Weekend winter fun!

We decided to make another attempt at taking the kids out cross country skiing/snowshoeing this year. So Saturday we loaded up and headed out to Idaho City. When we got there we definitely didn't worry about there being enough snow....

When we saw this we knew were in for a good time :) After taking about 20 minutes (or more) to get everyone geared up in their snow gear we hit the trail..... kind of...

It really was mostly like how this picture is. Every few minutes the kids wanted to switch from skis to snowshoes, or Lydia would want in and out of the sled, or one of the kids would take a spill. Then right when we thought all was well, Savannah had to go to the bathroom of course! She let me know that "next time" she won't wear the backpack with the water bladder. So Savannah and I quickly headed back to the parking lot (and outhouse) while the others slowly made their way back. Let's just say we were grateful to have Grandma and Grandpa Malan with us. Considering that we were making this trip with 4 small children, we really had a great time. My kids truly just loved every minute of it.

This time around Abe was happy to ride on Dan's shoulders. Note: The sore on Abe's face was from a brawl in the playroom with Lydia- she won, he wasn't in a position get her with his teeth (his only defense).

Paige giving the snowshoes a try with Grandma Malan.

Paige with Grandpa Malan.

This is the first year Lydia tried snow shoes. They didn't stay on too long, they were a little too wide making her trip a bit, but she was a sport and loved the snow as evidenced by the next picture.


Back at the car Savannah and Lydia had Dan set them up on this 5 foot embankment. They had fun throwing snowballs.... until Lydia dove off. Thank goodness for soft fluffy snow. Oh what memories....

Abram is 1!!

I cannot believe my little boy is now 1 year old! When he was born he cried so much the first 12 weeks I thought we were in for a long year, but he soon turned into the happiest baby ever. He is surely the giggliest baby boy. We LOVE having this little guy in our home.


Yes he does have an extremely long tongue. He loves to stick it out and laugh and laugh.

He says your typical baby things "momma, dadda, uh-oh, boo, and cracker???" Yes about a month ago when I was getting him a snack I asked if he wanted a cracker. When he responded cracker back, I was shocked. So he has since repeated it multiple times when he would like a goldfish cracker. I got this footage with my camera.

Here he is with an attempt to blow out his single candle. I made him this dump truck cake- I thought it turned out pretty cute.

I made him a separate smaller dump truck. I wanted to see what a mess he could make with a smash cake. I was a little surprised that he just picked off and ate 2 pretzel sticks and 1 mini doughnut. The truck remained surprisingly whole.

I was totally amazed at how long he kept his party hat on. He must have kept it on for over an hour.

Here he is with his homemade gift from mom. A button eyed croc- it is almost as long as he is, and of course he loves it.

This is little mister just after opening a few presents.

A new Year

For our New Year celebration we decided to go with Grandma and Grandpa Malan to the great outdoors and do some cross country skiing and snow shoeing with the kids. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we only lasted in the freezing wind for about 30 minutes. Maybe next time. We came back to our house and played some games, ate, and still rang in the new year (a little early at 9pm :) )with lots of noise.

Christmas Festivities part 2

Oh this was my favorite Christmas ever! We had such a fun time as a family as well as spending time with family. I'm really sad it's over.... On Christmas Eve we had a party at our house with my family. It was fun to have my sister Rilieanne and her family in town and also to have Breanna here. We ate lots of food, played games, had a birthday party for Denali, and Dan and Savannah played some Christmas music on the piano.

Chloe helping Lydia play some Christmas bingo.

Savannah and Breanna with their party hats on!

Dan and Savannah playing Christmas music for everyone.

On Christmas we spent the morning together opening (and playing) with presents.

You can see how excited Dan is as he gets a pair of sleeper jammies (with the feet of course). He was extremely disappointed when they were too small:( Hopefully we'll be able to find another pair in the right size.

Here is Sav's with her goods from Santa. Her favorite present I guess the BSU jersey!? Of course the Didj was a close 2nd.

Abe with his stuff. His favorite was his little walker. He goes bananas with it, I wish that meant no more pushing the stools around the kitchen- I can't be that lucky. Stools will continue to be scattered throughout the day in the kitchen.

Paige loved her Bitty Baby. It was one of the few things she asked for, and it was a hit.

Lydia loved her Dora stuff as well as her Snap n Style dolls. She loves to keep them in coordinating outfits and hats.

Then we went out to Dan's family's home. It was great to see his brother Jim and his family and also eat some yummy food (and of course more presents :)).

My cute newest nephew- Nolan. What an adorable boy! And a perfectly mild child as well.

And here is Uncle Jimmy holding Mr. Abe.

After that we went to my family's home. The kids were able to play with their cousins and new toys and visit Grandma and Grandpa Dana (and of course more yummy food:))

Here Abe is tinkering on the piano (his favorite thing to do) with cousin Chloe.

And here is Abe with uncle Nate. Check out that kids tongue! He absolutely loved his uncle. Wish they lived closer.

Christmas Festivities part 1

Well we have sure been busy so far this holiday season. Here are a few pictures to highlight what we have been up to this season.



Savannah performed as a doll with her dance class at a retirement center. It was fun for her and the old folks loved it.

Dan, Savvy, & Paige were once again able to go to Ballet Idaho's production of The Nutcracker. The girls said they thought this year was even better than last year. They loved going with their dad.

This year our bishop asked Dan to be Santa, and be in a skit with Savannah. I honestly am not sure why they would ask a Dad who has small children to pretend to be Santa? However, Dan was a sport and said he'd play the part. When he got there he realized he'd forgotten the beard! The bishop told him to go on stage anyways. Well anyways it was clear he was not the "real" santa. He gave a great message about the true meaning of Christmas despite being called an imposter.

The next few pictures are of the girls decorating our family tree. This is one of our favorite activities of the holiday season.



Here are all the kids this Sunday in their dresses (and suit for Abe) that I made for them. They were excited to finally be able to wear them (except for Abe- he despises the tie and dress shirt!)


Here he is pre-suit.....

and 30 minutes after wearing the suit. Doesn't he look nice and cozy?

The Spelling Test

As I was going through Savannah's weekly schoolwork folder I came across her spelling test.

This was not too surprising to me because she almost always gets 100-105%. Spelling seems to come easy to her. What did surprise me was what I saw written on the back...

Yikes! I guess the kids sitting next to her better keep their eyes on their own paper. What a feisty girl!

Festival of Trees

This last Saturday Savannah had the opportunity to play some Christmas music on the piano at the Festival of Trees. Dan played the duet portion for her. They played "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls". It was fun watching the two of them play together on a beautiful grand piano while people were passing by. They did very well. I wish I could have gotten some video, but I was lucky to get these few shots while holding Abe and trying to stop Lydia from bouncing away. The trees this year were really neat! I wish we could have seen them all, however, there were so many people that we left ASAP.



Abe is super cheery here. It was funny because anytime I pointed the camera at him he got a silly grin.