Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winter Wunderland!







Last Wednesday Spokane was hit with 20-25" of snow in 24 hours. School was cancelled last Thursday and Friday. Therefore Winter Break started early. Ashley was bummed because she felt jipped. She really loves CO-OP. The first thing she asks on Monday mornings is "Mom, do we have CO-OP today?" I then respond with, "no, not today but in three more days." I will have to typically repeat this same thing for the remainder of the week, until Thursday, when I can finally say, "yes, it's time for CO-OP today!" She gets very excited. Then she will ask, "will Charlotte be there?" She looks forward to seeing Charlotte. She is always asking if Charlotte can come stay the night.
As for the winter storm...it doesn't look like it is going to go anytime soon. We got a few more inches this morning. Thank goodness that our street was plowed yesterday, because we are suppose to get another 6" or so tonight and some more on Christmas Eve! Yahoo! Thank you plow trucks, you have increased our odds on getting out of our street after this next snow storm comes in. Our new snow chains have been helping, but we took them off yesterday for a bit to help from tearing up the roads and to help prolong the life of the chains. We went out to the Valley yesterday, and the middle lane on the high way was totally thrashed by studs and chains in just two days! Two deep ruts, on each side of the lane where your tires drive can be a pain when there is no snow. That is Spokane for you. There is just no way to keep up with it. We always blame "The City" but really it is just our city, the city we live in. We have to get around some how, right?
Finally, what does all this snow bring us? Well it brings us outside, outside to play in the snow and to make forts, hills to slide down, snowmen, snow balls, snow paths, sledding, snow to blow, and of course, snow to shovel. Yet to come, is making an igloo, to go tubing down a mountain, cross country skiing and down hill skiing as well! Why not? We have a lot of snow to go around! So, as for Christmas...it is going to be a white one!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Winter sun











The other day we enjoyed the sunshine at Upper Manito. It sure was nice to see the sun. The high was in the 40's. It seemed cold but nothing like the below freezing temperature of Saturday!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Snowman Time!











The kids were very excited to see the snow falling last Friday night. Justin who was the most excited, built NOT one snowman, but TWO, all by himself. Now that is someone who has a love for snow (or should I say constructing things)! The boys decided to build things on their own. Jacob decided to roll one BIG snow ball & then CRUSH it. Ashley enjoyed trucking through the snow in her rain boots. The next day Justin decided to built a small wall, with what snow was left.

Thanksgiving












From Left to Right~Ashley, Angelo (Great Grandpa), Jacob, Bruce (Grandpa/Josh's Dad) & Justin in front.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Craft Time!




One on one fun! Ashley & I take a moment to construct a "marshmallow man".

How I LOVE a Nine Year Old Smile!







Jacob has always loved to be in front of the camera! He is not camera shy one bit. When Justin was born it was near impossible to get a picture of Justin by himself. Justin has a lot of pages in is baby scrapbook that are dedicated to "my brother and me". Once Jacob would see me bring the camera out...there was no getting out of getting a picture of just the baby. He was very creative on how to incorporate himself into the photo. Maybe he is a bit like me. I too am not camera shy. Eventually I would have to get creative to get some pictures of Justin by himself. One of my technique's included cropping!



Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!







This year we teamed up with Shelly, Kevin, Charlotte & The Backlund's. We met at our house for some pizza & wine. I know what about the beer? After I found out Shelly had no plan's & wasn't quite familiar with Spokane, I welcomed them aboard. Since The Nelson family live close by, they also caught up with us on our annual route. The adults were having such fun we forgot it was Halloween! The kiddo's practically had to tear us away from our party to start their Halloween fun! They were all too fast for Charlotte & Ashley who took their sweet time & enjoyed every little sight. They would linger at the door steps for a while & start to mingle with the people who were passing out candy. We were lapped by the rest. Wow, what fun!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Going Through Old Photos...


Today I am not feeling so well. So after sleeping all morning while Ashley watched TWO hours of TV, I went downstairs & went through some old Photos with Justin & Ashley. Oh, how they grow too fast. Some of the pics made me melt with JOY! How about that for a pick me up.