Birthday Sledding

For Scott's birthday, we went up to the mountains for some sledding. It was a beautiful day but very cold in the shade.


The snow was awesome. There was lots of powder but it was very deep and quite the workout just to get up the hill. Ameya had to be carried most the time because she would slide down faster than she could take a step


Ameya had her own sled but she would go down with Scott from time to time.


This picture shows them wiping out at the bottom. You can't really see to well on this one but Ameya is on the ground under all the powder. Look for the little puff of pink to the right of Scott.


I love sledding and am looking forward to the next time but I hope it is much warmer!

The Real Santa

The real Santa you ask?
Well let me tell you how I know -

1. The real Santa doesn't have to adjust his beard
2. The real Santa always wears black boots
3. The real Santa will take his coat off when he's indoors
4. And when the real Santa takes his coat off his shirt always has something like candy canes, reindeer or other Christmas items

So if you're ever wondering about the Santa, who's lap you're sitting on and if it's the real Santa or just a "helper", you now have the official guidelines.

This was supplied to be by my friends 9 year old daughter -a very reliable source.

Santa's Visit

We had lots of Santa time the past couple of days. This past Saturday was our ward Christmas party and the last event of the night was a visit from Santa. Both the girls got to sit on Santa's lap though Ameya wasn't too sure about him. It probably didn't help that I called him by name instead of Santa when I wanted to take one of the pictures.

Then on Tuesday night we went to the Mall so Ameya could sit on the real Santa's lap. Ava did great but was looking at me the whole time. I'm standing to the side and which ever way I moved that is how she moved. At least it's not the classic crying one - maybe that will be next year's Santa picture.

A Big Birthday

Scott's birthday is this Saturday, December 22nd. This is Scott's big 40th and we had talked about doing something really grand, like going back to Germany for the Christmas markets or to Banff for winter fun. This was all before the girls came and so with the changes in our lives, the plan had to change a bit too. So I added a little surprise for him the weekend before his birthday.

I invited some of our friends over for cake and ice cream without Scott knowing what was going on. Thank goodness for our ward choir. They were going out caroling that same night and I told him that they were stopping by all the leaders houses to sing.

Scott helped me organize the downstairs a bit and even made hot cider for the visitors. How perfect. I bought the cake the day before and hide it over at friends. They brought it over just as everyone was arriving. We added the 40 candles, light them, did a little birthday singing as the wax melted onto the cake and then Scott did the big blow-out.



And yes even with taking this big breath, he's now too old to blow out all his candles. Happy Birthday to my handsome, wonderful Scottman

P.S. And don't worry you bike fans, he's still trying to figure out the Alaska motorcycle trip.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

"Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"
- Let it Snow (Sammy Cahn, Julie Styne)



Well it's snowing again today. It's not too bad but it's been continuous all day.
I love taking walks in the snow but worry now about keeping the girls out for too long. Maybe when Ava gets a bit bigger we'll go on longer walks with the snow crunching under our feet. Did you know that an hour of snowman making can burn 240 calories. Thanks Martha Steward for the info - That is a good thing. Especially as we're already getting goodies dropped off at our house from friends.

Last night we even had a family come sing us a Christmas song and then leave cupcakes - yummy!



The snow sure puts me into the Holiday season, though I'm very behind on everything. I'm hoping our Christmas cards will be there before we are :)

When it snows, ain't it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling,
We'll frolic and play the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland
- Winter Wonderland (Dick Smith, Felix Bernard)

The First Snowman of Winter

Well we finally got our first big storm of the season. This weekend was so cold and the roads were a mess that we didn't go anywhere we didn't have too - not even down to the end of our street for sledding.



But today was a different story, though it was still cold outside it was warm enough to play. And the snow was still around, so our first snowman of the season got created.



I think Ameya was just as interested in eating the snow as she was in making the snowman, and the dogs were with her.



The dogs love it when we're outside with them. They run around and get so excited. Dakota loves the snow and continually rolls in it and runs circles around us.



Boris likes to chase the snowballs that Scott will throw and just be part of the group. He is such a sweet dog and still acts so much like a puppy that it's hard for me to think this will be his last Christmas with us.



We tried to get a classic photo with the dogs but no luck. They were so excited and at this point, were either trying to eat the snowman's carrot nose or eat the carrots in my hand that I brought out as bribes. What a fun time!

Another Crazy Hair Moment or Baby Einstein

Ava had just gotten up from a 2 hour nap and her hair was so crazy - definitely a bad case of bedhead! I had to get some pictures. It took me a few tries before I got the one above, which is my favorite of the group.



The ladies at church keep telling me to put muse in her hair but nothing works. I've tried a few things but her hair always pops right back up. I think it's more fun to leave it alone and see what it does. As you can see in the pictures, it has a life of it's own.



Ava is such a happy baby and smiles a ton except when the camera flashes in her face. I think her happy hair is just her way of making us smile and laugh with her.

I'm A Big Girl Now

Ava has started holding her own bottle and though it sometimes goes crazy, she is doing it. I'm so excited to see all her advancements and cheer her on as she gets bigger. But at the same time, I'm sad to see her already growing-up. I look at her newborn clothes and know that she will never wear them again and that makes me sad.

I guess I'll just have to keep them for our next little girl and of course get different colors for our little boy - 2 boys. I sure Heavenly Father will bless us with the 5 children I've always hoped for :)

4th Month

Our little Ava is slowly becoming a big girl. She is now over 12lbs and is 24 and 3/8 inches. She is so fun to be around and even her 4 month shots didn't get her too out of sorts like her 2 months ones did. She is full of smiles and laughs and lots of noises.



She is fascinated by her mouth and spends a lot of time exploring it. She has also started grabbing things and when she can make it, puts them into her mouth. It is great to watch this process and see the look of happiness and wonder when the item makes contact.




Ava is still not use to the camera flash as many of my pictures have this surprised look.