Snowboarding

Our company 1SG arranged a snowboard trip for the company this last Tuesday. I intended to take the free lessons, but SSG Jakob and I missed the bus that went to the bunny hills. We ended up going on the ski lift two miles into the mountain and figuring out how to snowboard on the way down.  I took a lot of tumbles for the first quarter mile until I figured out how to snow plow by watching others. Soon I connected with CPT Thorne and SSG Edwards who have their own boards and we were having a blast together. Snowboarding may be one of the funnest things I have ever done.

That Promised Day

That Promised Day

I found this video while preparing for my daily scripture study. It describes what it took to create the LDS print of the King James Bible.

Fun Times

Jeffrey put himself to sleep reading Skippy John Jones. 

This is a test of the hand prints on the floor by a new soldier to the battalion. 

Jeffrey pretending to be Woody from Toy Story.

Jeffrey watches Little Einsteins while I do homework on the computer.

Halloween 2010

 When I asked Jeffrey what he wanted to dress up as for Halloween he told me he wanted to be Russell from up. So for the first time ever I made his costume.

Pretty good eh?

 Grandma MacNeil's funeral was the weekend of Halloween, the day we drove in we met my sisters at Gardner Village (one of my favorite places!) and walked around a little bit. Here's a few of Jeffrey's cousins.

 The twins were witches, Elena was Little Bo Peep (in a costume that my sister wore when she was little, it was also one of my clogging costumes), Jeffrey was Russell, and Liam was Shaun the Sheep! I have to point out something in the pic, Jeffrey stays still about as well as a flea and so I told Lizzie to hold his backpack so he couldn't get up. She did a good job!

 3/4 of the witches council (one member short). Sam and Cory had shirts that said "I live with a bunch of witches", and "I'm related to a bunch of witches". Yep, we're witches.

Pammy also wanted a picture of her family, so here they are. Photogenic all.

The cutest little mechanic I know!

I love this kiddo! He's my adorable nephew. He fills any need I have to hold a newborn and I get to hand him back at the end of the day. He's all dressed up like his daddy.

Yellowstone trip in September

 In September my family planned a trip to Yellowstone. My gram generously paid for us to all stay in the same cabin and most of the family (we three girls were single with our kiddos) was there together. I had a BLAST! It was so great to see everyone again, even if Cory wasn't able to be there. This is all the kiddos and Aunt Paige and Aunt Sherri at the Paint Pots. We ended up spending way more time there than we thought after Jeff's wife, Melissa, had to help give CPR to someone.

 Uncle Jeff generously offered to hold the leashes of the kids. Hehehe!

 Pretty right?

 Several years ago my family went on another trip to Yellowstone (I stayed home with Paige and Jeff because he had tickets to see Phantom of the Opera and took me!) and Quincy got this junior ranger hat. He brought it to Jeffrey the first day we were there and Jeffrey LOVED it! He idolizes Quincy and so getting a gift from him made his week!

 Paige and the gwirls!

 Quincy was a lifesaver, he would hold Jeffrey's had all the time and walk with him. Helped keep him from getting lost or falling into a geyser.

 Waiting for Old Faithful...which can be hard with 10 kids under the age of 12. But I came up with the idea to have them cheer and clap for the geyser to erupt. If nothing else it kept them busy.

 Old Faithful.

 Me and my travel buddy!

 The hike down from the upper falls. I was very sunburned from waiting for Old Faithful the day before. This is the hike where we learned that people are very generous with their food when you tell them you have a diabetic in need of sugar. (Even offering half eaten granola bars!)

 Mammoth Hot Springs

 Sugar, Jeffrey, and Me at Mammoth Hot Springs. Can I just say how much I love my parents? They are so cute together after 35 years and always up for an adventure.

 A petrified tree. It's a major tourist draw.

 Hello. I'm a cute little bear and I like to stop traffic for MILES around when I come out to play. People also get dangerously close to me while I'm walking across the street.

Hi, I'm a huge elk who also likes to stop traffic for miles around when I walk across a field. Check me out in all my majesty.

Zoo Trip with Friends

I haven't blogged in a long time, not because nothing has happened, but I honestly don't get on the computer more than once a week and that's usually just to print out coupons before I go shopping. But today is a catch up day.

 In September my Kelly friend asked us to go with her to the zoo to celebrate her baby's birthday. It was lots of fun! I love the zoo here in Colorado Springs. Jeffrey was watching the monkeys who were being very loud. I didn't get one of him plugging his ears but it was pretty cute!

 Playing on the ant at the playground.

Going for a brisk carousel ride. I swear this was the FASTEST carousel I've ever been on.

Our zoo has a big herd of giraffes and you get get these little crackers to feed them. Jeffrey thought it was HILARIOUS! Look at those blue eyes, man I've got a cute kid!

Back to Colorado

After a ten hour drive we are back home in Colorado. We had to celebrate and wind down with dinner from Chipotle. Tricia used her Chipotle application on her iPod to order while I did the driving for pickup. 

Going through the books I received from Grandma MacNeil's household items I found a copy of Call of the Wild, which happens to be the same book I am reading to Jeffrey while he takes his nightly bath. I switched out copies and will now be reading Grandpa Skip's copy.

I have already grown used to wearing Grandpa Skips Army Air Corp ring. When I was in the fifth grade I had an assignment to write a biography and I chose to write about Grandpa Skip. I spent several evenings interviewing him and heard many of his stories about his experiences in the Army Air Corp. The ring reminds me of those times with him and how much I learned about him.