Zims Hot Springs

Our last family activity at my parents house was to go to Zim's Hot Springs. It is a very interesting experience to go swimming while it is snowing. I was grateful that I had left Ava with one of my mom's neighbors because she would have never lasted while swiming. The kids had a blast, and stayed in the pool for a long time. We finally had to convince the last few to get out. The kids thought it was funny to get out, sit in the snow and the jump back in the water. They also enjoyed throwing snow balls at each other. Amber started it, and had the most snowballs thrown at her. After swimming we had a picnic in their lounge area. Then Grandpa gave all the kids a dollar in quarters and they got to play games with them. Owen thought it was great. We put a quarter in the riding toy, and it never turned off. All the little kids got to ride it for quite awhile. Thanks for the fun time Grandpa and Grandma!

Oh Christmas Tree!

While we were at my parents house we got to cut our Christmas tree like we do every Thanksgiving we are there. This year with all the snow we loaded up the snowmobiles, and headed up to the forest. Claire and Owen went with us, but were ready to go in a little while because they were "cold." They had fun though, and Owen was so proud of our tree. It is always a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Thanksgiving Fun

We always have a lot of fun at Thanksgiving with my family. This year was not short on fun. We started our day with family pictures (my mom made all the girls their cute dresses the day before!! AMAZING!). Then we worked on dinner and of course ate appetizers. There was lots of football watching, and the traditional game playing. We taught Chad how to play pinocchole during the summer so we played a few games of that. Of course we had our wonderful, beautiful Thanksgiving dinner, followed by our after dinner entertainment of Heather playing the water glasses, and of course the kids piling on Aunt Amber. It is always fun to spend time together and enjoy each others company and of course laugh, which we do well!

Thanksgiving Aprons

My mom surprised each of her daughters and their oldest daughter with a matching apron for Thanksgiving this year. It was so much fun, and the girls loved matching their moms, and we thought it was fun too. Thanks mom for working so hard for us. We love them!!

Ava 6 months old

Miss Ava Jean is 6 months old. She is starting to try to sit, and loves to eat. She can roll from her tummy to her front, but just can't make it over her arm from her front to her back. She doesn't like to be on her tummy, but loves to jump. She can often be found in her jumparoo or her exersaucer. She is very happy, and loved by everyone. She is sleeping most of the night, and usually wakes up about 5:00 to eat and goes right back to bed. I just stopped nursing her except once a day, and she is doing great. She already has both her brothers in the palm of her hand, so I think she will be well taken care of when she is older.

Snowmobiling

It is not very often that my parents have enough snow at their house to play in it, especially not at Thanksgiving. This year we were extra lucky. However, it was cold!! Our first day there the kids begged to go on a 4 wheeler ride. Claire and Owen had no problem bundling up, but Grant was another story. I managed to get boots, snow pants, and a jacket on him, but he would have nothing to do with the gloves. We figured we would only be gone a few minutes because it was so cold. However we were gone long enough that for the next few days he cried and wouldn't touch anything. About a week after we were home his fingers actually peeled. I felt so bad!! Regardless of all the snow and cold on Thanksgiving day Chad bundled up and a few brave kids too and he pulled them behind the snowmobiles. Claire, Brittany and Parker had a great time. It was fun to watch them from the window.

Cookies

Owen loves to cook!! When we got to my parents house Amber wanted to make cookies and she had a helper right away with Owen. He was so proud of himself and brought me a cookie as soon as they were finished.