Last Weekend

We had a great time last weekend. We went up and stayed at the condo in Midway with my family. (Thanks Bill and Marsha for letting us use the condo :) We went skiing on Friday (thanks Ben for getting us tickets and thanks Mom for babysitting) with Heather, Ben and Christina, Bret and I. We hadn't been skiing since Bret and I were engaged so it was a lot of fun to go again. I remembered how much fun skiing is, but my legs were burning! I need to be in better shape next time we go. We took our camera but it was really wet and snowy so we didn't take it out for pictures. The kids had fun playing at the condo with their cousins and having Grandma babysit. On Sat we had a birthday party for my niece Susie. We played games at the condo club house and then they had a pinata for the kids.

Maddie loved playing air hockey

I had to include this picture because I see this face on Maddie at least 10 times a day and when I do I know she isn't happy with me.

Castles

One of our favorite sites to visit when we lived in France were castles. We have been wanting to print some of the pictures we took to put on our wall for a long time and over the holidays we finally did.

It was Bret's idea to do them in Black and White and I think it looks really cool with the frames. Here are the pictures up close that we printed.

Vianden Castle - Luxembourg


Versailles - France


Sion Castle - Switzerland


Nyon Castle - Switzerland


Neuschwanstein - Germany


Malbrouck Castle - France


Chateau d'If - France


Haut-Koeingsburg - France


Cochem Castle - Germany


Chillon Castle - Switzerland


Chenonceau Castle - France


Chambord Castle - France


Berg Eltz - Germany


Vaux Castle - France


Beaufort Castle - Luxembourg

Magnificent Max

Max is so much fun. He is always doing things that surprise us. Last night, I tucked Max into bed. He was laying on his pillow and under his blankets and then later that night when I went to check on him he was fast asleep in his tent on his bed! I decided to leave him be and this morning when I went in to wake him up, I snapped some pictures. He calls it his tent/bed.



This afternoon Max was playing on the computer. Bret noticed that he was typing and said, "Laura, you have to see this!" So I went and looked and Max was typing a letter to the babies from "Go Baby." I was pretty amazed at what he had typed all by himself. (Notice his hand are in the "home" position on the keyboard!)



He went on to finish after I took the picture. It says. Hi my name is Maxwell. I love to play with you I am 5 in A half years old. Baby your sisters name is Sophie. I tried to explain to him that you say 5 and a half years old but he said, "I say 5 in a half."

A New Year

Well things are starting to settle down again. Bret is back to work and Max is back to school. There are a few things that have changed with the new year. Bret and have both received new church callings. Our bishop moved away and so we got a new bishopric, Bret was released and called as the Young Men's president. He is really excited about being able to work with the boys in our ward. I was released from primary and called as the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society..... I know, I know many of you are thinking, Laura in Relief Society.... what? That was my first reaction as well only because I think I have been to Relief Society only a few months of the 8 years we have been married. Well so far so good, I am learning a lot and I am really enjoying it.

I also wanted to post a couple funny pics of the kids. Max's favorite thing to do is get all the pillows and blankets he can gather and put them on the couch. The other day Maddie was watching TV and Max started piling blankets and pillows on her. She just sat there and let him pile them on. Here is the end result.

The Holidays

It has been awhile since my last post. I was enjoying being spending the holidays with my family. Bret had 10 days off work and it was so nice to have "family time."

We kicked off the season with in Manti where we spent the weekend before Christmas with all my siblings and their families, my Mom and Grandma. On Saturday the kids had a great time sledding. Uncle Andy pulled the kids behind the four wheeler.



And then Maddie pulled her Daddy on the sled. I couldn't believe how well she could pull him.


We also went bowling, which was a lot of fun. Max and Maddie both love bowling but Maddie through a many fits because her turn didn't come around soon enough. She wanted to bowl the entire time. I guess taking turns is not a fun concept for a 2 year old.




On Sunday we had a Christmas party and had our traditional Nativity play. Max played Joseph, Maddie was a beautiful angel and I was a reluctant wise man.





Christmas Eve we went to Bret's parents house for dinner and had a great time. Christmas was a wonderful day for us. We were so grateful to be in our own house this year. We spend the day opening presents and watching the kids play with their new toys. Bret was very excited about his new down sleeping bag that I (with a lot of help from my brother Ben) got him as a surprise.






The weekend after Christmas we went up to Bret's parents condo and had fun playing games and visiting with them. Max and Maddie had fun in the bubble bath.


The 29th we celebrated our anniversary. It has been 8 wonderful years. I am so grateful for Bret, he is the best husband and father in the world.

I hope that you all had a great holiday season and I wish you a Happy New Year!