New Years in Colorado

Welcome to Winter Park!

Elise on skis.....for about 10 mins.

She had more fun playing in the snow & sliding. Next time she will definitely be in ski school.

Kaila did awesome!

She had a day & a half of lessons...There will be no need for a harness next time.

Kaila & Grant going up the 'BIG' ski lift on her birthday Kaila likes to go fast...so stopping is still an issue.

Skiing into the side of the mountain for fun

Great trip with the high schoolers from church, and we had a wonderful time teaching others to ski. Grant was the official instructor for the 3 days we were on the mountain, and everyone had fun with the girls. It felt great being back in CO!!

Christmas in Charleston

A day at the beach--playing in the sand & flying kites Elise fell off the couch & sliced her ear on the fireplace--instead of the ER this time, we opted on gluing her back together. I'm sure there's many more to come, but this is now the third scar on her head in 2 months.

After delivering flowers to the nursing home & some neighbors, the girls got to 'drive' the local firetruck.

Christmas Morning The four of us kayaking Christmas day--not your typical winter activity!

Auntie & Kaila

Elise getting all her ducks in a row... she also used her artistic ability on Grandma's wall one day.

Visiting a festival of lights--also enjoyed making smores & riding a carousel.

Merry Christmas!!

End of Year Rush....

WOW!! Here is a brief summary of how the end of our year played out---I went to Utah for my annual girl's weekend (big story there--Congrats Mendy & Stacy); we have been to NY for a week; celebrated Elise's 3rd birthday; had Thanksgiving with my mom's new extended family; participated in a Christmas parade and several parties; spent a week and Christmas in Charleston; came home for a day then went to Winter Park, CO for a ski trip, celebrated Kaila's 5th birthday and New Years in CO; and finally had a real birthday party for Kaila the day after we returned. So needless to say, Christmas cards did not make it out, and I will not make any attempts to do a new year's one either. On another note--we have seen all the family and had a lot of fun making new memories. I did not put up a tree, so there is no need to take one down--except for the little one in Kaila's room which happens to still be up--that's funny because I had completely forgotten about it! It is a new year--business is looking good, I'm working on getting licensed to help Grant at the office, and I'm teaching 2 classes at the college this semester. School with Kaila is back on track (she has already decided that she doesn't want to go to Kindergarten) and Elise is home every day this semester due to our scheduling changes (please pray for me.) May you find strength and encouragement in God this year, and may His blessing pour out on you and your family. Enjoy the following pictures for a little recap of our year, and best wishes for a fabulous 2009!!

The Girls' Birthdays

Elise Turns 3 in NY--Still full of Joy

Cooking with Kaila

Homemade pizza party with crafts and cupcakes

Can you believe she's really 5?!?!

Pics from New York

The girls meet their new baby cousin, Grayson

Yea for fall and beautiful colored trees Niagra Falls--very impressive Kaila decided that morning that she didn't want to go because she knew she wasn't going to remember it. We went anyway....and then to the Buffalo zoo.

Trip to a farm--ever seen an automatic milker?

Very interesting..the cows are trained..no workers needed..

THE WHOLE GANG

Papa, GrammaB, Auntie Gretchen, US-4, Aunt Kristen, baby Grayson, and Uncle Greg

From fall to winter--We had a wonderful visit!

Happy Halloween!

From Kaila the Mermaid and Elise the Fish

October has turned out to be a very busy month, and we ended it today with costumes, candy, and church. We began the evening trick-or-treating on Swiss Ave. with friends, and then heading up to NBC for the annual Fall Fun Fest. Kaila liked the games and candy rewards, but Elise was more interested in dancing and the giant slide.

Katherine & Elise groovin' to the music

Below: Kaila on a mission, & Brooke helping Elise

Elise to the ER

Tuesday evening, 6:30pm--The girls are playing outside. Is that screams or laughter I hear? I should check.....Definitely hysterical screams from Kaila and painful cries from Elise with blood on half of her face. I get the blood cleaned off and examine the damage, Kaila is beside herself, and Grant is called. Kaila explains that they were on the double swing and she was only going medium and Elise wasn't hanging on....needless to say, she fell off, hit her head on the metal seat and flipped--resulting in a 1 inch gash above her right eye and small cut to her chin.

7:30pm--We arrive at Children's after making a couple of phone calls since this is our first major wound. Staff at referral center was great and sent us over to an observation room at the ER--which was wonderful because we didn't have to be in the waiting room for the next 7-8 hours. They wanted to sedate her, so we had to wait 6 hours since she last ate...then they were short nurses to help with the procedure. Finally, at about 1:30am she was put under, sewed up with 3 stitches, and supervised until she was back to normal. We finally got home about 3:30am and slept until 10am.

Kaila is more traumatized by this than Elise, because she blames herself. Elise will never remember it, and I pray the scar won't be too bad. I knew this day would come, and figured it would be Elise first---but I didn't get my first stitches until I was 5, so I thought we might have a few more years.

I'm off to Salt Lake City tomorrow for my girl's weekend--after the last couple of weeks, I am so ready!