A crazy winter!!

Our winter has been a crazy one.  From the very warm temperatures, constant sickness, to the decision to move.  So here goes a quick (maybe long) recap of it.

 Like I said we had a very sick season.  Last year maybe a cold here and there, but this year it was non-stop fevers, vomiting, diarrhea.  Oh ya and croup!  I was ready to rip my hair out at times, but we managed.  We stayed busy with forts, baking, and lots and lots of dance parties.  

 Yummy muffins.

Dancing! Notice Owen's dress-up clothes to match Mari.

It felt like spring most the winter with the abnormally warm temps and lack of snow.  Not complaining, but it is our lively hood to have snow.  Anyway we took advantage of the warm weather.  Trips to the donut shop!

 Lunches outside.

And lots of playing outside.

One of my chefs.

 The kids even got new bikes since we had no snow.

 There were mascot Olympics on the mountain and we got to take a picture with the Denver Bronco mascot.  I forgot his name since I'm not really a fan of them.

The Easter Bunny was a huge hit.

 Showing off their bunny hats after we went to the library.

 Happy Easter from my beautiful girl and handsome man.

Then there was the decision that had been looming over our heads all winter.  Do we move back to Michigan for good or stay in Breckenridge.  Well, we finally made the choice to move to MI.  Greg is back working with his Dad and another partner company.  It's year round(we don't know what to think about that).  A hard decision but nonetheless a good one for our family.

Since we were moving my parents came out to visit and help pack.  We were going through Mari's baby clothes to give to my niece.  As you can see the kids found some fun old clothes.  

Mari and I had a girl day before we left.  Some shopping and a mani/pedi.

Leaving the ewok village.

We had a birthday party for Owen while we visited Missouri.  It was a fire truck themed party.  Aunt Sarah was able to schedule a visit to the fire station.  These kids were so excited.

 Check out those future firemen.  Thanks Peck family for the wonderful outfit.  We love being a fireman.

 Mari got to take a picture with the real fireman.

 The best part was getting to sit in the truck.

Here is his cake that we made.  It was a fun birthday.

 Then we made our way to Michigan.  The weather has been wonderful and the kiddos are loving all the space to play and ride their bikes.  They are getting so good!

 Helping me get a few groceries.  This is a cute idea when it is not your children using them.

 We had many parties for Owens birthday.  We went to dinner and Craig's Cruisers with Grandpa & Grandma Nienhouse.  We fed fish, played mini golf, and rode go carts.

 We are taking full advantage of all the wonderful parks around here.

 We celebrated again with Nana and Grandpa Keating by going on a boat ride and then enjoying some cake and presents.

Here is the Birthday Boy on his actual birthday.  We had a great day playing and relaxing.

 Jumping off the dock in the frigid water.  Burrrr!!

And lastly the bucket to get the sand off our feet that Owen tried to convince us was good enough for his bath.  I think not mister.  

We are enjoying our time so far and Greg's job is going well.  We miss all our friends back in Breckenridge and hope to see you all soon.  When we get settled into our own place we are hoping for lots of visitors.  Hugs to all!!

$19 tickets!

That's right $19 plane tickets. My friend told me about a deal Frontier was having and I couldn't believe it. So a few trips were planned and great visits were had.

The kids are into hunting deer thanks to Liam and Cory. So we loved getting to use Liam's guns and hunting all those animals.

Hunting in MO at Mimi and Pops.

Since we don't have guns Owen has to use the TV remote to get all the snakes and deer.

Taking a train ride in the Columbia mall.

It snowed a little, while we were visiting, so of course the kids wanted to play in it. Love this pic of Mimi and Owen.

My beautiful baby girl.

My handsome nephew Liam.

Another handsome boy.

All the cousins played so well, but Owen and Liam are really starting to hit it off. They love being boys together. So cute!

Movie night at Liam's.

All the grand kids. Owen, Mari, Eliza, and Liam.

Liam's daycare went to Sesame Street Live and we were able to go as well. What a fun show! I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids.

We had such a great visit. On the flight home Mari and Owen got to go into the cockpit and see all the controls. Owen was ready to push all those buttons and fly that thing himself.

Thanks for everything and we can't wait for you all to come visit us in a few weeks.

As always I'm catching up

on what our family has been up to. And as always I feel as though it has been busy and crazy.

There is a snow fort in Keystone, so Greg and I took the kids. We expected a bit more, but they had a great time. We got to ride the gondola and then play around on this giant pile of snow.

Mari in front of the entrance. We got to climb through a little hole.

Owen heading into that door.

My favorite part of the fort was this ice chair.

Mari took this picture for us. Not to bad, she loves taking pictures. There was also a slide and the kids flew down it. It was very fast, but they thought it was sooo fun.

Now on to why I feel like life was crazy for so long. At the beginning of December the 9h to be exact we caught a 24 hour bug. This was a bug of vomiting and diarrhea. No other symptoms so we managed. We kicked it and on we went through Christmas. Then a bit after that I feel like the kids or I were sick every other day with the same bug. It was such a long process. Needless to say we were home a lot for a long time. Can you say "momma is going crazy finding things to do".

Here is Owen wearing a bike helmet. Apparently we have some dangerous meals.

Mind you we were sick but we still had tons of energy. So we had many dance parties in dress up clothes.

A friend of mine posted this on her blog and I am so thankful because my kids loved it. They are mini volcano's and are an easy clean up.

Another family ski day.

The best part of skiing is the snacks after. Hot chocolate and chocolate pudding.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Oh and look who can ski

The kids were in a nativity play at church. Mari was an angel and Owen was a sheep. They were so cute and did a great job standing in front of everyone.

Making cookies for Santa. Owen frosted himself more so than the cookies.

Christmas morning was so fun. They were loving all the gifts. Thanks to everyone we were blessed.

Santa brought Owen a train table.

Santa brought Mari her singing box she asked for.

Loving their new sleeping bags.

I love this picture. It makes me laugh every time I look at it. Thank you!

Since we live in a ski town the week after Christmas is crazy. I'm teaching 14 days this year. So I got 4 of those in this week. That means Mari got to go to ski school and Owen went to daycare. They both had fun being around other kids and playing, but were exhausted. Here is a video of Mari skiing all by herself. She rode the chair lift and skied her 1st green run. We are so excited and proud. Owen so badly wants to go skiing again as well.

Family Ski Day

We had our 1st family ski day and it was so much fun. I look forward to many more.

What a great day!!

Owen's 1st lift ride. He loved it. This is one of my favorite picture of the day.

Mari loves skiing and is going to do Bombers this winter. Bombers is a 7 week program and she gets to ski with the same teacher every Saturday. She is so excited. Owen thought it was pretty cool to be in boots like sissy. He loved skiing and did awesome.

Owen ripping down the hill with Daddy.

Aunt Emily and Mari

Nana and Grandpa Keating were here for a couple days as well. It was so fun to have them here and see the kids ski.

Owen skiing all by himself.