Nixon's 11th Birthday and Basketball is OVER

 Mason has caught the reading bug again lately, which means he is usually reading while eating his breakfast

Here he is with a game he made

We told Nixon that I would take him skiing at Schweitzer for his birthday. We surprised him by picking up his friend, Gus, on the way to join us

We had a really nice day with some blue skies at times

Other times it was cloudy

When we could see the views were amazing

View of the back side of the mountain

Look at the snow on those trees

Nixon had a bad crash into the circled bush and was stuck deep in the snow

We were stuck in a cloud for a while at this point

We had a lot of fun together

Those views

Lyza had her first school dance and felt like a million bucks in her beautiful dress. She had lots of fun with her friends.

Last weekend Henry got his first basket of the season

We were so proud of him

The next day was Nixon's birthday

He is an amazing boy. It was fast Sunday and he fasted and kept up a great attitude.

He opened some presents in the afternoon

He was rewarded for fasting with the best tasting bacon cheeseburger ever!

Kim and Lyza had a meeting right after dinner so we played some games while they were gone

Mason with his next hair style

Then it was time for a ginormous banana split

They were delicious

The next day the boys were all working on Lego

This boy has also been really into his book (The Wild Robot)

Nixon and Mason had a primary activity where they learned to whittle

Mason and I were matching one morning

On Friday Kim took the boys out for lunch at DQ

Henry, Mason, and Nixon each had their last games of the basketball season yesterday

This is the team picture I got with Henry's team (3 kids and an assistant coach were missing)

We all watched Nixon's game to cheer him on

Nixon's team had a pizza party after and he had a lot of fun

They played outside the restaurant after

It was so beautiful yesterday (around 13 degrees C) so we walked with Mason and Henry to the local drink stand to get some fun drinks with their money

We hope you enjoy the warmth and sunshine while it lasts

40th Birthday, Valentine's Day, and Our 17th Anniversary

 We have had many basketball practices and are seeing improvement for each of the boys

I woke up on my birthday to some fresh snow

I hit the big 4-0

The new snow (which we had been getting for several days) was very welcome because Kim took me skiing for my birthday

It was a beautiful day with lots of fresh powdery snow

The temperature was great but some warm chili for lunch was still welcome

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day of skiing

What an awesome gift!

Kim made a delicious German chocolate cake for me

She made me a delicious dinner of honey lime enchiladas and street corn salad

After basketball practices I got to open up some gifts

Got some great hugs

And then cake

Kim took the boys to the sledding hill the next day with some friends

They had lots of fun

The next day the boys had basketball games

Nixon got to go out for a burger after his game

Nixon had a primary activity this week where they learned how to decorate cupcakes (Mason had to miss it because he had a basketball practice)

We woke up on Valentine's Day to some very thoughtful love notes from Kim

Check out what Mason made for his valentines

Mason doesn't like to wear his coat...

Some yummy Valentine's dipped strawberries and pretzels

We had more games yesterday

Nixon had a very good game and was really aggressive and got his first two baskets of the season

Kim and I went out last night for our 17th wedding anniversary (which is actually today)

We had delicious food and a good time out together

We had to share our celebration with Lyza, who attended her first youth dance. It started out with fear and trembling but ended with exceeding joy

Katie (and others) were so kind to take her under their wings and help her feel comfortable and have a wonderful time. In fact, when Kim picked Lyza up she said this: "I can't believe I was scared to come here. It was SO much fun!"

When Lyza got home she was glowing and so happy. We are relieved she had such a great time.

I am not sure we knew what we were getting ourselves into 17 years ago when we decided to partner up for time and all eternity

But I am sure glad we did! Happy Anniversary, Kim

Have a great week!