Sledding with Friends

The kids had Monday off school because of Martin Luther King day. I am so thankful that I have the flexibility of owning my own buisness so when these no school days come up I'm not scrambling where they will go. We relaxed most of the morning, well I slept in so that is the ultimate relaxation for me! Then our friends the Peichels called to see if we wanted to go sledding at a hill close to them. Sure! Given the past week's fridged temps tho I had to ask what the weather was like outside and to my suprise it was a beautiful day 20 degrees, no wind and sunny. Perfect!

So we threw the sleds in the back of the van and took one look at Bronson's sad eyes and told him he could come too. He loves to play with Hershey's plus maybe he'll get wore out. Once we got to the our friends Joe started up the 4 wheeler and proceeded to haul the kids to the hill. The picture above is where Joe (and I'm sure the kids assisted) creatively strung 3 sleds together for the ride. The hill we go to is just across the dirt road from Kim's farm and once you get on top the view is spectactular panoramic.

Kate went down once and decided that speed is just not for her and she commenced to playing in the snow. Kate is our loud and adventurous child but suprisingly she's does not like speed or fast motion. Emma went down the hill a few times but then complained her hands were cold..well those knit gloves don't do much. Overall we had a great time and glad we got to enjoy the winter activity with friends. Bronson did get wore out.. he and Hershey's were trying to find rodants in the snow.. Hershey's actually found and snacked on two!

Basketball Tournament

Saturday Emma had a basketball tourney. Her team won 4th place out of 8 teams. They won their first game and lost the next two. I can definately see improvements in all the players with increased confidence and better understanding of the game. Her first game was at 8:30am and we were back home around 4:30pm.. so a long day of basketball. Emma did well, she stole the ball several times while playing defence and had a couple of attempts at making a basket.

I had fun playing with the settings on my new camera to find the right settings. I'm also so happy with how new camera is performing as I can really push the settings to get the fast action shots. Darin and I did some research on best settings and I think we've figured it out. They say basketball photography is one of the hardest because of the low light and fast action. One of my favorite pictures is of Emma at the end of the last game and they knew they were going to loose.. She looks dissappointed and very tired. If a picture says a 1000 words!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

We welcomed the New Year in our with our annual get together with our dear friends the Peichel Family. This year we also invited Grandma and Grandpa Nichols to come join in on the festivities. I think Grandma was reluctant in coming but once they saw how fun we are they were glad they joined us. We opted out of the fireworks this year because it had been blow zero degrees outside and we couldn't find the fireworks in the stores (odd). The kids immediately melded into entertaining themselves. And the adults prepared dinner, chatted and just had a good time. After opening gifts the kids settled down for a the movie Kung Fu Panda which was entirely enjoyed by all. The adults played the annual poker game. This year there was an upset on Kim's championship tho.. Grandpa Nichols was the big winner even tho he had a few tricks up his sleeve and liked to tease poor Grandma (shocking I know). After officially welcoming in the new Year we headed off to bed with our critters. Morning came early tho, I think I heard Chip up and talking in Katelyn's room at 4:30 in the morning! But I rolled over dismissing it entirely. ha For breakfast Kim made this fabulous oven bake pancake and bacon. I need to get the recipe from her!


Then it was off to Powder Ridge in Kimball, MN for some downhill skiing. This time Grandma Nichols and myself actually went skiing instead of talking it up about how fun it would be and then residing to the comforts of the chalet. We had a great time! Grandma hurt her knee and quit a tad early. But she kept saying what a fun day and she was glad she was convinced to come to our festivities. Katelyn wanted to stay on the bunny hill all day but Darin convinced her to try the bigger hills and take the chair lift to the top. She was glad she did.. and that she held out for the donut bribe from Darin! Darin got a harness for her and was able to let her ski much more independently without breaking his back.

What a perfect way to bring in the New Year with Family and Friends. I hope the year is a great one!