'Tis the season..........to sled!!!

Ever since we had our first snow, we've wanted to go sledding. Spencer got a sled from Oma and Opa for his birthday, but it's been bitterly cold for the last few weeks. I'm talking not even above zero cold, so today when we woke up to fresh snow and temps above 30 degrees, I got the kids dressed and went to the nearest sled hill. Spencer giving David and Sydney a push.

Getting ready to go down "superman style"

Spencer caught some air on a man-made sled jump he found.

We had so much fun today! This week David has finals- he spent all day studying yesterday, so I was glad he took some time off to come play today! The kids loved it and I'm sure we will have many more sledding adventures to come.

We leave for Wyoming this weekend....after a stop in Billings to pick up Elder Preator from the airport!! We're looking forward to some serious family time, volleyball, and good food!

Dear Santa....

Der Santa,

I wot jamprp, frogs, and tods.

I luv you.

SpencerSorry for the poor picture quality-- it was taken with my cell phone.

Translation: The boy wants a jump rope (apparently the one he has doesn't work very well), frogs and toads. He will be writing a revision letter this week to include a Transformer set (the very one that was on sale on Black Friday...what a coincidence!)

Birthday girl!!

Our sweet little girl turned 2 today! She was born in Brandon, Florida. We moved to the Tampa area in October of 2007 and she came a few months after that. Sydney has always had an independent nature. She can entertain herself for quite awhile, but she also loves to cuddle, hug and give kisses. She loves having someone read her books-- her favorites: Wake Up, Goodnight Moon, and Dora & Boots. Sydney loves going to nursery and playing with the puzzles and toys. She brings so much joy to our family. We laugh at her antics everyday.

Here are a few pictures

Happy Birthday Sydney!

Feliz Navidad

We celebrated Christmas twice in Florida and both times we had an artificial tree. This year I was very excited at the prospect of going tree hunting in the mountains. The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally when we put ours up, but we got a little busy, so we went last weekend instead. We got some delicious hot chocolate and headed for the hills. Thankfully we have 4-wheel drive in the Expedition or our family would probably still be in the hills! There was so much snow and the Forest Service boundary where we could actually cut ourselves a tree was too high in the mountains for us to drive safely. So, we abandoned the idea and after looking at Ace Hardware and the mall tree stands, ($$$$$) we pulled the old reliable artificial tree out of storage. It still looks good, it just doesn't smell as nice.










I love having the glow of Christmas lights in our home. It makes it feel warm and cozy! Our temperatures have been waaaay below zero this week (as low as -35)so we'll take all the warm we can get!!

Chocolate & Caramel Heaven.....

I stumbled upon this recipe a few weeks ago and it has become my new holiday favorite! It's very simple and inexpensive to make....and of course it has chocolate AND caramel in it!

Chocolate Chex Caramel Crunch

Ingredients:

8 cups chocolate Chex cereal

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

6 TBS butter

3 TBS light corn syrup

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Directions: Into large microwavable bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

Line cookie sheet with waxed paper.

In 2 cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup uncovered on High 1 -2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute until melted and smooth.

Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Pour over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on High 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Spread on cookie sheet. Cool for 10 minutes, then break apart into bite-sized pieces.

In small bowl, microwave chips on high for about 1 min. 30 seconds until smooth. Drizzle over chex and refrigerate until set. ENJOY!

An update...

Spencer had a great birthday party. He had both sets of grandparents here and his cousin Blake came too. It was a quick little party with good food and even better cake. He chose a Monsters vs Aliens cake...one of his favorite movies. The first thing he said to me after he picked out his cake was, "I'm going to stick my face in it".

He did.

Spencer & Blake

Spencer, Lynn & Mary (David's mom and dad)

Spencer, Carrie & Adrian (my parents)

The coolest tree frog balloon ever!

I can't believe he's already 5! I'm so glad I have a few more months to enjoy him here at home before he goes to kindergarten.

Here are a few random other pictures:

The kids have been playing "Puppy Dog" a lot recently. I decided to play along and fed them some puppy chow (Reeses Puffs) for breakfast.

Bozeman certainly does not have a shortage of snow! We've consumed more than our fair share of hot chocolate over the past few months! We STILL LOVE IT!

He really wishes he could ride his bike....

We took a quick trip to Yellowstone and got to see a lot of wildlife.

One of the benefits of being back in the mountains is that David got to go hunting this year. I can say that he spent every spare moment possible looking for the perfect elk and he found a very good looking 6 point. I really should have him do this post for the details, but I will have to do for now. With the help of his mom and dad, we have a freezer full of processed and very tasty elk steak and burger. I appreciate all the time and effort they put in to help us with this -- it was a lot of work for all of them! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Townsend, with a lot of good food and good company. School is going well for David, but I think he's ready for finals to come and be over so that he can have a few weeks off. We're looking forward to seeing Josh and the rest of the Preator gang in a few weeks and excited about a quiet Christmas at home.

So far we've avoided any swine-related illnesses (knock on wood!). We're looking forward to being able to resume our tradition of going to the mountains and getting a Christmas tree (a small one for our small apartment) this weekend. I've already got most of the shopping/wrapping done, so now I'm excited to just enjoy December!

Our Birthday Boy

5 years ago today we were surprised with the news that Spencer needed to be born. He was 2 weeks early and we were two shocked parents. I still remember driving home from the hospital in Rapid City with him in the back seat-- it was a very surreal moment! His visit home was short-lived as he had severe jaundice that required him to be re-admitted to the hospital for treatment. Doctors freaked us out by saying they had never seen a case as severe as his. He was hooked up to an IV and had to sleep in a special light bed. After a few days we were able to take him home again, and this time for good.

Spencer is a very happy boy and loves to make other people laugh. He loves frogs with a passion. He says he wants to be a frog scientist when he grows up and I think he will be. He loves riding his bike and playing the Wii-- especially MarioKart. His favorite food is sausage, biscuits and gravy and he loves to drink soda (whenever we will let him!) and eat gumballs.

Spencer adds so much joy to our family. Here are a few (okay...a LOT) of pictures of our adorable boy.

Spencer with his Opa

Spencer & Oma

Spencer with Grandma & Grandpa Preator

After his first Oreo!

Chasing the ducks in Rapid City

With his buddy Gus

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY SPENCER!!!