Big Sky Snow Bunnies

We spent last weekend in Big Sky, MT skiing and hanging out with some of our friends from college.  We had an awesome time and now have a new favorite ski resort!  It is Colorado-quality skiing with 1/4 of the people...that's my kind of  place!!  Gabi was able to go to ski school on Saturday and now has gained the confidence to ski by herself and she LOVES it!  We skiied again on Sunday morning as well.   I can't wait until we can ski together as a familiy!  Some of my best memories with my parents and brother were on the ski slopes, so I hope to share that with my girls as well.

Having a blast!  At first she would follow my turns down the slope, now she has to be the leader. :)

Maya was able to try out skiing as well.  We rode up the "magic carpet" and she skiied down between my legs.  She kept saying "faster! faster!"  and giggled the whole way down. 


Pink snow bunny!

Joe and I skiied with Jason, Chris, Sam, and Tracy on Saturday.  Ashley was kind enough to watch Maya and Gabi was in ski school.  We had a great time exploring Big Sky.  We rode the tram up to the top of Lone Peak and the boys skiied off (Tracy & I rode the tram back down...that's pretty extreme skiing up there for us mamas!)

Joe, Jason, & Sam at the top



The view from the top...you could even see the Tetons!  Beautiful!

Between the four families, we had six GIRLS ages 4 and under (Gabi was the oldest). They had lots of fun playing together! All of the guys that went are former UW runners. We are still convinced that Coach Sanchez somehow spiked the gatorade to eliminate the chance of any male offspring. :)

Chris cuddling with a few of the girls! :)

Cute little Greta...always a smile on her face!

A bunch of us went to a ski joring competition on Sunday afternoon.  It was held at a local guest ranch, so the atmosphere was fun.  All of the little girls had a blast just playing in the snow together.  We had beautiful weather the entire weekend.

Ski joring is when a horse pulls a skier through a slalom-type course with jumps and other obstacles.
 Kinda like water skiing in a way.



Gabi & Maya had fun pulling Greta on the sled.

Greta, Morgan, & Gabi

Ashely & Greta ...Ashley is expecting her second baby on Maya's birthday!
I'm betting it will be a girl...what do you wanna bet!?

Another couple of snow bunnies...Tessa & Tracy :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!  Lots of love, Tara

A Hike Up the Mesa

I finally remembered to bring my camera on one of our many explorations!  We've had such a nice winter so far that we've been able to get out quite a bit.  Yesterday, the girls and I headed up the mesa by our house.  We can get on the OLD road to town very close to our house (not really a road, but wide dirt trail) and can easily follow it up to the top and look down at our house and the mountains.  Joe had taken the girls up the same way last weekend, so Gabi thought she needed to draw me a map so I would know where to go! 



A little rest stop along the way...Maya is holding the map.

 We built a couple of cairns along the way...and fixed the ones they built last weekend.

Half-way up or so...you can kinda see the "road" in the bottom right of this picture.  You can also see Dave's cows as well.



Lots of big rocks along the way.

At the top looking over the edge and our house!

Things around here have been going well.  Joe has been extremely busy with work...seems like he comes home at midnight each night and has worked through the weekends as well.  We got to spend some quality time together this morning, so that was nice.  His big deadline is this Friday, so he should be able to return to "normal" after that.  I have survived my first semester of teaching.  In fact, I'm posting this instead of grading my final exams...procrastination at its finest. ;) 

The girls are doing great!  Luckily we have all stayed healthy this year (knock on wood) and they have made lots of friends at daycare and school.  They really like to spend Fridays with Papa and Grammy.  Papa even lets Gabi drive the feed truck (very slowly of course), so she thinks that is super fun!  Gabi is starting to sound out words and is very interested in starting to spell and even read.  Maya can write her name with some assistance and still loves to color and do puzzles.  She is becoming quite the diva as well...loves to dress up and be....sassy.  oh. my.

We hope you all are doing well!  Thanks for checking in on us!  Tara

Family Vacation in Breckenridge

We were able to spend a week over Christmas with my family in Breck.  Everyone had a great time!  My brother brought his girlfriend, Angeline, so it was very nice to get to know her a bit.  Tom lives in San Francisco now and she is finishing up her Masters degree at the University of Kentucky.

We were able to ski, hike, shop, relax, play games, eat and eat some more.  I just enjoyed everyone being together.


Time for a family picture while on a hike.

My brother, Tom, and his girlfriend, Angeline

My snugglebug

My parents on the slopes...this was the first time my Dad had skiied since his knee replacement surgery over a year ago...he was skiing great and said he felt like he was 18 again! Yay!! :)

My Mom watched the girls one morning so Joe and I could ski together...that doesn't happen very often anymore!  It was a beautiful day!

Gabi was able to go to Ski School while we were ther and she LOVED it and did very well!

Maya REALLY liked her hot chocolate at this cafe. :)

Had to get a picture of my brother washing dishes!  I don't think I've ever seen him do dishes...ever.  So glad Angeline is whipping him into shape! :)

A great time for sure!  Of course, whenever we're in Colorado we have to see some old friends!  I miss them so much!  Maya and I met Dan & Julianne and their new baby, Sullivan, for lunch while Gabi & Joe skiied.  We were also able to catch up with the Gomez's as well!

Happy New Year!

Christmas

Season's Greetings!  So sorry this post is late!  We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas in Breckenridge with my family!  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera along with us, so all of the pictures were taken by my Mom or on Joe's phone.

Gabi & Maya had a blast on Christmas...I think they are at the perfect ages for that right now.  Maya was just so excited for presents to be opened....she kept saying, "What is it?...What is it?..." when someone would be unwraping a present.  They definitely must have been on Santa's nice list because they were spoiled!

Before heading to Christmas Eve Mass

Hoping they are on Santa's nice list :)

Three Santas

 We opened presents Christmas morning...thankfully waited until 7am (still earlier than normal, but I can't complain) and were patient while everyone gathered to begin the "opening ceremonies"...heee heee. (It is late as I'm writing this and I'm super tired, so you'll have to excuse my corniness.)

Maya in her new sleeping bag...Gabi recieved one too, so we'll have fun camping this summer!

Sock Monkeys from Uncle Tom and Angeline!

Maya feeding cookie monsters cookies....she was really scared of it when she first opened it...she ran away from it and said, "I don't like cookie monster!"  Finally, she warmed up to it and it is now one of her favorites.

Say Cheese!  I need to learn how to download the pictures from this camera, because the girls take some funny ones!

Family picture after Joe and I had opened the presents the girls had made and wrapped just for us at Evonne's house...pictures of themselves in cute little frames.  They did a good job at keeping them a secret!

Joe in his new Carhartt!

The girls helping Uncle Tom open up a present.

We had a very fun time celebrating Christmas with my family!  So thankful we were all able to get together.

Picture with Santa

Picture with Santa...yeah, right.  Maya took one look at him and said, "NO WAY!" (Note the tears in her eyes.)  I don't blame her...people in costumes kinda freak me out too.

So, we have a cute picture of the girls together in front of a fake fire instead! :)  We tried again when Gio, Marco, and Milan came.  Holding Gabi's hand must have helped this time.  What's up with the tongue though? :)  Crazy girl.

Merry Christmas!!

Disney on Ice...Toy Story 3

Maya...so exited for it to start!

So was Gabi!  She was on the edge of her seat the entire show!

The aliens and "THE CLAW......."

The girls' favorites...Woody, Bullseye, and Jessie

We had a blast while we were in Denver!  We were able to stay with our good friends, The Delaneys.  Their girls, our girls, and Gavin (Joe's co-worker's little boy) all stayed at their house with a babysitter while we attended the KL&A Chrismtas party.  I was lucky enough to be in town when my awesome teacher-friends had their annual cookie exchange, so we all got caught-up and ate lots of good treats.  We were also able to see Julia, Griffin & Lily, and our former neighbor, Angie.  I really miss all of our friends, but that is about all I miss about Denver...definitely not that traffic!

Merry Christmas!!

Ready for Christmas!

Season's Greetings!  We sure are enjoying the Christmas season including the Buffalo Christmas parade and other festivities, a trip to Denver for a couple of Christmas parties, and lots of baking and gift wrapping!  We are looking forward to a few more Christmas parties, Gabi's school Christmas program, and our trip to Breckenridge with my family for Christmas.



All dressed in their Christmas dresses ready to go to town to visit Santa (will post a pic of that after I figure out how to get the scanner connected to my new computer - it is quite comical!)

Sweet girls in front of our first real Christmas tree cut!  Joe, Dave, and Greer went on a tree cutting expedition in the mountains after Thanksgiving.  We actually picked this tree out while hiking last summer. :)

We put our old fake tree in the girls room and decorated it up very girly!  They love it (and it makes their room so cozy!)

Sweet Maya

Silly Gabi

The girls and I cut out and decorated Christmas cookies this morning.  I then spent the rest of the morning cleaning the kitchen...yikes.

We wish you all a Blessed Holiday Season!  Merry Christmas!

Love,
Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya