snow days

I feel like we have had quite a bit of snow lately.  I love it.  I've always loved Colorado snow and it is one of the things I missed most while living in North Carolina.  Colorado snow is the best because it lasts a day or two and then the sun is shining again.

These pictures were from one of our first snows in December.  

We have one little boy who loves it...

    

and one little boy who isn't really a big fan.

One little boy who is awfully timid with the white stuff...

and one that can't seem to get enough of it.

The boys attempted a snowman...

but those first snowmen are full of the leaves that weren't raked up in time...and a certain participant who wasn't exactly thrilled to be helping.

Hopefully Tanner will enjoy the snow a little more next year.

I know his big brother will want a buddy to play with.  

Until then,  I'm glad we've had one little boy who loves it...

it's just too bad his mommy doesn't love to get everyone dressed and ready to play in it!

It's almost always worth the effort though.

And on a side note (sort of) ...

I can't believe how much older Hunter is looking in these pictures!  He has grown so much this year.  His personality and stature seem to grow by the minute.

I am desperately trying to burn all these sweet memories into my mind...I know they will pass all too soon.

Just like the seasons.

thoughts on january

January was...emotional, stressful, and exhausting.

No one really enjoyed it at our house.

To make a really loooooong story short...

At the beginning of January, Michael came down with a crazy virus. 

It was attacking the muscles in his arms and legs.  There were days where he could not grip a gallon of milk, walk, or use his fingers.  

It was weird.  

It was scary.

Doctors seemed a bit baffled and took his blood and checked for lots of crazy things. 

In the end they decided it had to have been a virus.  It was about a 2 week long ordeal.  

I remember clearly the day he went outside and walked around with the boys and threw a ball to them.  

It was a huge sigh of relief.  

"He is going to be okay." "He will be able to play with his kids again." "He will be able to work."

He struggled to get down on his knee for this photo...

That next Monday he was finally ready to get back to work.  He got out of his car and something happened to his back.  He was in so much pain he could hardly walk.  

Two days later, he missed his step and fell down our entire flight of stairs.  

Xray, MRI, herniated discs, chiropractor, physical therapy, exhaustion.  

I know this all sounds a bit dramatic but it was a very scary season that felt like an eternity.

It was literally one thing after another.

He is doing much better now and we have finally found things that seem to be helping/working.

I've discovered a lot about myself over the last month and a half.  

How I handle stress, how selfish and unloving I can be, how I want my life to always be easy.  

Ugh.  That was not fun to write.

But, the truth is, although this has not been a great experience for any of us I am thankful for the areas that God is working in each of our lives.  

So that's what we have been up to.  Part of the reason why I have been so quiet on this blog.

But we are moving on, Michael is making progress, and we are hoping that we have learned something valuable through it all.  

That was January.

valentines day {2012}

 Valentines Day was a lot like any other day for us this year.  

But we managed to do a few fun things. 

A quick little heart banner craft and some quick pics...

The kids weren't really in the mood but a few forced smiles later and we were ready to continue on with our day.

We learned a long time ago that going out on Valentines Day resulted in total chaos and loooooong waits everywhere. 

We started a tradition a few years ago of getting a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphys (take and bake). 

Tonight, I put a blanket on the floor and we enjoyed our heart pizza "picnic" style. We watched  "Dolphin Tale" with the kids and enjoyed our time together. No pics of that.  I was too busy keeping pizza hands on the blanket and not every other surface in the family room. 

We didn't make it through the entire movie.  All the sugar that had been consumed earlier made it difficult for the munchkins to sit still and focus..especially since the movie wasn't really geared for a toddler and 4 year old.  Michael and I finished it after we got the kids to bed and I do highly recommend it.

Overall, a great day...

but very bummed that Hunter woke up about a half hour after going to bed with what seems to be a lovely head cold. 

sigh.

Hoping to get caught up on a few posts and back to regular blogging soon. 

We have been processing a lot lately and feeling like we've been surviving life instead of living it.

Keeping our heads above water has proved to be a little difficult but i think we are finally swimming upstream and seeing a little ray of sunshine.   

Thankful for this Valentines Day and the reminder of how much love we have.

"We love because He first loved us."
1 John 4:19

merry christmas

Lots of catching up to do on this little ol' blog.

But for now...

wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.

superheroes {halloween}

****************************************************************************

The superheroes came, the superheroes saved the day, and the superheroes ate a lot of candy.  

That's how it went down.

We started out the evening with a quick visit to see Great Annie.

Tanner Superman led the way...

Once inside, the boys filled their buckets with yummy candy and Tanner tried to eat every piece he was given.  He didn't quite understand the "fill your basket up and eat it later" deal.

After a quick visit we headed over to my sister's house to trick-or-treat with the cousins.

It was pretty chilly out and Tanner still wasn't really understanding how it all worked.  He would get a piece of candy and throw a fit if we wouldn't let him sit down and eat it.  After a few houses we put him in the wagon and he was perfectly content sucking on his lollipop while the rest of the gang continued without him.

Hunter was a little afraid of one boy that was by us and decided he was done after a few blocks.

Trick-or-treating was very short lived this year...

and that was ok by me :)

It was still such a fun night with family.

I think Hunter enjoyed the whole "Spiderman thing" quite a bit...

The next night he prayed,

"Dear  Lord, thanks for my mom and dad and Tanner.  And thank you for Spiderman.  And thank you that I am Spiderman.  And that I am a superhero.  And that I saved the day...  In your praisewee {how he says precious} name. Amen."

ha ha ha.

And that, folks, was our Halloween 2011.

kansas & beaver creek

October is always a pretty crazy month for us.  

It seems like it is one of the fastest months of the year, always packed with lots of celebrations and a FULL calendar.

This October has proven to be no different.

But it has been full of good things.  

At the beginning of the month, I went for a quick trip to Kansas to see these beautiful faces...

My rock star husband let me fly all.by.myself.  No kids.  A few days to love on my friends and their sweet little ones without being distracted by my own munchkins.

I was also able to go to the much anticipated Berean Country Fair and snag some Christmas gifts and support the Johnsons.

And my college roommate, Mandy, drove 3 hours from Kansas City so we could spend a little time together and I could meet sweet Adele.

It's always good to catch up with my Kansas friends.  Lots of time goes by between our visits and yet it seems like we are always able to pick up right where we left off.

I loved playing with Mr. Levi...or should I say Mr. Personality?  We became fast friends.  He is such a little cutie-pie.  I loved reading books to him over and over so that his mom and dad could keep it up long after I was gone.  How could I resist this face??

And Jess let me cuddle and love on sweet Griffin a lot... to cure any baby fevers I may or may not be having.

He was so precious.  

But most of all, I loved seeing Jess in her new role as momma to two sweet boys.

  

Our friendship has been built through many, many years, many miles, through many joys, and deep sorrows.  Thankful for the short but sweet time we were able to have together.

It was a great few days.

Never long enough though.  

***********************************

I was home for just a few days and then Michael and I left for a night away to celebrate our 7 year anniversary.  

We decided to splurge and stay in Beaver Creek at an amazing hotel.

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived and they upgraded us to an executive suite for no charge!

Suite?  Sweet!  We will take it!  

It was so relaxing and we loved every minute.  Michael has been working long hours and has been very busy (a blessing but also exhausting) so we were thankful to get away and truly rest...even for just a little while.

The fall colors were still beautiful and the temperature was perfect.

7 years.  

Amazing how it seems like such a short time in many ways but how much life has been lived and how many things have changed.

Thankful for Michael.  

So very thankful.  

For all the good, bad, happy, sad, trying, wonderful, amazing moments.

four {hunter}

Well, it happened.

Our little buddy turned 4 yesterday.

Our celebrations wound up being pretty low key.  Our sweet boy didn't seem to mind a bit though.

We started the day with streamers, balloons, and a few presents.

I had a feeling he would want to wear one of his gifts and I was right...

The Spiderman shirt was from Mandy & Tim and he LOVED it!! Thanks, guys!!

When I asked him what he wanted to do for the day he said, "probably a little school and play cars!!"

I laughed and said, "what else?"

"That's all, mom.  That's it. OK?"

Well all righty then.

He did have a few other fun things throughout the day.

Like a visit from Aunt Kendy and Sawyer...complete with balloons, a birthday doughnut, and lots of play time with his cousin.

Nana took him out to lunch for his very favorite...McDonald's.  She even let him pick out a toy at the store. The toy he picked was a Spiderman helicopter, is anyone really surprised?

After lunch he managed to squeeze in a little nap.  This 4 year old still needs one of those every.single.day.

When he woke up he was greeted by our sweet neighbors who brought him a spiderman 4wheeler (EEKS! The excitement!) and a visit from Granny. I'm not real sure why I spaced pictures :(

We had planned on taking Hunter out for dinner but in true Hunter fashion he said he would rather just stay at home, eat, and then play...so we baked a pizza and called it good.  Then we finished off the night with cake.

Vanilla with vanilla frosting...as requested.

He was a happy birthday boy.

But he was a little disappointed when he realized he hadn't gotten a camera.  The one and only thing he really asked for.

And then we remembered that there was one more present hiding behind the pillow in the living room.  He was sooooo excited to open it.  He started taking pictures right away.  Close ups of everything.

Quite the little photographer.

Here they are... HunterCam style.

4 years.  Just like that.

Can't believe it. And can't imagine life without him.

We love you SOOOOOO much, Hunter.  What a precious blessing you are.