ode to 2016!

Somehow I missed last year's awards and I didn't even realize it until I logged on this afternoon. It seems I am making up for that by having more awards than ever this year - 22 total! Eek! Yes, I couldn't help myself. There really was too many moments this past year that made me laugh until I cried ... either because it was truly funny or I know my kids will be annoyed with their award choices! 

I present you with many of our memorable moments of 2016... I can't wait to see what I will be laughing over next year!

 Least likely to photo bomb with hilarious face and body gestures ... 

 wait for it...

 wait for it...

 are you catching it yet?

... to Alyssa! And to think I thought I was photographing Jaiden being a goof ball!

Most likely to annoy everyone but Mom ...

... to Jaiden and his nose flute performances!

Most likely to break a leg, an ankle or someone else's toes ...

... to Alyssa and stiletto heels!

Most likely to try to convince Mom running is fun ...

... to Jaiden for completing the Title Nine Mother's day 9k, Hemophilia Walk 5k, Turkey Trot 10k and Colder Bolder 5k with me... okay wait, not exactly finish with me but run them and not run them together at the same pace so technically just running the same race! He completed several others on his own at remarkable times!

Most likely to cure cancer or blow something up ...

... to Alyssa!

Least expected to have interest in interior design and design a game room for a dollhouse ...

... to Jaiden caught playing with Alyssa! 

When asked what they were doing? He enthusiastically said he was designing a game room for her dolls!

Most likely to get injured before the start of a 10k ...

... to Alyssa! 

Photos were taken after the Bolder Boulder 10k! She still managed to walk the entire 10k although it was a very long 10k!

Most likely to get swallowed up by a musical instrument ... 

... to Jaiden and his tuba! His band teacher keeps telling me he will grow but it's highly questionable if we will ever get to see more than an eyeball peeking out when he's playing!

Least expected to want to be terrorized in the corn ...

... to Alyssa who really did get terrorized and decided it wasn't that fun!

Most likely to jump off anything while skiing ...

... to Jaiden!

And still the most likely to attend Hogwarts...

... to Alyssa! 

I think she has received this award multiple years in a row - she just loves the Harry Potter series!

Best and most ridiculous fashion statement ... 

... to Jaiden and his neon socks, hoodies, shirts, shorts, and even sometimes shoes - all neon and rarely the same matching neon color!

Most likely to have a comb over ...

... to Alyssa and her "Justin Bieber" hairstyle!

Most likely to talk to a Bear in tennis shoes ...

... to Jaiden and this hilarious impromptu photo opp!

To the cutest Nerd I have ever seen ...

... to Alyssa and her "Nerd day" outfit... seriously too cute!

Most likely to send an inappropriate photo text to Aunt Cyndi...

... to Jaiden and his numerous "found" reminders of Aunt Cyndi, who recently informed us that these photos really should go to Uncle Greg!

Most likely to serve questionable food ...

... to Alyssa!

To the one who continues to jump off everything and declare it's "parkour, Dad!" ...

 

... to Jaiden!

Most likely to turn into a fish, dolphin or mermaid ...

... to Alyssa and her year long swim team performances!

Most likely to pout in beautiful scenery and be caught on film ...

... to Jaiden with the biggest lower lip ever!

Most likely to ski off a cliff and persuade Mom to follow ...

#steepest chute ever! 

... to Jaiden who skied it beautifully and to mom who made it down without breaking any bones! 

But the ultimate award this year... goes to the person you do not want to meet in a dark alley or challenge to a nerf gun war goes to ... 

drum roll...

Alyssa!

Happy New Year ... and Hello 2017! 

May this year be filled with laughter, lots of skiing, camping, hiking, random adventures and no broken bones!

piles of books...

There are times when I truly don't want to forget the cute things the kids say or do. Tonight was one of those times. 

Earlier in the day, I went past Alyssa's room and she had literally pulled out every book in her bookcase and for a girl who loves books, let's just say there was a slew of books everywhere on the floor in her room. She said she was sorting and here was a pile of books that were for "kids" and she didn't need them anymore. So I took them away because apparently, there are no kids in this house!

Yet, it was tonight when I went in to tuck her in and kiss her good night that she said the cutest thing. As I walked out of the room, I noticed all the books had been picked up and another small pile of books were set aside so I asked if these were more "kid" books she didn't need.

A: Yes, I don't need those ones either. I sorted my books, Mom.

M: Good job, it looks nice! 

A: I sorted them in categories of True, Maybe True and Not True.

And then she showed me which ones were True, Maybe True and Not True, and how tomorrow, she'd like to borrow the labeler and label the shelves.  It was hard for me to not start laughing... she is just so darn cute and yet, she has no idea how cute!

merry + bright

Merry Christmas Eve! 

It's been awhile since I posted and I will need to catch up from October to yesterday but I'll save that for another day. In the meantime, Christmas Eve was lovely! We started the day with finally visiting Santa. It is ridiculous how busy our weekends were this December but particularly because this special Santa and Mrs. Claus are only available on Saturday's from 11 am - 2 pm, and ideally you want to get there early to line up so today was the day we made it happen!

 Sadly, our favorite sushi restaurant was interested in staying open on Christmas eve so we picked up a variety of yummy sushi at Whole Foods and had lunch at home instead. I am not sure if that really was cheaper or not!

The afternoon was nice and mellow. Sophie came over for a few hours and she, Alyssa and I created this amazing Santa and reinbeer scene ... yes, reinbeer! I will have to upload that photo later. We went to the 5:30 pm service this year instead of our usual 4 pm service and I have to say I loved it. It was as crowded and we sat in the main chapel ... next year the kids want to try the 11 pm service! And then it was home for a light dinner and watching more Christmas shows like Charlie Brown and Frosty the Snowman.

I played a little with my camera but I am really too tired to try to photoshop something cool on it so I will just say ... 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

acolyte, acolyting?

I can't remember if I have shared this but this Fall, I had Jaiden start confirmation classes. We were a year late in starting but that is another story for another time. The point is he started confirmation and with the role of being a confirmation student comes the role of serving as an Acolyte!

This was Jaiden's first turn to acolyte (can I use that as a verb?). Luckily he was paired with a favorite 9th grader and daughter of my friend, Katie, so I knew she would help him through the steps. Dennis took Jaiden over to the albs room and while in there, Dennis took these first 2 photos...

 Trying to learn and figure out how the knot works with the girdle or rope like belt worn with the alb. You can see Katie's hands to the right trying to show Jaiden.

 Next up was learning how the candle light works. He was clearly intrigued by this!

and you can barely see him but he's up there sitting on the bench near the altar! 

He wasn't too thrilled about this new role, but in the end, he did great! I told him it's good for him and I am pretty certain he doesn't think so.

colder boulder, patents and trademarks?

Hello December! 

In year's past, I always followed along to Ali Edward's December Daily project and dreamed of creating my own. Only one year did I actually succeed in putting an entire album together centered around December... but it remains unfinished missing the journaling and the final Christmas Day photos. I have tried to photograph and post something daily here on the blog and even that hasn't always panned out. December, you are a busy month! I love sharing these moments with the kids but this year, I am going to try to focus on documenting my most memorable moments with the kids. 

Today was one of those favorites. This is part of the series where Jaiden has somehow persuaded me to take up running, and we signed up for the Colder Bolder 5K a couple of months ago. A 5K sounds fairly reasonable compared to the earlier 10K but I still had butterflies wondering if I really could finish.

Here we are near the start line... 

And again, just before we lined up...

Of course, we lined up in our respective mile per hour... that meant for Jaiden, he lined up in the 7 min to 7 1/2 min mile group, while I went a little further back and put myself with the 11 1/2 min to 12 min mile group. 

and here he is on the trail... photo was complimentary from Colder Bolder race!

While we ran, these 2 set out on their own adventure to a Girl Scout event that was located at the Rocky Mountain Regional Office of the US Patent and Trademark Office! 

She is so stinkin' cute and I know she hates when I say that but I just love her energy and excitement. She and Dennis had a really good time. There was a presentation that engaged the girls about property rights and then it was followed by a small expo fair setting where they got to to try out various products that had patents or trademarks. At one point, she told one of the lawyers she wanted to invent a flying car and she was disappointed to discover there was a pending patent for that already!

Then they went to lunch at "a very fancy restaurant" and sat in bed/booth at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Alyssa was just enthralled over the place and can't wait to take us all back there!

So we begin December on the go, (which seems to be the theme every month now!) already filling it with fun new December traditions!