Ramekins

This may just be the excuse I need to buy some ramekins...

Deep Dish Cookie Recipe

Fearless

Introducing.... Izzy the fearless.

She jumps

She parallel turns

She swings her arms when she wants to go faster

She is 3 years old.
She is generally a happy skier as long as she gets a few snack breaks.

Taekwondo

Maren tested for her orange belt.  She has been preparing for a few months in her Taekwondo class and was ecstatic, but nervous, to test.  She did great.

Maren, the Birthday Girl

Happy 7th Birthday Maren!  Grandma said it best in your birthday card...

M is for magnetic which means you are charming and people like to be around you.

A is for agile which means you are quick and fast and nimble.

R is for remember meaning you have a good memory and are a good learner.

E is for exuberance which means you are enthusiastic and a lot of fun.

N is for nice.  You are one of the nicest, sweetest persons we know.

You are all of the above and more and we are so happy to be in your family!

It was a fun week of celebrating Maren's birthday.  Age 7 is when our kids get a birthday with friends.  Star the Magician was the entertainment for this lively group of kids.  They kept him on his toes with lots of questions and a bit of skepticism.  He handled himself well and impressed everyone.

The family party came a few days later, complete with an ice cream cookie cake.  We're all about non-traditional birthday cakes around here!  Happy Birthday Maren.

Christmas Break - Week 2

On the second week of Christmas Break, my true love gave to me.... Holiday ski camp. 

The girls spent all week getting up at the crack of dawn (actually before dawn) and skiing with coaches.  They worked on tons of skills, did lots of free skiing all over the mountain and spent some time running gates.  I thought they would be wiped out after waking up early and skiing all day, every day but they often wanted to take an extra run or two after class ended. 

It was a great week for them and they really improved their skiing skills.  I love to be able to go anywhere on the mountain with them now.  In fact, they are often taking Kirk and I on runs that we didn't know existed or hadn't been on before. 

What a great week!

Hannah and Ally waiting to run the gates.

Maren still smiling after a long day.

Hannah in the gates.

Paige having fun on the bunny hill.

Christmas Break - Week 1

On the first week of Christmas break, my true love gave to me.... a whole week of sleeping in, playing with friends, spending the day in pajamas, building blanket forts, making play dough and...

A photo shoot

Cleaning house

Making treats for neighbors and friends

Craft projects

Shepherd's Dinner (a favorite tradition we borrowed from my sister)

And a Christmas Eve complete with skiing with Santa and our traditional crab dinner