Having Fun in Snow

     We have spent so much time in the snow lately.  Mostly because it is fun but partly because when there's this much snow, what else are you supposed to do.  So I've decided its time to start snowboarding again and Jared is  coming with me. And even though I have been 100 times more than him (Jared's been once) he will still be better than me.  Its inevitable.  Preston also is going to begin.  He tried the little skateboard sled thing, that you stand on while going down the hill and LOVED it.  He got going pretty fast, bit it pretty hard, and still wanted more, so we'll be seeing him on the slopes as well.  

      I had most of my family up here for Christmas and it was fantastic.  With all the snow, the giant fireplace, and the huge Christmas tree it felt like a real vacation even though we didn't leave home.  Preston got Harry Potter 5 and has watched it once a day since then.  He also got a Builder Station with drills, wrenches and even protective goggles.  He loves it and we love watching his imagination make all kinds of things for us.  Noah got a rocking horse that whinnies and moves its head when you press its ear.  For the first few times that we showed it to him, he kept hitting the horse on the head as hard as he could when it moved.  It was hilarious.  He was just a little disturbed by the moving head (we think).  Also as a side note to all parents, we told all the kids they couldn't get up until 6:00 but then set the clock we gave them for a hour before so it was really 7:00 when they got up.  The idea, I admit, was not mine but I will be doing it every year.  All in all it was a great Christmas.

     Some of you may have noticed that I said I was going to get Christmas cards out and then never did.  Shocking, I know but I'm coming to terms that I don't do Christmas cards, I don't scrapbook and you'll probably never see this blog more creatively done than it is right now:)  I really do consider myself a creative person but on the above items...it's just never going to happen.  

    

    

      

     

P-Diddy's Christmas Concert

Check this out.  Preston has the heebie-jeebies while standing next to girls.  This was his very first Christmas concert, and Maren was a proud Mama.

Christmas Preparations

It's that time of year again and the Christmas preparations are coming along nicely.  Of course we are adjusting, again, to a new place with lots of snow and space.  The kids are loving playing outside and with each other (as long as Preston is the one drawing on Noah's face and not the other way around).  

We had to get a few new snow toys for the boys and since Maren says that snowmobiles are out of the question (for now) we had to settle on cheaper sleds.  I am pretty sure that Noah only stayed in the sled because I bought him the one with the seatbelt.  With an older, loving brother like Preston you would have done the same.

So we bought a fake tree this year because Maren claims that she's allergic to pine.  Please note there are no presents underneath the tree, and that would be because of Noah.  While Preston has really learned to help his mom, Noah, on the other hand has learned to create havoc.  For the Christmas play this year Noah is going to be the angel; however instead of announcing the birth of the Christ, I am afraid he will be more of a destroying angel.

So this is our back yard:)  I know all of you are jealous.  Notice Jared runs with Noah without holding onto him.  I, myself, only figured it out after I took the picture.  This is when Jayne and family came to visit and had a great game of football.  And then thats the back of our house.  For some odd reason I've never taken a picture of the front.  Life is good up here in Sun Valley.  A little slower pace never hurt anybody.  Jared is loving his job and I love having  more time with him, since his schedule is a tad better than in Boise.  

Preston's most excellent Halloween

Is he not the cutest Harry Potter you've ever seen?

We're back

So we wanted to out do last year, when Jared was Darth Maul and Cash was Beast (X-Men).  So when our annual party came up, how could we refuse KISS when the theme was battle of the bands. 

Jayne and Darrin came up for a visit and we had so much fun.  We played football, went hiking and in between listened to conference.  The last couple pictures are from this last summer when Jay and his family were here and we decided to get family pictures taken.  Preston was born the same year as 3 of his girl cousins, so for the rest of his life he'll be taking pictures like the one below. 

We're moving!!

So life is never boring around our house. I heard a girl talking about her kids the other day and couldn't help but compare her analogy to my own two boys..."like chimpanzees on crack!" Its fitting on any given day of the week, making our house crazy but really fun. On a big side note, Jared and I have decided that Boise has one too many dentists (on every corner) and are going to try our hand, or rather Jared's skilled hands, in Hailey, ID, aka Sun Valley. Yes, we'll be a hop, skip and a 10 mile jump next to Bruce Willis' house. I think we'll be fast friends... real quick like. Anyway, we move Sep. 15 and are going to rent a house that WILL have an extra room for those of you who need a vacation.

So this is a small glimpse into our summer, since its rapidily coming to a close . This is Jay (Jared's brother) throwing E-man into the sky at a Black canyon with a bundle of kids waiting to be next.
Preston jumping into the local pool.
Jared and Cash throwing kids off their shoulders. Yes, I'm Mrs. Obvious.
Noah is terrified of water and him being ankle deep in this picture is HUGE. We're so proud.



We went to Utah a while back and talked to Boyd about his triathalon. Needless to say, Jared got super pumped and decided that he wanted to do it as well. So these are pictures of him at "Emmett's Most Excellent Triathalan."

Preston was so scared of the cannon going off, so he sat like this for about 10 minutes.
Jared beat his brother, Cash, by 2 hundredths of a second...he was so mad:) It was great day and we had tons of fun cheering them on. In all there was, Jared, his brother Cash, his cousin Kevin, Bubba a friend and his wife Carol.