Steamboat, CO

We went to Steamboat with Bryant's family at the beginning of January and had a great time!  I'll be honest, it would have been even better with a Star Trek transporter as opposed to flying with a toddler, but we made it.  This was Jacob's first time to fly and he did pretty well for his age.  For his age.  Which is an exploring toddler who can't communicate well and doesn't like to sit still.

Miler did really well and was happy to watch Little Einstein's on the iPad.

Once we got to the house, Miller was begging to get out in the snow!  Bryant was sweet enough to take him out even though we were exhausted.  I stayed in with Jacob and tried to get him to sleep since he'd been up since 4:30 a.m.  Margaret and I got Miller dressed and he met Bryant outside.  Bryant said Miller looked at him and said, "I'm cuter than you.  I've got mittens."  Haha! 

The next day Miller went to his first day of Ski School and loved it!  He went from 9-3 which is a really long day for him.  When we picked him up he was asking to go ski with us some more, ha!  We promised we'd go with him later in the week and headed home.  He settled for the hot tub with daddy while I played with Jacob in the snow.

Margaret was sweet enough to stay home with Jacob every day we were there.  I stayed home one day too because it was a blizzard outside and I'm a sisssy :)  It gave me another chance to play with Jacob outside though!

That afternoon Kate, Scott, Malley, and Annie got there!  At which point I obviously didn't pick up my camera much more :(

Most of the week Miller went to ski school, Bryant and I skied, and Jacob stayed home with Nana.  We decided it would be fun to take everyone snow tubing one day though.  Jacob seemed to like it ok and Miller loved it.

 Jacob was more in to afternoon snack time than anything else.

 

Miller did great with Ski School all week and made a lot of progress while we were there.  I caught him carrying his own skis...

and about to ride up the chairlift!

The last day he went down "Why Not" which is a Green trail that comes from the top of the Gondola all the way down the mountain.  He had a fit when we wouldn't let him go down it with us (we figured it would take a while and it was already late in the day).  I had to laugh at his teacher's comments after the fit he threw and lack of attention he paid while skiing down the bunny slope with us.  He did great considering he was having a tantrum, ha!

I got a few videos of Miller skiing and of us all snow tubing. I hope to do a second post with those videos, but I feel like this post has already taken me weeks for some reason so for now I just want to be done with it!  It really was such a fun week and I absolutely LOVE that Miller is learning to ski at such a young age.  I wish I had learned that young!  Then I'd actually be able to ski with my husband ;)  Thanks for a wonderful week, Papa and Nana!

Christmas with Pop and Gran

The day after Christmas we drove down to Pop and Gran's house to spend the weekend with them.  My stepbrother, Chris, his wife, Katie, and  their daughter, Ella, were there the same weekend so it made for an extra fun visit!

Gran gave Jacob a replacement copy of his favorite book Where Is My Cat? His first is torn to shreds and this one is headed there quickly.  She also gave him a new green lovie which we were both excited about considering how tattered his others are!

 Miller had so much fun playing with Ella and she was a big help with Jacob!

 Breaking in their new toys!

 Jacob helped himself to a few yummy treats and I stole a few kisses.

Even with all of the fresh, homemade treats Ella and Miller chose the month old gingerbread house and week old gingerbread train as their dessert after just about every meal.

 As you can see, we stayed in pajamas and ate lots of treats while we were there.

 One of Miller's gifts was Hi-Ho-Cherry-O and he has loved it!

 Cousin picture time!

It was such a fun weekend and I'm so glad we were able to visit with Chris, Katie, and Ella.  Pop and Gran graciously let us leave the boys with them for a few days so that we could go to Nashville for New Year's Eve to celebrate my sweet friend Maggee's engagement at a surprise party.  We even had a full day at home with no kids to put away all of our Christmas decorations!  It is pretty crazy the things I get excited about these days.  I'm not sure they'd be on board, but I'd like to book that gig every year ;)  Thanks for a wonderful weekend and for the few days of freedom, Pop and Gran!

Christmas Afternoon

After we played with our new gifts for a while, Bryant and Miller went to play on our hunting property while Jacob napped.  We gave Miller some new Carhartt gear and he was excited to break it in really well. :)

 

Once they got back we cleaned up and headed to Boaz to celebrate Christmas with Bryant's family. We gave Malley the same cookie set Miller received and they had so much fun playing together.

 

 Sweet babies!

 Miller passed out cookies to everyone before we began opening gifts.

 

The kids had a blast playing in all of the boxes and wrapping, ha!

 Miller made a few "snow" angels...

 Malley and Miller had fun taking turns with his new doctor's kit!

It was such a great, relaxing Christmas!  We loved spreading things out over the whole day and really soaking it all in.  Thanks for a wonderful Christmas, Nana and Papa!