was a steep learning curve. She is the one on the right in the blue shorts. She has some good dribbling skills but just needs to gain some confidence.

Grandma B helping Ava get ready for church when they came to visit.

Things were quiet... Ken went up to find Chase in our bathtub playing with his cars  and helicopters.

I got home from errands and went to see what Chase was up to. Found him playing with his cars on our windowsill. I went to take his picture and he said, "No Mom, Dad already took my picture."

He then proceeded to tell me that two of his cars were dead because they had fallen into the hot lava (aka the bed spread).