PBS contest

I know I previously wrote about Jace winning the PBS writting contest in our area- here he is at the ceremony (March 2010)reading his story and accepting his award. Clifford even decided to grace us with his presence- it was an honor!

Backyard Camping

Just a month before Wesley was born, Tim took the boys camping at a ward members 'backyard'. They live out in the country on a big piece of property that has the perfect spot for camping and were gracious enough to let us use it. Being 8 months pregnant, I just stayed until after dark and then came back for breakfast. Here is Tim setting up the campfire...

The boys idea of a good pose- the booty shake.




We could not get Jace out of this tree- he probably would have slept in it if we would have let him...

A lovely mom in the morning...
Afterward we headed to Jace's baseball game- check out his running stance:)

Ice Skating

One of the highlights for Jace from our Utah trip last Christmas was learning to ice skate. My parents have a lake in their back yard that will occasionally freeze thick enough to ice skate on. We lucked out that last year was unusually cold during our stay so we got to break out the skates and hockey sticks and teach Jace how it was done. He had a blast! This brings back fond memories of my childhood- my sisters and I loved ice skating in the winter time! We would break out the battery operated tape player and make up ice routines to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". We would even sometimes put on tights and leg warmer and my mom had these fake turtle necks (the sleeveless ones that look like bibs) that we would wear as skirts- they were great for twirling:) Man, I wish I had a picture of that!

Uncle Zach helping him get his balance...

Getting brave!

And now ready for a break!

Good times!

Christmas Flash Back

Seeing how Christmas is just a few weeks away, I thought it might be a good time to post our Christmas photos from last year. Go ahead, say it- I am a pathetic blogger! But better late than never, right?

We spent last Christmas in Utah- my sisters wedding was the day after Christmas so it was a great excuse to spend Christmas with my family. It was so much fun to be with family for Christmas! Looking at these makes me so very homesick. My mom is the Christmas decoration queen, and the house felt so festive and welcoming. A few days before our flight was scheduled to leave, we had a record breaking 18" of snow here in Virginia. Now seeing as the year before we got about a total of 5 inches, this was unheard of! But thankfully our flight was not delayed. Here are some photos of that snow storm and our Christmas trip in Utah.

The storm- imagine shoveling yourself out of this mess with nothing but a rounded metal dirt shovel and a leaf rake...

Family Christmas party, where Santa came to visit us!


Christmas Eve at Grandma's...


Checking the web to find out Santa's current location... Those NASA folks sure came up with a high tech tracking system! Isn't technology amazing?
Christmas morning by the tree...
This is hilarious- their faces say it all! Obviously the kids think posing for pictures is a lame idea...

Outer Banks, 2009

These are from our trip to the Outer Banks, NC in Aug./Sept. of 2009. My side of the family came out for a trip to the beach and for some of them it was their first time at the beach, or at least the East Coast. We had such an amazing time! We stayed in the perfect house in Rodanthe, on Hatteras Island. The weather was a little cold and windy (luckily we just missed a mild off shore huricane by a few days!) but we had a blast anyway. Here are some shots that hightlight our trip, including some portraits taken my me (and Tim- he took the ones I am in). It was such an incredible trip- I know myself and my kids will remember it forever! I really hope we can go back there with the whole family again someday. Enjoy!

Not such a bad shot of the whole group, considering a stranger snapped it and only took 1 frame.

I cannot express how much I LOVE this shot of my parents! It captures my dad to a T- I can hear his trademark laugh when I look at this!Me and my sisters- aren't they pretty?

And this shot was somewhat torturous, as you can see by Hogans red face:) Poor kids- it is hard to sit still for a picture when the beach is right in front of you!

All of us at Cape Hatteras

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