Winter Wonderland. Mountain BLISS.

On President's Day we decided to drive on back up to Winter Park.

They have a tubing hill that is fab-u-lous!

The kids could not wait to get on up and fly on down!

We love the drive to Winter Park....the mountains are amazing!

I love all the green pine! it is about one hour and half from our home.

(pic taken from the front seat of the burb! blurry :)

I love the sign in this pic:

CAUTION: ICY conditions! oh yeah.

The wind was a blowin so hard at the top of this hill.

and it was cold! 21 degrees.

(On Saturday w the girls, it was 45 degrees! bummer)

Mace was afraid of the deer head in the warming house.

It was hilarious.

Okay so here we go!

The kids were so excited to get tubing down the hill.

No FEAR at all! They couldn't wait!

(and after I took these pics the kids went to the far left to a steeper hill...this one wasn't fast enough!)


They all hooked up together.

I took a continuous pic of the them sliding down the hill!

And hey, I was going to go down the hill,

but Mace would have nothing of the cold!

WE sat in the car and ate treats and read the kindle.

I did get out and feel the sun! Here is proof!

and likey my shirt?

All the girls bought this shirt over the weekend:

it says LIVE and SKI.

Winter Park, co

super cute!

Goodbye Winter Park! A fabulous President's Day!

The kids loved this adventure...a new tradition for sure!

WE went to lunch afterwards and then drove back to town for Jake's soccer game! Team Dynamite undefeated for Jake's entire Fall and Spring season. Way to go!

Girls Weekend. Winter Park, CO

Girls Weekend:

Winter Park, Colorado. Nestled in the heart of the CO Mountains.

(the drive is beautiful!)

(I took this pic from the entrance lift)

We missed you Miss Mary. Well wishes to your family.

We loved our girl time:

and

LOVED Winter Park resort.

so fun to hang with the skiers,

shop the hillside,

eat at the Limon'.

drink hot cocoa in the sun,

go on beautiful morning walks (in p.j.s)

go to movies and relax,

shop at the Buckly for Spring clothes,

eat treats till our stomachs hurt! (yum Cadbury eggs!)

get pedicures and mani's,

eat out some more,

talk, chat and relate to one another.

I feel so lucky to have these girls.

and thanks to our hubbies who step up to the plate

and take on the kids.

We love u!

(an, YES, I cut my hair 4 inches and put in some low and highlights!)

Us girls came home Sunday for church and then on

Monday, RY and I decided to go back up to Winter Park

and take the kids tubing!

oh what a day!

You pay good money but the kids get a groomed, steep, (safe)

snow hill and then they get pulled back up~

I took some great pics..post them soon!

We are having so much fun discovering all of Colorado's little secrets!

(there are so many ski towns (like Park City) and old mining towns that still

run to this day..! lovin' it!)

Happy LOVE day 2011. My Six.

Happy Valentines.

candlelight dinner with my sweet six.

I love Valentines and I always try to do something for the entire family.

Once you are married, vday (I feel) is a celebration of love for the

kiddos just as much as your spouse!

And, it doesn't take much to pull it all off and

make the kids feel special.

Every year, we do a dinner and small gift for the kids.

They love it and I enjoy putting it all together.

As they get older, time is going by to fast.

Even more reason to put the effort in..

On Vday I knew I didn't have time to cook a full course candlelight meal...

(why is life so crazy?!)

but I couldn't stop traditions.

Those are what makes life so F U N. and the kids L O V E them.

Thus, I woke up at 6 a.m. and never stopped till almost midnight.

It was worth all the effort.

With Jake's soccer game at 5:00 (far away!) and

the twins basketball practices at 7, delivering valentines, cooking dinner for a friend,

taking all my valentines, hitting the mall, Target and the post office, school, bus stops, baking dinner, cleaning house and setting the Vday table... (and Ry working till 7!)

the day happened.

Valentines Day happened.

Yay.

I decorated the table for under $5 dollars!

candlelight..sets the fun mood!

menu: Baked Ziti, Artisan bread, french style green beans~

dessert: chocolate covered rice krispie treats and the twins (made):

caramel banana french vanilla bean ice cream.(a recipe from school cooking class!)

what a lovely evening.

I love spending time with my family.

my six.

just us.

priceless.

I put all these memories into my mind and never want to forget.

and as they get older I love love them so much.

blessed.

Happy Love Day 2011

and

p.s THANKS so much Grandma an Grandpa Stott!

We loved the surprise vday package in the mail!

You are the best!

Overall, our Vday was great!

I did burn half of Ashlyn's card to me with one of the candles (oops!)

and started a few rose petals on fire burning the table cloth!

but a great night, a moment with the kids....love it!

and p.s.s. I can't wait for this weekend:

Winter Park, CO getaway with the girls!

Leaving the hubbies and kids and heading up to the snow filled mountains

for some girl time!

shopping, lunches, hot chocolate by fire, skiing, and late night chats! yay

xo!

sisters.

I love these girls!

My sisters.

Brooke and Amber.

We are tight.

They are the best.

They called me up early Dec. and told me they booked a trip out to

see me early February! I was so excited

(and thrilled they would spend the $, get babysitters, organize schedules...to do so!!!)

I was born (along w/ my twin bro) right in the middle of them...

Amber is 16 months older than me and Brookie is 3 years younger.

(and please excuse my big hair :)

The girls rolled in Friday night at 5:30 and we were off!I took them to my favorite Mexican in Westminster...Ry and I LOVE this place..La Hacienda (not the same as Utah's)We ordered the slow roasted pork burrito with fire roasted jalapeno sauce! Oh divine.

They came for 3 nights and 3 days! I think we got no sleep...well maybe 5 hours a night. ( maybe 15 total?!) We talked and talked..I think it was 2 a.m. each night before we decided it was bedtime~it was fabulous!

The great thing about my sisters is what they do for my kids. The kiddos were ecstatic for their aunties to come visit.

My sisters treat Aus, Ash, Jake and Mace like their own.

It is so sweet....in the Brown family we love each others kids and try to be there for them in every way. My sisters wanted to spend a day with Ashlyn too. She came along for the (second time!) to La Hacienda. Then we went shopping at Macey's and got dessert!
I appreciate my sissa's so much..

We didn't go anywhere extravagant (Boulder. Pearl Street. Cheesecake Factory the farthest we ventured), we didn't have my pool to lay out in, but it didn't matter. Us girls could be happy anywhere, doing anything, as long as we are together. My sisters are such a gift to me!
we ate and ate and shopped and shopped, we went to movies, dinner, lunch...we worked out, ate choc. covered rice krispies, watched super bowl (half time :), we ate treats, we talked to the wee hours in the night...

and on Sunday they came to church with me! Fun to show my friends my sisters :)


The best part:

We bought sister pants we all share! Thanks Buckle! We bought sister boots too! Madden boots...the greatest price!

We had such a great time. I loved it. Sorry for the snow the first day, and the clouds in between. I wished for sun! I drove them to the airport and off they went Monday night...literally within minutes, a blizzard was a blowin! hard! I was so glad they made it out safely.

What a great weekend, it was fabulous! I am a lucky girl!

Thanks so much Brooke and Amber for venturing out to see ME!...till next time!

(and of course here was Tuesday's day...blue skies :)

and a big Happy Birthday to my sis, Amber!
love you!

Love Week

Love is in the air.

Is it not?

(Mace decorated his box w tape hearts:)

It is Vday week...the BEST!

I love the hearts, the colors, the candy...and the best of all:
L O V E!

Mace and Jake both have parties.

Healthy snacks, no candy parties. remember the brocolli at Halloween? (still strange to me!)

and no mama's helping...(sad too!)
So last night, during American Idol, (while the BOYS went to the BYU game in Colorado Springs!)

Mace wrote his name on every single Valentine.
He only needed 13 and he only needed to write his name in the FROM section.
But if you know Mister Mace, he has a mind of his own.
He insisted on all of them.

Mace told me he has a school name:

Mason

and a cool name:

Mace
His teacher insists, he write Mason

and

somewhow instilled in his head that an A

looks like a Q.
So Mace wrote randomly in all the squares...M Q S O N. real cute.

anyway, loving LOVE week.

I have plans in the making

(candlelight w/ the kids, hearts, banana cream pie....!)
too bad on Love day we have a comp soccer game, and 2 bball practices....hmmm.

WE will figure it out!

Happy LOVE week to ya'll!