Road Trips

Ack! Super behind on blogging, but figured I should get a couple of the fun little trips we've done recently recorded before our big trip arrives.

The kids and I invaded Auntie Holly's for the weekend. Her and Bryan were wonderful hosts.

We had a raging Super Bowl party...

A surprise visit to a fire department was a highlight. Bryan's cousin is a fire fighter and even took us on a ride in the fire truck. A little excitement took place as we were pulling back into the station and they got a call.

The next week Josh and Dave were going to be in Spokane at the Ag Expo so we met up with them for dinner one night

The kids and I visited the Ag Show on our way home the next day.

The next weekend we headed to Walla Walla and had a tons of fun with Uncle Mahlon and Auntie Patty. Branson had his first ice skating lesson from Mahlon 

The Shockers made it to regionals so we headed across the mountains to root them on. We made a fun weekend out of it. We stayed at the same hotel as the Grillo's and made a quick trip to the zoo before the game.

 

Papa drove up and met us for lunch and helped us cheer on our team. As soon as we found out our game was in Bothell, Josh contacted releatives in the area and many of them joined us too. So much fun.

Currently we are preparing for our Spring Break trip. We are looking forward to nicer weather, cousins to play with, swimming pools and of course the reason for the trip...A WEDDING!

Love

Here are some of the ways we celebrated love last week.

Monday is story time at the library. Last week Blake and Dakota were scheduled to come over then. Typically I wouldn't be up for story time with four young kids, but the older two really wanted to go,  so off we went. Not my most relaxing story time ever, but lots of fun and totally worth it.

Branson and I made sugar cookies for our friends.

Quinnie giving loves to her dolly on Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day the Shocker's won a district basketball game which means they are in regionals this weekend! 

Branson had a party at preschool. It is always so fun for me to get to help out and see B interact with his friends.

The party was complete with a pinata.

I am pretty sure that there was more sugar in this house than there was on Halloween. 

While B and I were at the Valentine's party Quinn was hanging out with Grandma. I think Valentine's day is her new favorite holiday, she loves chocolate.

Fun Times

We had one of the best weekends ever. The Thompson's were nice enough to let us invade there house and the weekend was made better by the Sanderson's joining too. So much fun!

Sledding on Saturday. Quinn and I stayed home for a nap, but it sounds like so much fun. A mile long run that was fast and ended with torn gloves and only minor injuries. 

Quinn made herself at home next to Sarah and decided to help her play the piano.

Love this picture, this was the best we could get with all the kids. 

We came home Sunday night to help celebrate Justin's birthday. Thankful for these friends to celebrate another year with.

 

Best friends enjoying birthday cake.

Other fun things that we have been up to...

Saturday morning snowmobile rides.

This is one of my current favorite pieces of art that Branson has done at school.

Not so fun things we have been up to...

Tooth brushing. Quinnie has been following in big brother's foot steps and is hating having her teeth brushed. Actually...she hates have help brushing her teeth. Made worse by a hard fall to her face and a chipped tooth.  Looks like her adorable smile with have some character for the next few years.

Christmas Time

We spent the weekend before Christmas with the Grillo's up in Mazama and had a fabulous time. So much fun that there is talk of making it a yearly tradition, it was the perfect way to start our Christmas vacation.

Love these two. Very thankful that we have close friends for our kids to make memories with.

A few of my favorite girls. 

Christmas break means Uncle Joel is around a bit more. More uncle time is always a hit with our kids.

We love having Jason and Sue living in town, their new hot tub has nothing to do with it...

Papa has been looking in toy catalogs with Branson helping him pick out Christmas gifts. The only thing that he wanted was this Hot Wheels track. For the past month whenever asked what he wanted for Christmas he would reply "just Hot Wheels."  He loves it and I love how long it keeps him entertained.

Christmas Eve was at Dave and Kathy's. The kids were spoiled with gifts and attention. Wore my little pumpkin right out.

Las Vegas

Last month was FabTech. The largest fabrication expo in North America was in Las Vegas this year. Since it was close enough to make the trip feasible Josh and Dave decided to go, which means that the rest of us got to tag along.

In the airport Branson found this huge video game

The good thing about taking our kids to a place where people usually don't is the special attention our kids got on the flight. Branson got to sit in the cockpit.

We arrived one day early so that we could do the touristy thing before "work" started. 

Quinn wasn't too impressed with the strip.

The two days that Josh and Dave were at the show, Kathy and I did our best to keep the kids entertained. We found an awesome out door playground at a nearby mall that was a good place to burn some energy.

A free aquarium was a big hit too. A diver was cleaning it when we arrived and came over to say hi to the kids. 

The kids most favorite thing to do was to hang out in the hotel. Quinn has all the essentials that she needs in her purse. Her cell phone, sunglasses and tools!

 Our first In-N-Out experience was a success

Just look at her, she loved it.

Garret's popcorn is a family favorite. Much to Josh's delight he got to introduce Quinn to it in Vegas.

Our first night in Vegas Josh had heard that the show 48 hours was featuring a murder that had happened in our area and we decided to watch. Imagine our surprise we we saw ourselves on TV. Here we are with the crew we went to the Apple Blossom Parade with 2 years ago!

Okay...so this post is over a month late, Maybe I will post some Thanksgiving pictures before Christmas, don't hold your breath though...

Things have been busy, but so good. Josh's basketball season ends this week. His last Saturday games are today, to say I am a little happy about this is an understatement. We have our favorite party of the season tonight, I am happy about this too.