Jackson's first deer!

This year was Jackson's official first year as a hunter! He has been a few times already with Daddy in the blind, but this year was his turn pulling the trigger.

Hunting season started out with a bit of disappointment for Jackson. During youth weekend, he never had an opportunity to shoot. It was a great learning experience for him though. After all, the true definition of "hunting" does not always guarantee a shot. But boy, was he disappointed. In fact, after coming home from the weekend away, he was pretty down. But, it wasn't until I tucked him in for bed that the tears started rolling down. It was a little over an hour before I could settle him down to sleep! And, the irony of this situation is not lost on me...his "city girl" mama is the one consoling him on a disappointing weekend in the woods? We were both exhausted by the end of the night!

So this scenario really kicked Daddy into high gear, feeling pressure to make a good hunt happen for Jackson. He went down and set up another deer blind to give them more opportunities to hunt in different places. And well.....it was a success! So much so that he was able to shoot not one but two deer in a row! But I'll be honest, the details of this story (although I have heard them at least a handful of times) are a little fuzzy from here. They will forever be etched in the brains of Daddy and Jackson though, and that's all that matters. This boy is still on cloud 9...and the fact that he has literally provided 94 lbs. of ground burger for our family is puffing his chest up even more :). We're proud of your perseverance, Jackson!

packaging up his meat for the freezer!

Heading out for the hunt with Daddy & Grandpa!

In the deer blind

 

Taking a short nap...hunting is hard work!

And there's the prize!

Fresh venison for dinner!

First family ski trip!

For our 40th birthdays, Grandma & Grandpa gave us an amazing gift of a family ski trip to Breckenridge! This was not only our first family ski trip, but also our first trip to Colorado as a family. I'm still amazed with how well the trip went....the 11 hour drive with the kids (probably my biggest concern, honestly), ski lessons (an entire day apart from Mom & Dad and in the care of a ski instructor), and elevation/altitude sickness (this was a bit of an issue for some of us, but manageable).
I should not be as surprised as I am, I know. Our kids have always been amazing travelers and enjoy new adventures!

Ski lessons were fantastic! We dropped the kids off at 8:30am for a group lesson and upon picking them up at 2:30pm, found out they were the only beginners so they had a private lesson! Typically, the kids stay in a special area at the bottom of the mountain and venture the chair lift at the end of the day. The instructor said our kids caught on so quickly, they were on the lift before lunch and had been skiing down runs all afternoon! Dad and I were so impressed with their aptitude in learning and how much they enjoyed it.

Day 2 resulted in Jackson and Dad opening and closing the lift! Jackson was like a little skiing machine. In fact, one time off the lift, we lost him! Since I'm a snowboarder, I have to attach my second binding at the top of every lift before heading down. Skiiers are already clicked in and ready to go. Jackson did not pay attention to the fact that everyone had stopped to wait for me, and he just kept on going! By the time we realized he was missing, he was half way down the mountain! Dad took off and caught up to him. This was terrifying at the time, but now makes for a great story :).

Lily was a natural as well. From the moment we left the house, she was fired up to get on the slopes. This attitude of determination stayed with her the entire trip! Day 2 for the ladies was a gondola ride to downtown Breckenridge for some shopping in the morning, and back up for a half day of skiing in the afternoon. We had the best of both worlds!

This trip definitely created a new love for our family. We are hoping to make this an annual event!

Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa!

(these pics were uploaded backwards so this is our trip in reverse :)

Gondola ride to downtown Breckenridge (with a new friend who jumped on for the ride)

Even Grandpa had skiing lessons!

Poor Grandma was not feeling well the entire trip :( We are hoping our next one will be a good do-over for her!

Ladies morning in downtown Breckenridge

Day 2 skiing with Mark Johnson

  

Trying on Grandpa's ski boots!

Taking a well-deserved ski break!

Headed to ski school! (Jackson was not too sure, but quickly adjusted)

The lobby of  our lodge. The condo was absolutely beautiful!

The view from our balcony! We could see every lift! Just amazing.

We stumbled upon this restaurant on our first trip with Aunt Sarah and Aunt Ashley. We purposely arranged our route to hit this place up again....The Denver Biscuit Company. The BEST breakfast sandwiches made with homemade biscuits!

That's a cinnamon roll!

After a full day of driving, these kids were THRILLED to be in the hotel room in Denver.

March 2017

In March, Jackson had a field trip, Lily and I went to a concert, and the kiddos got to spend a long weekend with Grandma & Grandpa B. so Mom & Dad could go to NYC! What a fun month!

Field trip to Kaleidoscope

Lily's 4th grade was challenged by their Media teacher to make arcade games completely out of cardboard. They spent over a month designing and constructing their game. Lily and her friend Hadley were the perfect team- Hadley the architect and Lily the designer :). They even included prizes for their skee-ball-type game, so it goes without saying that it was a hit!
Their demonstration occurred while Dad and I were in NYC so Grandma & Grandpa B. went over to check it out! So glad they did. It made her day :)

Mother/Daughter night at the school- painting canvases for spring!

Lily wanted to show me her soup can design in the hallway- Unicorn Soup!

While Dad and I were in NYC, the kids had loads of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

Jackson's kinder class on St. Patrick's Day- he's the far left 

We had an adventure with some friends one night to Donutology in KC. You can create your own personalized mini donuts and watch while they make them to your specifications. So fun!

Lily and I went to the Kari Jobe concert with some friends from church. Such a great night of worship with my girl.

celebrating Grandma's birthday!

I couldn't resist this one :). Jackson had bumped his nose...apparently so badly that he thought it might bleed. He went to the bathroom and came out with this blue bandaid completely covering his nostrils. He was serious as a heart attack...sat down and continued on with his Uno game. I could not contain myself. He is just a hoot!

February 2017

February was a month in full swing of sports practices & games, and of course, Valentine's Day. I have my issues with this Hallmark holiday and I just have to say that during our one snow day in January, the kiddos decided to make their own Valentine's boxes!! Yay! That was one huge check off the list for February and one less thing to stress about. Yay kiddos!!

Enjoy our month in pictures:

A night out to our favorite Square Pizza and a historic Polly's Pop to wash it down :)

Lily with her "God's Girl" buddies at Georgia's 9th baking birthday party. So much fun!

We had a rare "spring like" day in February so the kids and I headed over to Aunt Sarah.'s neighborhood and rode the 4-mile Lakewood loop. And yes...that's 4 MILES with the kiddos on their own bikes! They did great!

4th grade Pastries with Parents

Jackson played hooky from school and went fishing with Dad. Looks like he had a great day!

My Valentines ready for school

Dad took us all out to our favorite Mexican restaurant for Valentine's Day

We started a new family Bible study with a book going through all of God's Names. Our first lesson was to look up the meaning of our own name. Just loved how the kids put this together.

This boy is just so funny. He loves dressing up for church...so much so that this was his attire for SATURDAY! He refused to change so we just rolled with it. Apparently, he was all business that day :)