The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love the holidays!  The thing I love the most is being able to spend time with my family.  This was a tough year for us, and very soon after my last post, my grandfather passed away.  We were very close, he was a wonderful man, and with everything going on.....I just couldn't bring myself to write a post that wasn't depressing.

We miss him dearly and think of him every day.  Though he isn't with us today, he is in our hearts. 

On a happy note.....we are in Snowbird!!  Finn & I flew in yesterday, and my parents & Grandma Marie drove from Sacramento to meet us here.  On Monday night Lauren & Chris arrive, & Tuesday morning Ben, Krista & James fly in!

We've been coming here since before I was born.  The Iron Blosam Lodge was one of the first timeshare properties in the world & the first timeshare development in a ski area.  My parents bought the unit in 1979 after coming to Snowbird on a spring break ski trip & attending a time share presentation.

I have so many amazing memories of this place.  We've been coming here almost every other year since 1979.  I learned to ski here when I was two years old, and my sisters both learned here when they were very young as well.  We started on Chickadee Hill & moved on to Big Emma, and then the more difficult runs.

As little kids, my grandparents, on both sides of the family, often came with us.  I vividly recall eating grilled cheese & soup at lunch time with my grandparents, while my parents were still out on the slopes.  We always took a lesson at least the first day or so we were here, in the mornings & then meet up & ski with my parents in the afternoons. 


We always do one night of dinner at The Steak Pit, one night at the Mexican Food restaurant, & Thanksgiving dinner at the Cliff Lodge.  The other nights of the week we stay in, have soups, lasagna or order pizza from the Snowbird Center.

If you know anything about our family, you know we love our traditions.  This year however, we are changing things up a bit.  Everyone was able to make it this year, and for the first time ever, we are going to be making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in our unit!  Grandma came with us to make sure we had our cornbread dressing, and my parents drove so that they could bring all the things we would need.  As our family grows, so do the wonderful memories. 

Here's to being with family, new traditions, and the many more adventures to come.  Happy Holidays!

Sleepy Sundays

Finn had an exhausting week having fun with GG & Gramps. Today, it finally caught up with him. He woke up hungry, as he normally does at 6:45am, but after some milk, cuddled up with mommy & daddy. Normally he would relax for no more than 15min or so, but this morning, he fell back asleep & didn't wake up until 9am!

What that meant, was mommy & daddy got an extra 2 hours of sleep as well. I feel like a new person! It's amazing what a little extra sleep will do.

Maybe Finn was really tired, or maybe he made a secret deal with daddy to sleep late, so he could stay up & watch the Bears game tonight.

When Ben & I got married over 2 years ago, we registered for a waffle maker. Like many of our wedding gifts, they were stored until we had a place with a bigger kitchen to use all of our fun household gifts. On October 17, 2009 we moved into our current place. We broke out almost all our wedding gifts & the waffle maker was one of the first ones we used. We've had a tradition ever since. Happy (almost) 2 year anniversary Waffle Sunday!!

Ben is the waffle maker & I make the sides. Sometimes eggs, sometimes potatoes, & lucky days like today, I'm just in charge of pulling out the syrup!

Today's special: Fresh blueberry waffles! Mmmm, Finn & Mommy's favorite!

Here's to homemade waffles, Football, BBQ, & Beer!

Happy Sunday everyone!

We're Going to Try This Again

I thought I would give blogging a try, but like I said before, being a mommy isn't easy. There are a million things I should be doing on any given day, but the only thing I want to do, is play with my little guy.
My little man, that isn't really that little anymore. He is still small, but getting smarter & doing more everyday. Finn's a little shrimp of a guy at only 17lbs and 28inches tall. We've been taking him back in to the doctor for monthly weight checks, but this kid refuses to grow. He eats like a pig, and is normal in every sense of the word. My thought is, that he just moves too much, and eats too healthy.

Finn's favorite snack is frozen peas & corn. He's been eating them since he started on solids, and he loves them frozen, I think because it feels good on his teething gums. The little guys eats a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, lean meats, and potatoes and rice. And still, he does not grow. I don't mind, as long as the doctor says he's healthy. I think it's adorable to see this sweet small boy of mine running around, just like I was at his age (I was only 15lbs).

Just a few fun facts about Finn:
*Finn has been on an airplane more than 5 times
*Finn has been on vacations to Solvang, Santa Barbara, Yreka, Seattle, Disneyland, Sacramento, & Palm Springs
*Finn says "bye bye", "Momma", "Dada", "Baby", & "Dog"
*Finn no longer crawls, but walks everywhere
*Finn likes to skype with family
*Finn loves to swim & likes playing at the beach
*Finn loves to give kisses
*Finn is the sweetest baby on earth (I'm biased of course)

So......I'm going to give this a try again. Hopefully it will last more than just 1 post. It's amazing how the world changes when baby bedtime is 7pm!