Friday, December 26, 2008

Back to the Chains with Aunt Annie


We all wanted to get out of the house and off of our rear ends. It was cold and windy, but still enjoyable. We went back to "the chains" and walked around the slick rock and climbed up the rock formations. Jake ran the entire way with Aunt Annie behind him, while Brian wandered off to search out the area. Annie and I were way behind keeping a slower 3-year old pace.

Merry Christmas



Merry Christmas! Thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes and/or gifts for the holidays. What fun the kids had opening presents!! It took us such a long time, mostly because the kids stopped after each gift to open and play with it. We also had a dusting of snow overnight and woke up to a white Christmas morning. The snow was gone by about 11 am, but it had a nice effect. After that we sat down for a turkey dinner with the family, Aunt Annie and one of Brian's colleagues, Carolyn. It was a good, relaxing holiday with lots of board games for the adults. The kids were so absorbed by their gifts that we barely heard from them all day.



Sunday, December 21, 2008

Christmas Tree Cutting






Once again this year, we got a permit to cut down a tree from the Kiabab National Forest, near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a fun way to see lots of snow and to spend the day. The snow was much deeper than last year, and we didn't want to risk driving too far down the unpaved forest service roads. So we walked for a bit and then just played in the snow, while Brian wandered off in search of a good tree. We ended up with a Ponderosa pine, which looks nice all decorated for the season. Both the kids loved the snow, but especially Jacob. Annie lasted for about 30 minutes and then just sat down. Eventually she started crying that she was cold. But in her defense, the snow was up to her thighs. The kids made snow angels, rolled around in the snow, dusted the snow off the fence and threw snow balls. Then we piled back into the truck for the ride home and bite to eat out.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Santa at NPS




Santa came to the National Park Service Headquarters! Everyone had a very nice time, and the kids were so excited to see Santa come off of the fire engine. I watched their enthusiasm with a bit of jealously -- don't get me wrong, I enjoy the holidays very much, but it doesn't match the excitement of a child. Anyway, I have too many good pictures from the night, so I'll have upload them to the photo gallery.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Pre-school program





The Christmas pre-school program, featuring Annie & Jacob, was tonight. It was short and very cute. I tried to snap some pictures of both of them on stage. Annie was in the middle and Jacob was on the very end, so it wasn't easy. I also got some picture of Jacob's new signature smile. It evolved away from the teethy-grimace to this improved (yet not quite right) version.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Hot Chocolate


It it has been a bit since I've updated the site. I took one video from our Thanksgiving trip to Phoenix, but it didn't turn out. So, I snapped a picture of the kids from earlier this evening drinking hot chocolate. I took the kids to the elementary school playground this afternoon, and we ended up staying for over two hours. Jacob took up a tag game with some second-graders. Needless to say, he wore himself out, but enjoyed every minute of it. Annie was happily entertaining herself on the tire swing and slide. Then Jacob's friend, David, came by, so we extended our stay. Finally, it got too chilly and we headed home to warm up. That's all from here for now.