Ring in the New Year

We had a great visit with Kirk's parents to finish off the Christmas celebration and ring in the New Year. They were very kind to take care of Sarah one day so Kirk and I could hit the slopes for the first time in a very long time. That was an awesome day! It started out with a stop at Durango Joe's as soon as we rolled into Durango for a very yummy breakfast burrito and coffee. Once we arrived at the resort, it was blue bird conditions with an abundance of sunshine. Neither Kirk nor I skied Durango Mtn Resort (aka Pugatory) until now and we had a blast. We made an attempt to cover the entire mountain by 3pm. It's nice to be back in Colorado enjoying the wonderful mountains like the good ol'days.

Sarah with Gaga and Papa.

Papa in the fort playing with Sarah's laptop and having a great time.Durango Mountain Resort

New Years Eve was nice and relaxing. The day started with the crew making our way to the Riverwalk to feed the ducks. We took a bag of popcorn but that ended up not being enough for the crowd of ducks and geese in the area. It was another blue bird day with lots of sun...we just can't get enough of the sun. We celebrated that night by playing a game of cribbage once Sarah was in bed while enjoying wine and pie. We watched the ball drop in NYC live at 10pm MST on CNBC and were in bed shortly after by 10:30pm. We were hoopin it up big time!

So, now it's back to 'normal' as the New Year starts. Saying goodbye to the holiday treats, drinks and general laid back attitude will be hard. We have great hopes for the New Year including the slight chance I can finally start work if we are lucky enough to get a day care spot. We look forward to more skiing along with camping, fishing, hiking and other adventures the New Year holds. We wish everyone the best as well.

Happy New Year!

New Year...New Look

What does a person do on New Years Day but update their blog page? Thanks to the Gage Family blog for the idea.

Merry Christmas - Part I

Merry Christmas 2008!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Christmas Eve wasn't as we initially planned starting with not one single person at Durango Mtn Resort having information about Santa's visit...good thing we called in advance before piling into the car for the drive. They claim there was a misprint in a few publications. That was a bit disappointing but we hope to see St Nick in person next year. So it was status quo...Kirk worked and Sarah/I went to the gym.

We woke up Christmas morning to beautiful white, peaceful snow! It was great and I have to admit I was giddy. Kirk and I are convinced the big guy upstairs is taking it easy on us our first year away from Alaska. We snuggled in our bed with Sarah for a bit after she woke up and I pulled her out of her crib. But soon after she declared "eats", which means it was time to feed the child, we made our way to the kitchen. After breakfast we convinced Sarah to follow us to the living room to see what "Santa had left for her". She was skeptic at first and a bit overwhelmed once she realized what was going on...where did all of these new toys come from? But soon, she was having a great time in her new kitchen and playing with her zoo animals. Uncle Andy and Aunt Laurie gave Sarah a Fisher Price Little People Doll House which was a great hit along with the frog Grandma Ann made for her. Kirk and I sat back to enjoy the wonders of Christmas through our daughter's eyes. What a true blessing.

Part II of the celebration will hopefully continue tomorrow when Kirk's parents arrive. The snow storm that hit us in Farmington also did a number on the San Juan mountains including Telluride and Durango. So road conditions aren't the best between Delta, CO and Farmington. We hope the weather will allow Kirk to fly the Cessna tomorrow to pick his folks up and bring them back here to finish off the Christmas celebration and ring in the New Year.

The scene after Santa left the house Christmas Eve.

Molly Moose! She came from the Build-A-Bear shop in Chandler, AZ. We felt Molly was the perfect name. Molly is a must have in the crib for naps and bedtime now.

Playing with the zoo animals.

Wow! The kitchen oven, microwave and stone top all make sounds plus have buttons!

Having a blast with the doll house in her chef outfit.

Enjoying her candy cane and digging for more treats in the stocking.

After opening and playing for a bit, it was time for a snack. Her new frog was the lucky one who got to share snack.

We hope everyone had a great holiday!

December

Since we are nearing Christmas already, I thought I'd post a few pictures from the month of December. We are all doing well and look forward to enjoy the holidays with Kirk's family here in Farmington. We plan to visit Santa at the top of the mountain at the Durango Mtn Resort (aka Purgatory) on Christmas Eve.

Happy Holidays!

Sarah in her big girl ballet shoes and her laptop.

Sarah has graduated to the big girl tub and loves it. She loves to paint especially with the brush. We had snow last weekend and early this week which was great! We loved the white stuff but are now back to sun with no snow.We were getting antsy yesterday in the house because the weather wasn't the best for outside play. So we used two chairs, the love seat and a sheet to build a fort in the front room. Good times for all!

Smart little bugger!

The other night after dinner, Kirk and Sarah were together while I was out for some mommy time at the pool. Kirk has a slight cookie addiction problem which is exaggerated during the holidays. They were playing in Sarah's room when she became distracted by a toy. Kirk thought it was a great opportunity to slip out, run to the kitchen for a quick gulp of a cookie and return quickly back to her room. He laid down next to her on the floor and she climbed on top of him to start another daddy-Sarah wrestling match when he had been caught! She took a quick sniff of his breath and exclaimed "COOKIE!". She is a smart little bugger. Daddy had been caught red handed. Now what do you do? It's right before bedtime and she is a cookie monster in training. Kirk did well with his diversion tactics but learned his lesson. Don't think for one minute that you can fool a 20 month old when it comes to cookies. Happy Holidays!

Oldies but Goodies

I came across a few oldies but goodies in our picture files. I thought I would share life in Alaska and some pictures from our travels before sweet Sarah arrived. Enjoy. Click this link.

Holiday Spirit Pictures

Family picture at the Riverwalk holiday celebration. Sarah not too sure about the baby sheep. Modeling her new snow bibs.

New snow outfit post Riverwalk celebration with her glow in the dark light sticks.

Being silly.