Thanks, And Just Because

Between a late Christmas with Uncle Bradley and Auntie Jayne, and Valentine's Day gifts from Oma and Opa and Uncle Tim and Aunt Gwen, Payton and Brady have been quite spoiled with stuffed animals, candy, and stylin' outfits. The kiddos decided to sport the outfits today. They also decided we should document them on film. So, here they are. Thanks everyone, for the awesome gifts!
And just because...it's Presidents' Day, I get to spend the day hangin' with the kiddos. Can't think of a better reason to snap a few more shots...

The Toothless Wonder

February 13, 2010 marked a very important milestone for our daughter Payton. After MONTHS of wiggling it with her tongue and twisting it with her fingers, Payton's very first tooth finally broke free from her mouth. She was very brave, and after several deep breaths and a countdown from twenty, Payton let me pull the tooth free. She was very excited to share the news with everyone. She was even more excited at midnight when she woke up to go to the bathroom and found that the tooth fairy had paid her a visit! Good thing the tooth fairy came early last night...

Ski Town USA

Wes and I were able to spend this past weekend in Steamboat Springs skiing with the Craigs. We tackled the three hour drive Thursday night and spent all of Friday and Saturday tackling the slopes. The Winter Carnival was going on, so there was a lot of fun activities going on at night including the Olympian Send Off. We had a blast with Jesse and Kacey...skiing, hitting major air on our jumps (see video footage :)), recovering in the hot tub, going out to dinner, and just relaxing. Thanks Jesse and Kacey, for letting us tag along, and thanks once again, Mom and Dad, for taking care of the kiddos!

Payton's Pupit Shwo

Payton spent a good portion of one afternoon preparing a puppet show for us. She was very thorough and included signs, a stage, seats, and even an audience. It was a lovely show, even if it did go on for about 15 minutes. :)

The Signs...there were several more around the house with arrows leading us in the right direction.

The audience!
Enjoy (a small snippit of) the show!

Fun With Brad & Jayne (& The Rest Of The Family Too!)

Brad and Jayne flew in from California this past weekend for a late Christmas celebration. We have not seen them since Cancun last June, so we were very excited to have them come! The weekend was an absolute blur, but it was SO good to see them and spend time all together with our family. Here are a few highlights...

Saturday night the "kids" went out to dinner at Hacienda. If you want to know what you look like when the photographer says "Say Hacienda!", please see my face. And thanks, Mom & Dad and Jess for babysitting all of the kids!
Sunday after church we had a Schemper/Jansen baby shower for Jayne and their baby. We had fun spoiling Jayne, tasting baby food, and pinning the pacifier on the baby...
Sunday afternoon until early Monday morning was our late Christmas celebration. Between presents, a steak dinner, Rock Band, and a few drinks and games, we all had a TON of fun and were very tired (delerious?) by the end of the night!
See what I mean?

Monday (MLK Day) we all headed up to the cabin for a day of relaxation. Oh, and dressing up.
We had an awesome time and we are so blessed!

Stock Show: Twenty-Ten

Last Friday we took our annual trip to the National Western Stock Show. Without fail, the weather is always freezing when we go. So, this year, an awesome 50 degrees allowed us to roam around coat free. A good thing, as the goats in the petting zoo ate pretty much anything they could! (See the video clips to come...) We had a great time and are so glad that this has become one of our favorite family traditions.

100 Days

Payton celebrated her 100th day of Kindergarten this week. As part of the special day, Payton's homework was to make a collection of 100 items. I remember doing this same project in elementary school as well. After talking with Auntie Abby and hearing stories about how kids tell her their moms do ALL of the project themselves, Payton and I sat down Monday night and hot-glued ONE HUNDRED pom-poms on to posterboard so that Payton could create a VERY long caterpillar. She did 99% of the work (hot glue guns aren't so great for 5 years olds) and practiced her counting a lot. I think it turned out great!