Cana Dinner 2011

This past weekend, Jon and I attended the Cana Dinner for Church. We have been on the committee to plan the Cana Dinner now for 9 months and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time. For one, it has given us the opportunity to get away together which we clearly do not do often enough, it has helped us to make connections and new friends at our church which we joined in August of 2009, and last, it has made us both feel proud about the success that this dinner was this year to help married couples engage in repeating their vows and focusing on putting their marriages and spouses first.
We invited some of our favorite friends to join us that evening and it was such a special and fun evening to spend with friends and each other. The couple friends that we did invite all raved to me what a great time they had and they also commented that repeating their vows with their spouses brought tears to their eyes and warmth to their hearts. It think they all vowed to come back again next year.
Jon and I were so pleased that everyone enjoyed the fun night and we are proud to be a part of the committee that helped plan this awesome evening.
"God please continue to watch over Jon and I and our marriage, please help us to understand one another and show our love to be good examples to our children, family, and friends" Amen!

Steamboat Springs Vacation 2011

Monday night we returned home from a fabulous vacation to Steamboat Springs.  We headed to CO last Thursday with Uncle T and we met up with Grandma and Grandpa A for a fun ski vacation.
Jon and I had not been skiing for 11 years. The trio had never been skiing. We were so excited to enroll them into Ski School so they could have help learning how to ski from the professionals. We were so pleased with the Steamboat Springs Ski School.They are very well organized and truly have the method for teaching kids how to ski down to a science. Our kids were lucky enough to have Matt teach them how to ski. We were blessed that Matt was there instructor for all three days of ski school and the kids when from a level 0 (never skied before) to a level 3 in just 3 days. Matt was "fun" and the kids adored him. The first day when we picked them up from Ski School, they announced that their ski instructor was in the olympics. I laughed or course at this especially when they followed that up with his name is Shaun White! LOL! We sure gave "shaun White" some grief the next day! We were lucky enough to spend the last half of the last day skiing with them and Jon and I could not be more proud or impressed with how much they learned in just 3 short days.
It was truly a glorious time. The sun was out everyday and the temps were in the 30's. We truly lucked out on the weather as the day we left there is was snow storming and everyday since it has been below zero for the temps. The sun shining and 30 degress is such awesome weather for skiing.
We also had a fun time hanging out with Uncle T and Grandma and Grandpa. The house we rented was a ski in and out of place and we had some truly amazing views from the unit. It was the perfect set up and to be honest we ordered food in most nights as it was easier and more relaxing than going out to eat. Once night we had a steak dinner that was to die for! We saw three glorious sunsets and Jon was able to capture some fun and clear pictures with his new camera.

We have vowed to go back and do that same vacation again possibly even next year. As we were packing up our bags to come home on Monday morning, K asked Jon if we could get him some skis when we got home. We have promised to take the kids skiing yet this winter season. It feels great to be back into the skiing world.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Ski School Graduates

Wordless Wednesday ~ Racing Grandparents

Santa Was Ahead of Schedule

This past Christmas Eve, were all very surprised when Santa showed up at Grandma Mary's house.  He claimed that he was running ahead of schedule and had time to stop in and visit A, E, and K. 

They were thrilled with his arrival and even more happy when he had some gifts for them.

They were all star struck and watched Santa's every move while he was visiting. 

They huddled around him and asked him many questions about himself like what is favorite color is, What is his favorite cookie, Does he nap. 

They talked to him about Sparkle our Elf on a shelf and they requested that Sparkle get to come back to our house next year. 

It was delightful to see the wonder and excitement in their eyes.  They really felt special that Santa decided to stop and see them on Christmas Eve. 

Sadly, all good things have to come to an end at some point so we had to say good bye so Santa could get back to delivering all the gifts. 

They watched out the window to see if they could spot the sleigh.  K thought he could see a red glow in the sky but they never did see that sleigh fly away.

They were thrilled with their new pillow pets that they wanted so bad.  It was really a special night.  Thank you Santa for making our kids feel so special. 

Some Good Fun with the Neighbors

Some of our Friends/neighbors invited the Erickson 5 to go to the local mall for some rides and fun on Saturday. We had a very adventures time at the amusement park having the kids go on some new rides that they are now tall enough for. They LOVED it and I think I rode the roller coaster at least a dozen times yesterday. 

It is so fun to watch the excitement on the kids faces and how proud they are of themselves when they are brave enough to go on a new ride that may seem a little scary at the time.

It was a delightful afternoon and evening hanging out with some fun friends and making some awesome memories.   

Wordless Wednesday ~ Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Sledding Fun

Yesterday afternoon, Jon and I took the kids out sledding.  Sadly this is the first time this season we got sledding. We had a BLAST!  The kids tried out their new Ski Helmets that they got for Christmas in preparation for our upcoming downhill ski trip.  The good news is that they LOVED them and did not complain at all about having to wear the new helmets. 

Jon spent most of the time using his new camera to catch some fun shots.  I have to admit that he really did get some great shots and the camera works awesome. 

K was the brave one going down the hill head first and backwards and LOVING it.  Our friends the Bolands joined us for some of the sledding fun and E and their little girl M would go down the hill and laugh and laugh and laugh when they got done.

A was a little more timid and spent some time at the bottom hanging out with Jon.  I smile at her because that is exactly how I was when I was a little girl.  She did manage to get down the hill a few times though and she really enjoyed it. 

After our big sledding event, we came back to our house for some fun with our Triplet Family friends.  It was a post holiday party and we had some great food and conversation. Such fun people to hang out with and truly know the road we have been down with our kids. 
Overall, it was a truly great day and so much fun to hang out with the kids and enjoy sledding with them. 

We look forward to more sledding in the near future. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Balance Beam Pros

Weekend with Gran and Gramps

The Girls Performing

The Girls Biggest Fan

This past weekend, we had the joy of hosting Grandma and Grandpa Erickson.  We were all thrilled they could come because we had not seen them for 3 months.  It was a weekend full of activity as Jon dived into painting Little Ms. E bedroom and Grandma Carol and myself along with E picked out new fabric for her window seat and valance.  Needless to say, the room is complete and it turned out great.  Next, we will move onto Lil Ms A's bedroom.

The Biggest Fan Snacking on Ice Cream!

Friday night, Jon and I had a meeting at church so the kids stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa and watched the movie Annie.  They loved it and they keep asking me to sing that song again...The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there will be sun.....Ha!  

Love this pic of the girls

The girls had another dance performance this past weekend. They LOVE to dance and it was a fun event.  K on the other hand was less than thrilled he had to go and "watch" another performance but I assured him that soon enough we would all be going to watch him play basketball.  So fun to have all these activities for the kids.

Warming Up!

The Girls All Smiles

Sunday night Jon's Aunt and Uncle invited all of us over for dinner.  It was so nice of them to host us and feed all of us.
Sadly today, Grandma and Grandpa headed back home but we have plans to see them again soon.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Hog Pile

Happy New Years 2011

Wordless Wednesday ~ We Believe