Macklin's Exercise

As a coach, you gotta start them early! 

Justin kidding, really though...

Macklin had just ridden his bike around "Jules Loop" (2.5 miles...for the first time I may add) and ran into the back yard upon getting home. After seeing me do some core/circuit work, Macklin wanted to join in. It was too cute not to turn into a video clip. 

Feb/March Happenings

Macy & Bradley

We had Kari and Bradley over for lunch last week and Macy enjoyed making baby Bradley laugh! So precious. Signs of a good big sister to come???

Free Family Fun Fair

We love our town and all of the fun free things it has to offer families! The FFFF is a great annual event that we look forward to. Macy got her first full-face painting done...but she didn't like it! These smiles were gone quickly as other friends commented on it. She eventually said, "Mommy, can you take my kitty off? I don't like it." She was so self-conscious about it...so we whipped it off. 

McFarland USA

A quote I heard a lot this month was..."McFarland USA made cross country look cool!" What? We don't need a movie to make XC look good! This crew below already knows that! We went as a team on opening weekend. It was probably the most fun I have had watching a movie in a while! Now we are ready and pumped for track season! 

Track Season

We have begun! Bring on the snow and cold weather, just in time for track practice. Our kids have been troopers in the first two weeks though. I am maintaining my job as co-head coach until the baby arrives! 

 

Macklin Does Ski School

One of the local home-school moms organized a Learn to Ski day for our little ones! Normally this program is only offered through the local schools. It is $37 for two days of ski school! What a deal! Average ski school is about $120 a day. Even though the first day was hard and tiring for Macklin, he really enjoyed the second day (after stuffing his pockets full of candy!). I am glad that he had the opportunity from Vail Resorts. 

 Maternity Pictures

We were able to do some maternity pictures in the snow with Cara Leonard! Can't wait to get them back in a few weeks! 

Snow!

It is not coming very often to Gypsum nor is it staying very long, but we had a few inches last week that made the town look beautiful! 

Art Work

Macy colored the pic on the left. She is focusing for a longer period of time on her art. (Note: I colored the top bird and bottom trees, but then she did the rest.) I am just impressed that she colored most of the paper in. Macklin did the one on the right. His drawings keep getting more and more detailed. 

Cute Kiddos

Sunny Day

Snow last week and sunshine and 50s this week. Picnic time! 

Macy's Princess Party

Elsa, Anna, Cinderella, and Bella

You can tell by these faces that we had a great princess party for Macy's 3rd birthday! Another early celebration for my April 8th baby. We didn't want to miss out on the fun if we were in the hospital with Baby 3. 

The Set Up

We just went pink, purple and teal princess all around! Macy loved the set up, especially the little cups and forks. All of the sweets were for sure a special treat.  

The Greetings

Macy loved her new Cinderella outfit! We laid out all her princess dolls together before the girls came over. Macklin was in charge of "welcoming the princesses to the castle" while Macy picked out the doll they were dressed like and gave it to them for a little play time. She enjoyed this! 

Food & Play Time

We enjoyed some popcorn as a morning snack before setting off to play. The girls played so well together as I made our lunch. At one point I didn't hear Macy and her buddy Aliyah. I found them on Macy's bottom bunk, snuggled up and reading princess books...so precious! For lunch the girls picked our their favorite cookie-cutter shape and we had PBJs along with yogurt and strawberries. Tea (aka Kool-Aid) to drink and cupcakes for dessert finished off our tea party! 

Macklin was dressed to impress and helped me be a server for the tea party. 

Even Macklin enjoyed our tiny drinks after his duties were complete! 

Happy Birthday, Macy! 

So many cute ones that I had to post all of them! 

Daddy came home for lunch to see his Princess! 

Present Time

I just had to show off these cute pics of the girls and their gifts. Ella gave Macy a "Mermaid Blanket." Seriously, soooo cute! If you search for it on Pinterest, you can find lots of ideas. But I had never heard of such a cute thing and Macy loves it. She also got a collection of princess books and a Snow White doll! She was in heaven and asking when her next birthday will be! 

 Thank you to these lovely princesses that helped make Macy's birthday extra special! 

Early Valentines

Here is what happens when the kids get early valentines and cookies in the mail from Grandma! 

Macklin Skiing 2014

Macklin did a great job on his first day back on the slopes. He remembered most of his talents from last season and even made Justin run down a run twice because he wanted to go (and Justin didn't bring his gear). We just hope that we can get him on the mountain this year between basketball and a prego momma. 

Wee Basketball 2014

His team name...the Ninja Turtles! Amazing what you get when kids pick the team name. Macklin clearly loves it! 

Macy's First 2 Days of Skiing

We took Macy to the mountain! And she rocked it! Way better balance than Macklin had at that age (sorry Mack) and didn't need nearly the bribing!

We had a mommy-daughter date last week and headed back to the slopes! She did even better as she started to figure out her skis a bit more and wanted to do the long magic carpet run! Go Macy! 

Video that includes both days:

Christmas Time with Grandpa and Mema

Another great visit we had took place at Grandpa and Mema's house. There is so much to explore at their house between Justin's old toys in the basement and the big "toys" in the garage, the kids love being there! 

Christmas Eve Fun

 

Schlottach Christmas 

These boys have so much fun together! 

Grandpa gets the "famous" drink! 

Doesn't everyone do a piñata for Christmas? Instead of a cousin gift exchange, we decided to stuff little goodies (My Little Pony minis and Monster Trucks) into a piñata and let the kids have a fun little experience. It was a way bigger hit than any of us predicted and I think it is our new annual tradition! 

Brandt Christmas 

How cute are these girls???

Update:

These are now hard pictures to look at as our dear Earl passed away on January 3rd. He was a multi-talented man that offered so many fun stories and delicious meals to our family events. He was a joy to be around and had a smile that made you melt. We were so heart broken to hear the news of his heart attack and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Joanie and the rest of Justin's family. It was hard to not be around you all to celebrate his life. We will cherish our memories of him, especially this Christmas as we explored his shed and watched the joy on his face as the kids played in his Jeep. To an incredible man that will be greatly missed - cheers!