Happy Valentines Day!!

Happy Valentines Day!! We celebrated last night by going to a church potluck and dance. We were a little skeptical about the dance, since we are a bit on the shy side when it comes to dancing, but we knew there would be good food so the girls and I put on our pink and headed into Oregon City to meet dad. They were so excited I couldn't get them to stand still for the picture.
As we expected the food was good, so good Nate was a little too late and didn't get much. And the dance turned out to be a hit as well. We had a blast dancing, Nate even got up and shook it a few times with the girls and I. Afterwards we went over to another families house and played Rock Band on the Wii. We had a great time listening to Que Ball (aka Mark Vest) bring down the house singing, literally, pictures were falling off the walls. It was a fun way to celebrate and even better when we all got to sleep in today. We topped off the holiday with a special breakfast that I was rather proud of and the girls loved. Pink heart shaped pancakes and a breakfast sandwich for dad. And yes, you'd better believe that the egg is a heart too!!

Holiday update Part 3: The Big Day!!

For Christmas Nate's mom rented a cabin in Idaho near McCall. Nate's sister's families, us and his parents got to spend the holidays there which was a blast. This is Christmas morning. Gotta love that just woke up shot. Can you say HOT!!
Taylor wasted no time digging into her stocking. She loved her princess doll Santa brought her.

Jade really wasn't too sure about what was going on but she had no problem tearing into her gifts and especially loved this doll from Little Einstein cartoons that sings classical songs.
I'm not sure how but dad somehow kept himself off Santa's naughty list and got a Wii with all the fixings for Christmas. Although he was happy and surprised (for once), there was one gift that he liked quite a bit too.....
I'm not sure who this shirt was really for, Taylor or Nate. :)

Here is most of the crew. Myself and Taylor of coarse to the left. Nicole sitting in the middle with Jade on her lap and her two boys Cooper and Brody nearby. Her husband Scott sitting right behind them and Nalene and her son Gabe on the right. From the looks of things I think everyone had a great Christmas

Now of coarse being in Idaho we had to have some more fun in the snow. Snowmobiles were out of every one's budget so we went to the next best thing, sledding. At least Nate and I got to put our snowmobile gear to use this year after a long spell in the closet. This sledding hill we went to was a blast. The best part about it was you didn't have to walk up the hill. There was a rope tow they hooked a line to attached to your tube and all we did was sit and enjoy the view. Taylor, Cooper and Gabe were able to do it all by themselves.
This is Scott, Nicole and Nalene getting ready to go down the hill in what we thought was the most fun position.

Taylor getting bundled up.

And I had to include this self portrait of the photographer, Nate's wonderful mom. Thanks again Carla for the wonderful Christmas present. We all made great memories we soon won't forget!

Holiday update Part 2

Yes I'm like over a month past due but I had to finish up our holiday update because we really had so much fun this year. As I think I said before Nate talked me into going sledding on my birthday which we all greatly enjoyed.We met up with the Vest family in Colton and went sledding at the high school. Mark who dressed up like Santa, beard and all (although not in this pic) had Taylor convinced. Even later in the day after we went back to their house for hot chocolate and the suit was off she called him Santa. Nate's favorite thing to do was make huge chains with as many people as possible. Once we were all set a few of the kids would jump on top and down the hill we would go.

Taylor loves to sled, but each time we got to the bottom of the hill she jumped up and ran over to a fresh spot in the snow and made a snow angel. She loved it. Now although I sometimes complain about living out here in the boonies, there are benefits to it. I shot these photos before we left town on our way to Idaho for the holidays. These two are from our backyard.

This is from a bridge down the road from us.

And home sweet home. I just loved the trees in the background.