Sunday, February 19, 2017

Christmas

Way back when, there was a Christmas holiday and we took a little family vacation to Red River, NM.  The five Settlemeyers along with Mimi, Papa Jud, Uncle Jason, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Bud, cousins Dustin and Denton all drove the 15 hours to the beautiful snowy mountains.  It. Was. Great!
 I may or may not have downloaded all of the pics and videos, but here is what I was able to gather.

On the way there.  We were packed to the brim. There was little wiggle room and we definitely weren't seeing out the windows!
We stopped off in the Dallas area to pick up Uncle Jason.  We met him at a hospital, and this Christmas tree was in the lobby.

On the way to Red River, snow was dumping on us making it very hard to see.  It was a bit nerve racking, but we made it and it was beautiful! The view from the front of the house.

First full day, the cousins hit the slopes!

Connor and Reid in ski school








With their instructor







I decided to be brave and go up to the top of a very tricky mountain with Josh, Dustin and Denton.  These three guys are great skiers; I needed more practice.  So despite what this photo looks like, I did not enjoy the way down the mountain!! 



Back at home all the boys built a snowman.  They named it Gerber

Poor Drew bug spent the first few days crying a lot, not sleeping...finally we took him to the local doctor and he had ear infections.  We got him on some meds which thankfully helped.


Reid trying to make a snow angel
Ready for tubing!!! It was so cold and windy but oh so fun!!
Here is one of the boys on Josh's back

And now one on Denton's back

Down goes Uncle Jason
Though I don't have video of it, apparently, Aunt Cindy took out Mimi going down the mountain!!  Lol!!!

I decided to ride on Josh's lap!


Back at home, nice and cozy!
Time to feed the ducks from the back porch!!










Next adventure: snowmobiling!  



 Reid rode with Bud.  Apparently, Reid has a need for speed. Bud drove fast, but Reid kept yelling "faster! faster!!"
 I rode with Josh
 Mimi and Papa Jud rode (and flipped) together!
 Uncle Jason with Connor (who is opposite of his brother and kept telling Jason to slow down! That's my boy!!)

 It was a BEAUTIFUL day!!

 The Settlemeyers minus one

 Mimi and Papa Jud

 There was a hill for sledding.  It was a blast!!!






 We were missing Reid and Bud (I guess they were going too fast to slow down for a pic!)


 Mimi brought and set up a Christmas tree for us

 Love this pic!!!
 Opening presents Christmas morn





 Santa wrote a note that back at home, two bikes were left under the tree
Santa also gave them a tablet, which they had no idea they were getting.  I love their reaction!
Trying on one of the gifts
Denton, Josh and Reid decided to do a little Christmas skiing





Reid rocked it and did much better than his momma!  He was skiing all the blues and greens with no problem!

 In the evenings, Reid and Uncle Bud always played Battleship
We also tried our hand at egg nog.  Denton and Josh mastered it!!
When we got there, Josh found a plastic cup and someone had written "Ken" on there.  No one knows a Ken so it became a joke all week.  So on my cup, I wrote "Ken's wife." 
 I made socks for everyone. Here are the guy's socks.  For the ladies, I made them to see "If you can read this...bring me coffee, bring me wine, rub my feet!" They were fun.
The last full day was spent fly fishing.


 Then, sadly, it was time to head back home :(
 Connor put a blanket over his head, but Drew kept playing peek-a-boo with him!
Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!

The boys said it was the best vacation they'd been on! Hopefully there are many more skiing/snow filled vacations to come!

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Santa Claus!!!

Before Christmas we went to Chick-fil-A to get our picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  

They were wearing the matching shirts I made them :) 

 Santa was ok, but Drew wanted nothing to do with the CFA cow!!
 Back at home, I was trying to get a picture of them in their shirts, but easier said than done...




Sunday, February 5, 2017

December Pics

While I'm working on collecting all the hundreds of photos from Christmas, here are a few pics from December.

Drew thinks he's such a big boy.  He climbs into Reid's booster seat and tries to put on his seat belt.
Peek-a-boo!


This was a sugar cookie that Reid decorated! See it's a man with three buttons!
We went to a church "snow day." Here they were trying to catch "snowballs" (white donut) in their mouths.  It was funny.




Getting a snowman tattoo
Fun in a photo booth!
Making gingerbread houses
He hikes up that leg everywhere!  He's such a climber!
Showing off the socks Aunt Val sent them.
I a room mom for both boys classes.  I made "grinch" kabobs

Melted Snowman water


Connor with some of his classmates
They had a snowball fight on the playground: flour tied up in kleenex



Connor with his friend, Madilyn (or maybe it's her identical twin sister, Morgan?!?) The girls and my boys are good friends and their momma and I are very close friends; my closest friend here. We hang out all the time. Sadly, they just found out they are moving 4 hours away.  I am SOOOO sad!!! :(
Reid, Kolby (our neighbor and the boys best friend) Connor
Showing off the new scooters Uncle Cannon gave them
Our elf on the shelf was taking a relaxing bubble bath!

We made reindoor food as an activity for the classroom Christmas parties
We also did the "snowball/donut" activity.  I let Drew eat a snowflake!
Excitedly showing off the remote control car Ross and Vicki sent him.  



He who shops with me, gets Starbucks hot chocolate!

Fun at the park
What a life.  Laid back, drinking hot chocolate, watching a Christmas movie.