Ellie turns 5

Commentary to come later. I just wanted to show off my cutie.

Sledding

With all the snow we have gotten lately and the mild temperatures, it has been perfect sledding weather.
Ryan took McKay and Ellie and let me stay home with Clara in the nice warm house.

The kids had a great time.

I sent McKay with Ryan not knowing if he would even try sledding and only got him to go by telling him he didn't have to go down the hill but that he could just play in the snow. Ryan was patient with McKay and let him take it at his own speed. McKay loved it and by the end was going down bigger hills all by himself.

Ellie had no problem. You can see her climbing up for another run behind McKay in the pink pants.

Thanks Dad for taking the kids! Next time I think Clara and I will come too.

Christmas Day '08

Christmas morning, ready to open presents.
Clara got the hang of opening her presents very quickly. But brother and sister were standing by just in case she might need any help.

McKay with his Batman legos.

Ellie with one of her two Barbie and the Diamond castle girl dolls. After opening these she was much happier about the boy dolls she had received the night before.

Clara with her new Baby Alive that giggles and coos.

An old time classic, Lite Brite.

Some Littlest Pet Shop.

Clara's favorite present from all of Christmas, her Fur Real cat. It is very realistic and purrs and meows at you. It even hisses if you grab it wrong. The body is all hard but she still loves to carry it around everywhere.

A better shot of the front of the cat.

Late Christmas morning my family came over to see the presents and have cinnamon rolls. The wonderful Uncles and Ryan went outside with the kids and dug tunnels through the snow piles. The kids loved their "igloo".

Christmas afternoon we headed over to Ryan's grandparents for lunch with the whole family. It was fun having everyone together.

Great Grandma and Grandpa knew just what to get the kids. Littlest Pet Shop animals and board game for Ellie.

Race car legos and an Etch-a-sketch for McKay.

Clara received a cute stuffed animal dog and some Dr. Suess books. After opening presents she was getting a little silly, it had been a long day.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for a wonderful afternoon.

We had a terrific Christmas!

Christmas Eve '08

For Christmas eve we started out by going by Grandpa and Grandma Hill's to say Merry Christmas and exchange some presents.

McKay who is very into legos was excited to receive some Indiana Jones sets.

Receiving Gorilla Mountain was definitely one of the highlights of Christmas for Ellie. She had been wanting it for almost a year.


Clara lately has been very into baby dolls, so a set with a baby, stroller, carrier and cradle was perfect. She couldn't wait to get it open so she crawled on top of the box to get a better look at her new "baba".


Grandpa Jeff reading to Clara one of her new books.

The kids really got spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma.

After being at the Hill's for awhile it was time to head to the Grow's for dinner and more presents.

After dinner getting ready to open presents Clara was exhausted and crying. It was her turn first since we went youngest to oldest. While she sat crying on Ryan's lap my mom when to go get Clara's present. When she came around the corner with this plush rocking horse Clara when from crying to screeching with excitement in a half second. It gave everyone a good laugh.

McKay loves the Wii and loves Spongebob, so a Spongebob Wii video game was perfect.

I couldn't get a good picture of Ellie with her two boy barbies from "Barbie and the Diamond Castle". She was quite disappointed. They didn't make sense without the two girl barbies that she didn't get until Christmas morning. Once she had the whole set, she was much happier.

After getting home the kids got to open their traditional Christmas eve pajamas. This year we also added a new Christmas book.

Once they were all in their pajamas we sat down with a cookie to read all 3 new books before putting out our cookies for Santa and oats for his reindeer.

Merry Christmas Eve

A little holiday spirit. I hope it puts a smile on your face.

Christmas Tree

I grew up always having a real tree so I've made it a tradition in our family as well. It's fun to go to the tree lot as a family and all work together to find the perfect tree. The kids loved the miniature trees. Sorry kids, maybe next year!

Clara exploring the tree forest.

We found it!

Now lets strap it to the car and head home.

The finished product.

The kids were so excited to help hang up all the decorations. They needed to be rearranged a little, the tree was a little bottom heavy, but they did a pretty good job. Now if we could only get all the lights to stay on.

Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Alexander

My little sister finally tied the knot to her long time boyfriend Nick Alexander on November 25th. The day was perfect and everyone was there to enjoy this joyous union. We had a beautiful wedding dinner the night before. Whitnie and Nick have so many friends and family that love them very much. It was fun to hear from family and friends tell funny stories about both of them. You are both going to have a great life together.

Look how cute Mr. & Mrs Alexander are!

They are so perfect for each other. They make each other laugh all the time and Whitnie was glowing the entire time. Congratulations love birds!

The man of the hour.

I can't get enough of these too. Don't they look a lot alike? You know they say that the longer you are together you begin to look like one another. Well Whit and Nick have spent a lot of time together already, if you can't tell.

I know that they are not looking at the camera, but I thought that this is a beautiful picture of Whitnie's dress and bouquet.

Nick's parents Jeff and Ann Alexander and Whit's lovely parents Jeff and Sherrie Hill.

Mandy and Holly enjoying the cold beautiful day.

Wow! Who is this gorgeous couple, oh wait it's Mandy and I. Man we are good look'n.

Congratulation's again Whitnie and Nick. I love you very much and wish you nothing but happiness and love for the rest of your lives. I will miss seeing you at mom an dads everyday. Good luck baby sis. I love you.

Just Jumping Around!

So I'm really jealous of Aaron my brother-in-law. And he has a lot more guts than I do with my wife. He decided to trade in his old motorcycle for an upgraded one. Of course it was a surprise to my sister and his Christmas present for the nexr ten years, but all I can say is Aaron, it was totally worth it. Well done!

So Aaron and I decided to go and take his new Honda 450 R "the sweetest bike ever" for a little test in Cherry Creek. Cherry Creek is out by sand mountain, but you just don't have to pay to get in. So we loaded up the bikes last Saturday and went out for the day. We had such a great time and I couldn't get enough of the sand dunes. For those of you that have been out there, they are so much fun. There are so many bowls that you can just open it up and circle around and around. Aaron and I would be laughing after every loop. It is hard to explain, but you can feel the force of every circle pulling you down. It is so much fun. The only thing that you have to watch out for that my dad learned the hard way, is going over the sand ridge and not knowing what is on the other side. Luckly no real hard crashes, just some bruises. Aaron after our first 2 hour ride wasn't feeling very good, and ending up throwing up four times. I guess all the bouncing and jumping didn't settle with him very well. Sorry man.

Aaron putting his new bike to good use.

Aaron letting me enjoy his new bike as well.