Snow in the Mountains

I am not a big fan of the word 'busy,' as an excuse or an explanation of how you are doing.  It seems like people are always frazzled when they are 'busy.'  I prefer to think of my life as 'full'.  Full of things that our family has decided to place an emphasis on and full of people that I love.  I have really been trying not to over-commit myself or the family so that we can enjoy our lives and not feel so 'busy.'  So, with that said, I was not too 'busy' last week, but we did have a lot going on and the blog fell by the way-side for a week.  However, it was a full week and so I do have a lot of pictures to share.  This post will be about last week and I will upload another post in a day or so with pictures of this week.

For the adult birthday presents this year, my mom & step-dad decided to give us all a weekend in the mountains.  It snowed early in January and was still there when we went a week and a half ago.  The snow was not soft enough for snowmen (much to Katelyn's disappointment), but it was great for sledding.  The cabin we stayed at has a large hill perfect for sledding right next to it, so we never even had to drive anywhere.  The girls all LOVED the sledding (yes, even Madison)!  And they even got the hang of putting on all their snow gear, which I was dreading.  Thanks Laura, for some of the pictures below :-).

Brooklyn on one of her first sled runs the afternoon we got there.

Walking back up the hill.

B sledding with Grandma.

They loved going with Daddy all the way from the top and then catching air over the bump.  That might be why one of the sleds didn't make it home. . . .

Katelyn & Brooklyn on the sled.

Fun with Micah & Auntie

Hot Chocolate in the Cabin with Micah.

The whole group

Saturday afternoon we walked to the lake that had iced over portions of it.  I didn't even know it could do that in Southern California.

We drove up on Friday afternoon as Kyle was able to work from home and get off a little early.  Then we headed home after dinner on Sunday evening.  A great weekend!

Ever month in Kindergarten, there is a themed day.  For January that day was Penguin day, and it was last Thursday.  The parents are invited to come and help out.  This was the first one that I was able to go to.  Katelyn was SOOOO excited that I was able to be there and her sisters were glad to spend some time with Grandma.  They walked around to each kindergarten classroom (there are 4) and did one activity or craft in each room.  I also was able to go to music class to see my aunt teach Katelyn's class.

Reading Tacky the Penguin.

(Katelyn is in the middle of the picture in the blue shirt with the ponytail.)

Katelyn made this penguin in one of the stations, but when she got home she wanted to create a backdrop for it.

The week was also full of unpacking and laundry when we got home from our trip. ;-)