Swoop, Swoop...

 I forgot how much I LOVE to ski.

On Saturday I made it back to the hills to do my most favorite thing ever in snow - SKIING!

I haven't been since before I was pregnant with Ashtyn so I guess I was pushing 6 years of no skiing, until Saturday.  I was a little worried I would forget how to even get my skis on or worse how to get on and off the chair lift - but I guess I am a natural because I swooped, swooped right down the mountain - no problems.

Of course the whole trip was filled with drama - what event in my life is not these days - so when I was headed up the chair lift with my $70 lift ticket flapping in the wind and $50 of rented ski equipment strapped on, I was a little skeptical if I had made the right choice to spend the day at Copper Mountain with Kevin and my Dad.  Every day I spend money is one more day living with the in-laws - you see what I am saying.

But my $120 dollar excursion turned out to be fun, (not sure it waas still worth the money) and I truly fell in love with skiing again. I will say I will not be returning until I have my own equipment and a pass, but still I can't wait to go back!

The mountains finally got some snow this past week so the 7 inches of fresh powder combined with the beautiful weather created a very nice day for enjoying the beautiful mountains...

I will say the fashion of the 80's is clearly making it's way back to the ski slopes.  Everyone was wearing fluorescent colors - pink, green and yellow!  Colors I have not seen since kindergarten - just look at my brother, even he is sporting the new fashion...

I can proudly say I will not be sporting the fluorescent colors anytime soon - I tend to be very trendy, but that is just one trend I don't think needs to be repeated!

It was a great day skiing with Kevin and my Dad - can't wait to go back...

Stock Show

On Wednesday, last week, Matt took the day off and we headed down to the Stock Show with the Ohlheiser's!  I have lived in Colorado my entire life and have never been to the Stock show - crazy I know, being a cowgirl at heart...!

Since Ashtyn is absolutely in love with horses, bull riding and everything else there is to do with this culture we thought a day at the Stock Show would light up her world...and it did!

We started at the Coliseum where they were having some sort of competition - I have no idea what it was called, but it involved calves and horses, so Ashtyn and Adam were completely entertained.

Adam and Eli loved when the tractor would come out to clean up the arena...

 Ashtyn LOVED watching the girls on the horses and I think so bad, wishes she could do that...maybe one day!  Although, Matt and I don't know the slightest thing about horses, so this obsession of her's is quite new and we really have no way of showing her how to do much.  I guess she wil be teaching us!

Luckly, I have a contractor who owns some horses and has offered us invitation to visit the farm and ride them, so when it warms up and drys out we are headed out to the farm!

 Before leaving the Coliseum the kids played on the tractors - I think Eli liked this the best...

 The Stock Show had a complete Kid's Exhibit, so we hung out there most the day at the Petting Zoo, riding ponies, looking at chickens, learning about farming, playing games, eating dip-n-dots and $7 hot dogs and playing on the playgrounds they had....quite a busy and exhausting day!

 Adam looks like a natural and even shouted out "Yee-ha" while rocking back and forth - I think Jason was quite proud of his boy!

Before leaving we toured the basement where all the cows are prepped for their showing.  It was like a spa down there for a cow - very smelly, but I don't think the cows minded one bit as they were being washed, blow dried, fluffed and fed!

We are still trying to get the smell out of our clothes, but I definitely enjoyed our day at the Stock Show.  Next year I would love to go to the rodeo and actually see some action, but it was fun to get our feet wet this year.

2011: Year and Review

The year of 2012 was GREAT!  Sure it was filled with high levels of stress, little sleep, life changing decisions, and total chaos - but I couldn't ask for a better year!  It was definitly a busy year, but hands down probably the most FUN I have ever had with my family, my friends and my sweet precious babies.  We made some GREAT memories this year and here were my favorites...

Ashtyn Faith turns THREE years old! 

We celebrated with all her friends, family and a BOUNCE HOUSE!

It's crazy how fast she is growing up - but what a blessing she is! 

 Turning 30 and trying to take my mind off the depressing event by going to Nashville with our besties!  Could not have asked for a better place to celebrate my birthday and have now fallen completely in love with that city - can't wait to go back.  Great memories were made that trip...

My mid-life crisis...

Deciding to put our house up for sale, watching it sell in 6 days and moving into my in-laws basement in less then a month - what the hell were we thinking?  Some days I ponder that question over and over, but it has brought a sense of relief to our lives and allowing us to enjoy more things then ever before...

still dreaming of that next house though!

Celebrating Eli's FIRST birthday!  My little monkey turned one and it definitly tugged on my heart a bit - I am not sure I am ready for him to grow up - his sweet smile and spirit melt my heart every day... 

 OUR NEW HOME!

Matt and I living out one of our dreams and buying a trailer. Giving way to the BEST summer ever, making unforgettable memories and exploring the beautiful country we live in - We can't wait for May to show her pretty little face... 

 The BEST summer EVER!

Camping and spending long days at Baseline Lake...

Visiting Jelly Stone National Park in Estes...

Taking a 13 hour road trip to Lake of the Ozarks...

and finishing the summer off in The Black Hills...

BEST SUMMER EVER!

Ashtyn starting Preschool and what a big day that was.  It's so exciting to see her experience these new challenges - watching her make friends, learning about numbers, letters and science and being so excited to share it all with her family - it's amazing to watch and be apart of!

Training for and finishing my first 10K EVER on Thanksgiving day!

I was very proud of myself and still love to RUN!

Sharing the holidays with the Trujillo family!

What a blessing that was...

Bye, Bye 2011 - you were AWESOME, but we are SO ready for 2012...

Here's to health,

maybe a little bit of wealth wouldn't hurt,

and to family and friends!

New Years 2012

For New Years we headed up to Red Feather Lakes to spend the weekend in my family's cabin.

It was a quiet, relaxing, family bonding weekend - it was perfect!

We basically snuggled in the cabin playing with our new Christmas toys, watching movies and taking naps.  It was great and just what we needed after the busy Christmas weekend we had had.

 I tell you Eli LOVES beer and kept trying to sneak a drink...

 Lots of naps - I think I actually caught up on sleep this weekend - amazing!

 It was VERY windy on Saturday, so we didn't get to play outside like we were planning on, but the wind did die down around noon, so we headed out for a while to explore...

We took the 4-wheeler and checked out all the lakes and other cabins... 

 Once the wind started to pick up again we headed back to our cabin, changed into our pajamas and settled in for a cozy New Years Eve!

We got the kids some snacks and they watched a movie, while Matt and I enjoyed some Bluemoon and played scrabble on our new IPAD - it was great and mostly because I beat him!

After we had dinner, we got the kids settled into bed and I thought Matt and I could enjoy our New Years Eve together.  In my mind I imagined us enjoying some champagne, watching a movie in front of the fire place and maybe make out a little - well when I went to ask him if he wanted a drink he was fast asleep - ASLEEP!  And a couple seconds later he was snoring - LOUD!

So there I was left alone on New Year's Eve...the champagne bottle went unopened and because of such loud snoring coming from my husband I couldn't even watch TV...

So we were all asleep by 9:30 pm on New Years Eve!

Whoa - sit down party people!

I will admit getting a long, good nights rest was wonderful - but seriously 9:30pm!

 The next morning the sun was shining and there was no wind - it was beautiful.  So after breakfast we got in our snow gear and headed outside to have some fun.

We rode the 4-wheeler, went sledding and walked around on the frozen lakes...

 Ashtyn loves to ride the 4-wheeler and her favorite place to go up there is Elf Lane - all the residents have decorated the little trail with little trinkets and figurines and Ashtyn loves to look at all of them.  She tells us she is going to add to the collection the next time we visit.

 Sledding was so much fun!  Although climbing up the hill, with sleds and two kids is exhausting it was still enjoyed by us all.  Eli even loved it - I wasn't sure how he would do, but he laughed and screamed, which meant he had a good time.  He even got sprayed in the face with snow and was still smiling!

 Walking on the frozen lakes was a bit freaky!  We knew it was safe because there were a bunch of fishermen out in the middle, but still walking on frozen water that is probably 20 feet deep or so is a bit scary.  We had tons of fun though skating around and pulling Ashtyn and Eli on the sled.  Matt would whip them around and they would giggle!

 I think Eli looks like a little penguin in this picture...

 What a great weekend we had being a family of four.  It was a great way to start 2012 and we made some good memories.  Can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us, but I hope it's filled with weekends just like this.  Happy New Year!