Snow Much Fun!

One of the perks of living at the base of a mountain it getting to enjoy this amazing view!

And able to be IN the snow playing within 20 minutes.  After being stuck at home all week due to the rain (which allowed the snow to fall and give us such a beautiful view), the kids and I decided to get out and go play in it.  I ventured up without chains and almost regretted it, as I slid a bit in some ice and watched a coupe of vehicles get stuck, but it all turned out okay in the end.

We found this little alcove where I was able to safely park my van and allow the kids time to play.

Group Selfie!

My two little snow bunnies

I love how I was able to capture them climbing up the hill.  Elsie and Seth would have climbed way up to the top if I allowed them too. 

Apparently using the sled was just too difficult for this snow bunny!

We ended the day with the kids stripping out of their wet sweat pants (we don't got to the snow often enough to invest in snow clothes), wrapping themselves up in blankets and driving thru Starbucks to get some hot cocoa.
If El Nino keeps up, I see many afternoons of snow play in our future.

PCJBR Awards Banquet 2015

We celebrated all the hard work the kids put into competing this year and had a great time with our bull riding family this past Saturday.  Elsie took 4th place in her first year of calf riding and Seth is the Reserve Champion!

The two look extra sharp in their new team shirts!

Our 'lil Reserve Champion and all his loot!  He earned a shirt, bell buckle, a buckle, a jacket and a metal wall hanging.  Way to go Seth and my God continue to protect you as you move up to steers in 2016.

Thanksgiving

Super cute picture of the cousins!

Singing and Playing in Daddy's Band

Seth and Elsie are doing so well at learning how to play the guitar. Elsie is even able to play while singing in front of a crowd.  They recently had the opportunity to play again at Wayne's brothers church and they nailed it!  Kya loves to sing and play the piano here at home, but usually declines playing with the band.  She is very social, but ever since she was young (preschool age) she has hated having all eyes focused on her and therefore prefers to sit in the audience and watch.

I chose to take pictures during practice so that I wouldn't disrupt the service, hence Wayne and Roy in their t-shirts.

Southland celebrated their 30th anniversary this month and had a reunion concert. It was fun to see a lot of the old guys come back to play and to introduce "Southland the Next Generation".  Seth & Elsie played along with our drummers son Carson.  They received a standing ovation!

Snowline 2015

It was good to be back at Snowline up in Oak Glen, after having to miss out last year due to two of my kids having hand, foot & mouth disease. Every year seems to bring its own adventures.  Some years the weather is hot and not quiet perfect for apple cider & donuts, others years it can be cold or just right.  This year, it rained!  It was raining so hard when we got out of church that we opted to go over to my in-laws house to eat instead of eating at Snowline.  Eventually the rain stopped and we headed on up, but my in-laws couldn't make it due to time constraints.  Luckily our niece still joined us!

We took some pictures for Christmas cards, but then I discovered that I lost all of my addresses.  Ugh!  So here you can enjoy what would have been pictures on our cards.

Kya is 10 and starting to show some signs of maturity.  She enjoys redecorating her bedroom on a regular basis and almost never has to be told to do her homework.

Seth is 9 and is quite the jokester.  He thinks it is funny to burp and fart on a regular basis.  I am hoping to break him of this habit pretty quickly!

Elsie is 8 and are little bossy girl.  She is on student council, gets amazing grades and loves to snuggle still.

Hard to believe our niece is a grown up now!  We love that at 24 she will still come hang out with us.

Elsie is Eight!

For Elsie's 8th birthday, she wanted to go to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. She was so funny, because she knew they would sing to her and she wanted them too of course, but when the time came she got all embarrassed and didn't want them to come sing.  Of course she was all smiles and loved every minute of it.

August Happenings

The kids went back to school on August 6, so besides getting used to our new schedule, there wasn't too much going on.

Elsie still loves to help Mommy cook and discovered that wearing sunglasses not only helps her to look adorably cute, but also helps keep your eyes from watering when working with onions.

Thanks to our cousins organic apple trees, we were able to put up 10 pints of applesauce and 5 quarts of apple pie filling

The kids on their 1st day of school.  Kya is in 5th, Elsie in 3rd and Seth in 4th grade.