Snowy Snoqualmie Falls

I decided the kids and I needed to get out of the house today. It was mostly because Jeremy's been sick and was sleeping. I thought I'd give him some peace and quiet and maybe, just maybe he'd wake up and magically be healthy. No, that didn't happen, but he did get some sleep so that was good. We ended up going to Target, like we end up in every outing :) THEN, we went to Snoqualmie Falls. It was very cold, but very pretty. I've never been out there when it was snowy so I thought it would be nice to get a different view of it, and it was. The kids were even impressed, so that made it even better. We only stayed a short time, but had fun driving out and seeing all the snow that Snoqualmie got. It was super misty, so the pictures look like it's foggy, but it wasn't...

February Snow

We've had a wintery wonderland at our house the past couple of days. It's been fun, but I'm hoping it's the last. I'm really looking forward to spring! This is only our second snowfall, but it's time for sun!!! Luckily, this time, when I heard the word "snow" from the weatherman I got prepared. Everyone had snowpants and boots, unlike last time, which meant happier kids and more time outside. Today we still have the snow, but it's so cold we didn't get out much. The snow is more like ice. Anyways, not only did the kids venture out, the chickens did too! Last snowfall, the chickens were...um...chicken? They wouldn't step foot in the snow. This time they did, but did a lot of shaking off and their steps were extremely high, like it was going to make it less cold or something. Funny birds. Here's our snowy days!

Trampoline FUN!

The trampoline has been the best and most used Christmas present we've purchased! The kids love it and so do we! I'd say Parker loves it the most though. He gets sooo excited and is constantly asking me to go outside and jump. And, the kids ask me every time they're on it for me to jump with them. I'm not always as excited, mostly because it's cold outside, but it's a great way for me to spend time with them and a good work out :) Collin will only be on it if Jer or I am holding him, which makes it a little tricky to jump, but still fun....Yeah for the trampoline!!!

Oh, and if you notice the lack of coats and socks it's because, for some reason, they think it's summer when they get on that thing. It's February!!!

Mom Came!

My mom was able to come visit us the day after Christmas. It was so nice to see her and have her stay with us. The kids loved it and so did I! We spent a lot of time eating, shopping, and just hanging out. The biggest "project" was making tamales. My mom learned how to make authentic, homemade tamales from my Grandma Cerrillo long ago when my parents first got married. I've never had my hand at it, so we thought it would be fun to teach me. It's quite a process, but once you have the ingredients ready it can go pretty quickly with enough hands. My sister came over to help and we ended up making about 7 dozen. With all the prep work I kind of wish we would have made more! They freeze well. It was fun and I'd like to do it again, now that I know what I'm doing...sorta.

After slaving away at the tamales all day we sat down to a tasty mexican dinner that my mom prepared with rice, beans, and tortillas. Thanks for a great dinner, mom!

My mom also took the time to make sugar cookies with the kids on New Year's Eve while Jer and I went on a date. It's was so great having her here with us and doing so much with us. I wish she lived closer so we could do more of these fun things together. Come back soon! We love you!

Christmas Pictures

So, I'm a little late on posting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I guess it's better late than never!

We started our Christmas Eve off at Jeremy's Grandma's house. We try to go over there every Christmas and see her. Jeremy's aunts and grandma are so generous and always have presents waiting for us when we arrive. We had a nice visit and got some fun presents and of course took our yearly Christmas picture with Grandma.

Later that night we started our annual Klein Family progressive dinner. It started at our house with an appetizer (breadsticks). We then headed to Jake and Emily's house for a super yummy salad, which I loved and want to make myself. After that we went to Grandpa and Grandma Klein's house for our pizza dinner and Jessica's caramel apples. Sharon had sprinkles and fun things for the kids to dip their apples in, which the kids loved. And, as usual, the kids had to dress up for the evening in Grandma's dress-up clothes! We ended the night with everyone getting to open one gift. Christmas Eve gifts are so fun!

We headed home to get ready for Santa to come, but before bed we let the kids open one more gift, from us. Everyone got PillowPets!!! They were a hit! Sam got the penguin she'd been eyeing. Parker got the dolphin (although, he wanted the unicorn for awhile...), and Collin got the dog.

Christmas morning started early. Parker woke up at 12:00 a.m. ready to go! It took us almost 3 hours to get him back to sleep. Crazy kid! We finally got up around 7 and took our time opening gifts. It may not look like we got much under the tree, but in the garage we had a 15ft trampoline waiting for the kids (in the box still!) and a Kinect was in the mix too. Santa came, but we mostly splurged on the bigger gifts. Everyone was happy! After we were dressed and ready for our Christmas day we headed back to Jeremy's parent's house for more Christmas fun.

What a wonderful Christmas! Thanks family!