SKI DAY!!!

With the forecast of a beautiful, sunny and warm (well, 35 degrees warm!) Saturday at Wolf Creek Ski Area, we decided to get the girls bundled in their ski clothes and make the drive!



Here the girls are being fitted for their boots and skis. They are so excited!!









Jordan's first trip up the "Magic Carpet." She has skiied once before, but that was 2 years ago, so they wanted to give her a little refresher course.







And here Maddie is off the Carpet, and listening to her teacher's instructions.









Jordan's first run of the day. She was just like a little pro!















And here is Maddie's first attempt - a little shaky, and with a few falls. But overall, not too bad for her first try!








And she's ready to go back up!















Aw, what a sweet, happy little face!










Jordan quickly progressed off the Carpet, and onto the ski lift. Here she is riding with one of the instructors.








Maddie got more confident and comfortable as the morning went on, but then she came in early, saying she was too hot (35 degrees can get ya when you're all bundled up and working hard!!) We figured she would be tired and ready to stop by lunchtime.




Jordan, however, was still going strong! She was riding the lift by herself and skiing down so quickly, we had a hard time keeping up with where she was!







Then, to our surprise, Maddie decided she wanted to go back out after lunch! By the end of the afternoon, she had mastered the lift, too. Yah, Maddie!!







So you might be wondering what Cody was doing while the girls were getting in all this skiing action. . . Well, he was keeping Mom and Dad on their toes inside the ski school building. He got bored of the toys and snacks pretty quickly, and decided he wanted to hit the slopes with his sissies!


So Dad took him outside for a while, and tried to keep him entertained. Back inside the building, he continually climbed on top of the chairs, daring Mom and Dad to try to stop him. He fell down several times, hid Mom's water bottle from her, and FINALLY took a short nap! Mom had a very short little break before he was back up and running. . .








And when all other attempts to entertain yourself fail. . . there's always this option!!!








The end of the ski day arrived (FINALLY, for Mom), but all too soon for the girls!! They both did an awesome job, and had a TON of fun! Whoo-hoo!!! (Can't wait til we can all be out there on the slopes together.)

SNOW DAY!!!!

Last Monday night, the snow was really coming down, and Cody was very interested in watching it from his door in his room! He stood there at the window for the LONGEST time, just staring out!!

Every once in a while, he turned back to us to say "Oooh!" as if to ask "Do you see that?!" (A few minutes later, he managed to pull the cord for the blinds, sending them crashing down onto his face and creating chaos for a few minutes - and Mom was there to catch it all on video! Hee-hee)

Not surprisingly, Jordan didn't have school the next day "SNOW DAY!!!" So Mom had to come up with ways to keep the kids entertained inside all day. Here they are building a pillow fort in Mom's bedroom!

Aaaaahhhh - The fort is complete! (Too bad they only played with it for a few minutes, bickered the whole time, then got bored and wanted to do something else! Oh, well, I tried!!)

One thing that can definitely be said for our girls is that they LOVE to help out. So we try to take advantage of it while it lasts - here we have put them to work doing dishes!

The weekend BEFORE the snow hit was actually really sunny and warm, so we took advantage of it by going out on the 4-wheelers with Grandpa Dan. Cody was VERY happy to be getting some actual 4-wheelin' in (he makes us take him out in the garage to sit on the 4-wheelers everyday, and then screams and cries when we take him off without giving him a ride. The kid is seriously addicted!)

"So what's the hold-up? Why are we not ridin' yet?"

Daddy also took the opportunity while we out in the boonies to let the kids (big ones included!) try out the new rifle he bought for the little ones. It's a tiny little .22 rifle that is made especially for kids, and it is SO cute! He's training up his little hunters early.

Here Jordan is taking aim at her target. She did really well for her first time, and even though Maddie was reluctant at first, she finally gave it a shot as well. She made Mommy and Grandpa Dan go for a walk with Jordan and Cody, though, because she ONLY wanted Daddy to see. She definitely does things her OWN WAY!

The girls get their ears pierced!!

As a surprise to the girls this weekend, I suggested we get their ears pierced. Jordan agreed immediately, but Maddie decided she wasn't ready yet. I told her to just let me know when she decided she is ready, and we would get it done then.
Here we start out with our "before" picture.

Here is Jordan sitting at Patina, eagerly awaiting her ear piercing!

And here she is immediately afterwards!! She did not cry a single tear, flinch, or anything! She just kept a smile on her face the whole time and didn't say a peep. She is SO excited to have her ears pierced!!

We asked Maddie if she was sure she didn't want to get hers done, since it went so well for Jordan, and she said "No."

We left and Jordan was just SO proud of her new earrings, she had to go see Daddy at work and call her aunts and grandmas to tell them!

Then, to my surprise, the very next morning Maddie announced she wanted to get hers pierced that day! So back to Patina we went. . .

Miss Maddie did so great, too!! She was very brave, and didn't make a peep either. One little tear sneaked its way down her cheek right afterwards, but she didn't let on that she felt a thing.

And here are the girls with their brand-spanking new earrings! Jordan picked sapphire stones (even though they're not her birthstone, she loves deep blue colors) and Maddie went with her birthstone tourmaline (pink is her favorite color, so that worked perfectly!)

Fun in the Snow!!

Weekend before last, we decided to load up our 4-wheelers and sleds, and headed up to Mancos (our favorite camping spot in the summer.) We could only drive up part of the way before the road was blocked because of snow, but we parked there and took the kids sledding for a while. They liked it, but the hill was not very steep, so they got bored after a bit. Then we jumped on the 4-wheelers and went riding up the snow-packed road. We had SO much fun - especially Cody, whose absolute FAVORITE thing in the world is the 4-wheelers!

Just wanted to throw in a couple other pictures as well. These are from last month, when the girls went to their cousin Taylor's princess tea-party birthday celebration. It was so cute to see all the little glamorous "princesses" dressed up enjoying tea and finger foods!

And of course I couldn't leave out our handsome little guy! He has finally gotten to where he likes wearing ball caps, and requests them by pointing at his hat rack and saying "Hat!!"

Cody's First Haircut

On New Year's Day this year, we went to Grandma Clugston's house to get Cody his first haircut. Grandma has given both of the girls their first haircuts as well, but not nearly this young. (It figures - the girls' hair took forever to grow out, and Cody's grew really fast!)

Here are the "Before" pictures!

He's still happy, with no clue what is coming!

WOW!! That sucker is SOUR!

Here Grandma is just getting started.

Almost done now - and Cody is not enjoying the haircut thing one bit!

And now it is finally all over. "Just give me an Oreo and nobody gets hurt!" He looks so handsome with his big-boy haircut!!