Ethan's First Ski Trip

A few weeks ago, Jake and I took Ethan up to Vermont for his first ski trip! 

The trip there wasn't the best to say the least.  Our flight from Houston was delayed, so we missed our connection in Chicago.  That turned into a 3+ hour wait at O'Hare with Ethan , who had been up since 4:30 am.  :(  Enter meltdowns!!  We finally got a flight out, but not to Hartford where we had planned, but Burlington, VT.  So we had to change our rental car plans but that wasn't the worst.  Our luggage ended up going to Hartford without us.  About 10:00 that night, we finally made it to our resort but we didn't have any ski clothes or anything warm for that matter.  We made do with what we had but we were worried about the rest of our trip.  The next morning, we went to see about ski rentals and such, and the people there were so nice and let us borrow jackets, pants, and gloves until our luggage came! 

Our bags finally arrived at our resort later that day.  Ethan had so much fun playing in the snow that first day and we put him in ski school the following day.  It was a nice break so Jake and I could ski on our own and even went on a lunch date while Ethan was busy learning how to ski.  He had a great time and at the end, he got to ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain and roast marshmallows and listen to stories in this cute little tepee they had for the kids. 

After 2 days in northern Vermont, we travelled south to visit my great aunt and grandma.  We continued south towards Connecticut where Jake grew up and stayed with some of his family friends that night. 

We had so much fun with our oldest boy but we sure missed our little man who got to stay with Nonnie and Poppie for the weekend.  :)

 mascot at our ski resort

 learning to snow plow

 warming up by the fire!

 his little legs were so tired!

 they had a fun zone for kids-Ethan loved it!

 climbing up the big slide

 our condo had toys too!

 we stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Stowe, VT

 we made a Dunkin Donuts stop too!

 at the Yankee Candle factory in Deerfield, Massachuestts.  Check out Ethan's first visit to this place HERE

 fell asleep on the long drive

 visiting relatives!

 waiting at the airport

thanks iPad for a quiet flight and entertaining our boy!

So Very Thankful

We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day...breakfast with my parents and dinner with Jake's family. We are so blessed and thankful to God for all He has given us!

 Our elf, Chip, has joined our family for this Christmas season!  Ethan LOVES him!

And our Christmas tree is up!  Only decorated with ornaments on the top half since Mason is very grabby! 

Halloween 2012

 snuck in some Nerds!

 what a pro

Dewberry Farm

We went to Dewberry Farm the other day with my mom's group.  We had a good time, despite Ethan's bad mood and eventually he got over it and ended up having fun too.  :)  We did a hayride and the boys got to pick out their very own (small) pumpkins to take home.  I didn't do too well in the picture-taking department.  Trying to keep up with Mason is a feat in itself!  He is a wild man! 

Check out last year's post when we went: here Definitely a must-see every October!  :)

 Ethan and Carter-silly friends

 here Ethan was throwing a fit about who knows what.  I didn't get a good pic of adorable Lainey!  :(

 Mason doing what he does best-running away from Mommy!

 sweet boy

 hayride!

It's FALL, Yall

Seriously, where did September go?!?  I'm not complaining though because I LOVE fall and the cooler temperatures and the excitement of all the holidays right around the corner.  We have been telling Ethan that Halloween is getting close and he says, "Yeah, Halloween is on its way to Texas"!  I guess Halloween lives elsewhere throughout the year.  :)

Mason is 16 months already.  He really is becoming more and more of a little boy and less like a baby everyday.  Makes me happy and sad at the same time.  Just for the sake of posterity here are the words he says:  EAT-his FAVORITE.  Kid can eat.  Complete opposite of his picky eater brother.
Go, Daddy, Poppy, out, ball, hot (another favorite), hat, cheese, cookie, Mommy (doesn't say it often enough for my liking), bye-bye, cold, hi, bumblebee, tee-tee (watches his brother go, so maybe he will potty train easier and faster?), help, night-night, and book. 

And I can't believe Ethan is going on 4 years old.  How can that be?  He is SO funny and likes to make people laugh.  Love him SO much.  We started soccer and his first game will be Saturday.  Excited to see how he will do.  He seems upset because "the other kids will try to swipe (can you tell we watch Dora?) the ball from me"!  He doesn't quite get the "game" concept yet. 

Here are a bunch of recent pictures of my loves. 

 Daddy dressed him and didn't realize he had on 2 different shoes!

 activity from Pinterest.  Fun, but whoever said this occupied their 3 year old for 2 hours was LYING

 Mason trying his hand at ski-ball at Chuck E. Cheese

 fun at the park

 gotta love the iPad for doctor visits.  Here he was covered in a rash (can't really tell from the pic)...turned out he is allergic to certain medicines!

 Ethan in his new Thomas shirt

 riding the train at the mall

 Mason loves to cuddle with blankets!

 The boys got their passports!  We are going to Grand Cayman with Jake's family in June 2013!

 cake face!

 playing in the backyard

we took Ethan to see Finding Nemo in 3D!

at soccer practice!  he's the one in red.