It's her favorite spot in the house.

She makes herself a little bed with a pillow and her favorite blanket
about 10 times a day.
She reads
hangs her socks out to dry
stares at the ceiling
wants to eat every meal {but can't}
watches movies
naps
lays out every stuffed animal
does puzzles
colors
and pretty much anything possible
in this spot.
It is her absolute most favorite place in the house
and she is always warm. :)

winter weekends

We had a 4 night 4 day weekend. It kind of felt like we were back on Christmas break again. Ok...ok...a little less magical no glittery tree, fudge for breakfast, or a jolly old man but still it included the same loungy mornings, ski afternoons, and slumber party evenings. We added a little football watching in between it all. We wore our Christmas break wardrobes for 4 days straight which includes slippers, ski thermals and pajamas. A tornado went through my house and built GIANT blanket forts, strewn art supplies about, left ski paraphernalia in every place possible and ate popcorn in every.single.room. Lucy had happy glued on her face because she got to sleep in in her princess tent with Ellie for 3 nights in a row. On the 4th night they set up a movie theater in Canyons bed and slept in there like 3 peas in a pod. 4 nights! Could life get any better!?! Imagine the let down when the 5th night came around and it was back to the typical bed time routine. :( It was tragic. Sometimes to the really enjoy the cozy winter weekends you gotta let everything go and let imaginative, creative tornado's turn your house upside down while you sit on the couch watch a good movie and pretend it's not happening. If we do this for enough weekends maybe dreary January will finally come to an end. Hasn't it been January for at least 100 days already? It seems like it. Can we please start making Valentines already?

{Friend Ski day}

{Giant blanket fort}

{Weekend artwork. Ellie and Lucy were the artists. They did not leave the table until every last picture was done. I think it took them about 1,000 hours.}

{Sleeping Headquarters. With every blanket in the entire house. Blankets somehow surfaced that I didn't even know still existed, they really shouldn't, I wish they didn't}

{Daddy,Daughter Snowboard day.}
{Mother, Son day not photographed. :( }

skiing X country style.

I went cross country skiing today for the first time. Unless of course you count that one time when I had braces, a neon ski suit, and pushed myself up a partially snowy road. Did you know that cross country ski courses had black diamond trails? I didn't either but my friends are hardcore like that and took me up one called the roller coaster. When you are cross country skiing black diamonds mean extreme uphill instead of down. I was nervous I wouldn't make it up the hills in my slippery long skis or I would fall on my face on the way down. To my surprise neither occurred. I was a miracle. I'm am pretty sure I looked like a total nut in form and style sporting snowboarding pants instead of spandex but I played it cool hoping no one would notice. {thankfully there were only kids out there!} There is a reason for that spandex you know. It is quite the workout! You work up a sweat like no man's business! It was great to spend an afternoon outside in the sunshine and it was such a nice alternative to my original plan for the day which required deep cleaning. So Thankful for fun adventurous friends and living in the mountains!

into the new year 2011

We are well into the new year and here is how we wrapped up 2010.
* getting the house all holiday'd out.
* eating way to much food {were talking fudge for breakfast} it got that bad.
* holiday parties
* Sleeping in
* Tangled
* not blogging....and for that matter I wasn't very friendly with the computer at all. To much internet shopping burnt me out. I was pretty much absent from all things computer.
* hanging out with family and friends from near and far.
*Santa came!! You should have seen the look on Lucy's face when Ellie told her he was coming down our chimney. "MOM!!! santa is gonna get burned!! {with much anxiety}
* Canyon and the Mr. got the Christmas Eve stomach flu. {saddest holiday event} I had to help him open his Christmas Eve pj's. Luckily he felt better by the morning. He had a lot of helicopter flying and wii playing to do.
* baking yummy treats.
* getting really bad bowling scores.
* getting really bad Kinect scores.
* Flying remote control helicopters.
* Lots and lots of days snowboarding.
* Lucy has discovered the thrill of skiing...there is no slowing her down. {I had a slight heart attack.}
* Ellie getting her snowboarding on a little more. {She has been a skier}
* Canyon is all about it...it's his favorite sport. It's fun!
* A giant snowstorm
* Fireworks
* And then a giant ball dropped from the sky and that meant the new year was here and my holiday was over. :(



Next year.
* I will blog more. Because I look back and this and this, oh! and this and I am sort of sad I don't have a lot of those little things I'm so thankful for documented this year.

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

haul'n out the holley

Dragging out those dusty basement boxes and pulling out the magic always kicks up the excitement a notch or 2...maybe 3 at our house. Now we just need to get some pretty lights up trimming up our outside. Ellie will not sleep well at night until the exterior of our home is "lit up and glittery and beautiful". She reminds me every day that it is still not the case. Crossing my fingers we get it done before those giant snowflakes fill the sky again.

h.a.p.p.i.n.e.s.s.

Do something that makes you happy today.
Happiness is contagious.

It's only the happiest season of all!

yes my do

Yes my do.
Yes my did.
I don't cuz.


Are the 3 answers you get when you ask Lucy a question.

Did you have fun at school? " Yes my did"
Do you want some olives? "Yes my do"
And when you ask a why question.
Why did you hide my keys? or
Why is there lipstick all over your face?
or like this morning
Why did you go out in the snow in your underwear and boots?
you get.
" I don't cuz".
followed by.
a giant grin....and
"that was so fun"

Really?

I tell you... sometimes all you can do is wonder. :)

summer portraits

I know and love every inch of these three faces down to the last freckle.
life.is.good.

{Stanford University, Summer 2010}

the pier with some seals and ice cream

Is it possible to be walking on a pier past an ice cream shop
and not get a big yummy double scoop on a waffle cone?
yep...it is for me.
You just need some icecream to lick while strolling around looking at
quaint little shops, lovely scenery and seals.
Oh ya... and making pennies into Santa Cruz Pier souvenirs.
Ellie made her's into a necklace with a seashell she found and fishing line.
I love that she does stuff like that.
Mine is still sitting in my wallet....boring.

This is how we stroll. I love that Ellie is holding Brighton's hand while he rides. :)
She loves. LOVES babies. When they are her cousin even more!

Santa Cruz

I love this beach!
it's got a fun vibrant feel.
and the people watching is super...SUPER great.
When we were there there was a gigantic pit dug out in the middle of the beach.
Kind of like a 2 ft. shallow pool right off the beach.
Perfect for little beach lovers.
The downtown area is not to shabby either.
After being in a car for a couple days
A big breezy beach is just what we needed.
And I couldn't have little Lucy sit on the sidelines.
Just because of that giant purple cast.
She tried so hard not to get it wet....tried. :)
That's all you can ask for at a beach.

If I could own any vehicle....

I'm pretty sure it would be one of these.
I'm liking the the pretty blue.
What a dream it would be.
I am already imagining all the places it would take me.
The kids in the back, hair blowing and big smiles
and how it would get us around even in our old age.
back to all the places that hold the best memories, and new places we've never seen.
ahhhhhh. it would be perfect.

How do you know when school is back in?

When your living room isn't a giant blanket fort every morning
and you do more than 1 blog post a month.
I don't think I'm near as good of a side kick as Ellie.
Lucy misses her and her matching morning hair too.

haunted

Once upon a time

Shane told the kids stories of a haunted resort that

is right here near our little valley home.
He told them of empty pools, caves and haunted houses.
Of course they were not scared and wanted to go.
Especially Ellie she just had to see it.
Me on the other hand
I was content laying by the fire wrapped up in a blanket.
And that's when she said.
"If you were 7 you would want to go explore haunted mansions"
And there is defiantly some truth to that.
So I reluctantly went along.
And it is a good thing.
That place was rotten, dirty and down right frightening.
They needed a mother there to keep them safer {than the dad would}
and out of the real scary/gross stuff.
But the pictures turned out pretty cool and I will admit it was fun in a creepy way.
Ellie told me she knows what happened to this place.
"Ghosts came and scared all the families and guests out of the houses.
And when the people were gone they destroyed them
so know one else would come and they could live there forever."
There may be some truth to that. Bwah ha ha ha ha.
I for one would never go there in the dark....NEVER.

Happy Halloween!
{Don't worry I told them to act scared :) }

Yosemite

To get to our destination we drove on a 2 lane highway practically the whole way.
Mostly because I wanted to be in Yosemite National Park again.
The last time I was there before is when Canyon was 5 mo old.
We took a road trip to Yosemite and the coast.
It was his first big road trip.
The first time he sat in a knot hole of a giant redwood tree.
And the first time he rode in the trusty Kelty pack to hike for miles.
{Lucy still uses that pack today.}
I fell in love with this place.
And I wanted the kids to not only endure the 16 hr drive
but also be also to be amazed by it.
Both were accomplished.
They still ask if we can drive that way again next time.
The roller coaster road just before Yosemite might have something to do with that. :)

Lucy went and got herself a cast that weighed more than her the day before we left.
But that is a story for a different day.
It did not slow her down.not.at.all.

Driving....so pretty.
I had to make myself not pull over every second.
We had a long way left to go for heavens sake.
Next stop. Santa Cruz, CA.

16 hours one way: Part 2

We got to visit San Fransisco this summer.
I wrote about the adventurous drive out there a while ago.
But that was just the beginning.
So even though we took the trip in July and it is now almost November
I will still post photos of our trip
because it was wonderful and a 2010 summer highlight.
So for today.
The seasons first snowfall at our home {that actually stuck around for a bit}
and this picture of Ellie flying through the air at the little beach
across the way from Ghirardelli Square.

braving the storm

Clear back in August
Canyon and I hiked to the top to Mt Timpanogus.
He had been working up to it all summer with a club he is in.
His club had the date scheduled and I decided to go along.
It's a lot fun to go with him. He is such a good little hiker. {proud..so proud}
He doesn't even ditch me and chats about this and that with me the whole way up.
On the way up the weather was great.
Not to hot not to cold.
There were plenty of waterfalls and the views...oh the views.

Walking along that last ridge line was getting a little spooky.
Clouds rising up from below surrounding you.
But we were so close..and there was no rain.
Right when we got to the top the clouds cleared.
We got to take in the view of the valley and take this.

We made it! Our names were added to the shack walls at the top
and we started our decent down.
We did not make it to far when we felt the first raindrops.
Rain coats out and on now. We picked up the pace.
This was the last picture before the storm practically swallowed us alive.
You could barely see one step in front of you.


Being on the tippy top of a really high mountain is not the best feeling.
Especially when your with one of your favorite little people in the whole wide world.
Before we knew it the storm was SO bad....SO.SO. bad.
Freezing tempatures, Howling winds, thunder, lightening.
Hail that made your skin hurt when it hit.
I held Canyon's hand and we ran as fast as our legs would safely carry us
over a giant boulder field for shelter a few miles away.
Once a gust of wind almost carried my handsome son away.
I did not let go of him the rest of the way.
We were freezing.
Probably the most cold I have ever been.
And poor Canyon had on shorts.
Luckily for us we made it to the shelter.
There we hunkered down for hours.
With about 20 other hikers and backpackers.
Those nice backpackers boiled us water.
and lent Canyon a sleeping bag.
We got him down to his skibbies
and stuck him inside the sleeping bag so he would stay warm.
I filled a water bottle with that hot water and wrapped my frozen feet around it.
and then we waited....and watied
and got lots of texts saying.
"Are you okay it's pitch black that way"
"Are you alive the doppler is going nuts above Timp"
I know...believe me....I know.
After a while there was a break in that big bad storm.
We made a run for it.
And it turned into a new day.
It had to be a new day. It was once again beautiful out.
See.

The whole way down we talked about our "survival adventure".
About the extra stuff we would bring just in case next time.
I thought about how glad I was I was with Canyon up on the tippy top braving the storm.
I would have been a basket case if he was up there without me.
So we made it back down. With a story to tell that will never be forgotten.
Canyon still talks about it. And when it storms he looks up at the grand Timp
and wonders if anyone is up there in that shelter like he was.
And we are both happy we aren't :)

we're suckers for a good rope swing

We have found a few rope swings in our days.
But this is one was by far the best.
So. so. so. high.
And the view from the top, through the trees, when you couldn't go any higher.
Amazing!

{Top: Shane, me, Canyon.}
{Bottom: Ellie, Lucy}

{The View}

It's been a warm September

Maybe it's been a little too warm down in valley.
But up here in the mountains.
Not one complaint from me.
It's been near perfection.
Perfect weather for enjoying those beautiful colors.
Quite possibly the prettiest time of the year.
The kids most favorite part is gathering up their favorites to take home and savor.
{mine too...I love a perfect leaf bookmark. }
happy. happy.