The Beach

There is something so weird about going to the beach when there is snow on the sand! Especially coming from Florida! But it was still a really fun Saturday morning, watching the kids collect shells and running from the waves. It was super cold though, so we didn't last too long!

1st SNOW!!

We had a big snow a few weeks ago - which is not usually big news, but this year, we hadn't had ANY snow to speak of until after January 1st! But then we got about 18 inches in 12 hours, which made some of us happy... others of us not so much. We love the snow, and all of the fun it brings... I am a weirdo and LOVE to shovel our driveway. Strange, I know. Hayden is at an age where he can go outside with friends and stay in our yard and have a blast in the snow until dark. I love to watch him (out the window). Katie likes to play for a few minutes but then she wants to go inside! She lasts noticeably longer in the snow this year as compared to last. Here are some pictures of the snow:


Here are some of our neighborhood kids sledding and sliding down our mountain bordering the sides of our driveway:

Christmas 2009

On Christmas Eve, we returned back to the area in time to go to the chapel for their Christmas Eve service. Then we went to our friends' house to celebrate and have some birthday cake!

Hayden was allowed to blow out Jesus' candles since he was the oldest child in the group. He loved it.

When we got home, we decorated cookies for Santa and set them out with carrots for the reindeer.


Jim read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and I read from Luke.


The kids were so tired and had no trouble falling asleep - it was a loooooong day! When they woke up, they were so excited to see what Santa had brought.


This year, Katie got to put the Baby Jesus in the manger.

The rest of the day was spent sloooowwwwwllly opening presents, enjoying homemade cinnamon rolls, and enjoying the wonderful family time. Here are the last of the Christmas pictures... the kids had a blast with their new toys but really do understand that the reason for the season is Jesus. SImple as that.

1st Boarding Trip of the Season

We went snowboarding on Christmas Eve, which was super fun but made for a really late night in preparations for Christmas day! Hayden tried boarding for the first time and did GREAT. He is so coordinated and really seemed to catch on quickly. Check out our pictures and the video of Hayden!

Getting Back to Normal

Here are some pictures of us doing just that. It's when Jim got home from the airport, greeted Hogan, and began to start his life again NOT IN THE DESERT. We all opened presents and just enjoyed being a family of 4 again!




We put all the pictures we had taken while he was gone in an album. He loved this!

Jim has some special childhood Christmas ornaments that we saved for him to put up.

Jim's Return from Deployment

Here we are in the middle of January and I am ready to start blogging again! Things are back to normal, and we are praising God for it. My mom and dad were here until just about the time when Jim got home. We had a wonderful visit! Here are some pictures of the kids and I making our signs for Jim's return:


The children were SO VERY excited the morning that Daddy flew in... they couldn't wait to rip off that last link to our countdown chain! Here we are, making our last moment preparations:



Our wonderful friends took pictures of Jim's return so I didn't have to! Yay! We all could NOT wait. Here we go:










And then, I got to hug and kiss him!! And smile. I smiled a lot!