The Winter of "SKI"

This year all the kids learned to ski.  Alex had done some limited skiing last year but was  not proficient at getting down the slope on his own.  This year, with just a few lessons, he has improved so much and is now an independent skier on the beginner slopes!  Cassidy took her first lessons this year and caught on very  quickly - she can now keep up with  her big brother.  It was slow going for Bridgette at first.  She took a few lessons, then we tried to teach her on our own which was very frustrating for probably 3-4 ski days.  We kept plugging along and finally one day she got it!   She stays very close by and sometime we use her vest and belt on the steep areas, but she is our skiing 3 yr old!   It's so much fun to go skiing together as a family :-)

Ice sculptures

One day in January we went to downtown Anchorage to check out the ice sculptures. Some of them you could even sit in and spin. Very cool!

The sooner it starts.....

the sooner it will be over. The deployment, that is. So now that it's started, we have many things to look forward to over the year, starting with Christmas at Nana and Papa's in California in just a few weeks! I hope to be using this blog to update everyone on us much more frequently than I have been in the past. The kids and I are headed out to our friend Cathy's for dinner and playtime later today. We are going to do our best to keep on truckin' and praying for John and his unit. We are so proud of him and will miss him dearly over the next year!

How does he make it look so easy?

John was able to get these shots of the kids after church:and more cookie baking...

Capturing the Joy...

Trying to take pictures of three kids 5 and under, in their dress-up Christmas outfits, post Christmas-program and post-bedtime is no easy task.

Mom, we're so mad that you want to take our picture!

We're happier now, but Bridgette won't cooperate...

OK, we'll sit and smile and even put the chokehold on Bridgette so she stays put!

Making gingerbread cookies with Mom.

Some of the finished products.

Cassidy's preschool Christmas program.

The Halloween of Many Princesses

This year, Halloween seemed more like a "season" than just a day. Thanks to her recent birthday, Cassidy had a different costume for each event. Here's the breakdown:

Last weekend we attended a Halloween party and Cassidy was "Ariel" from the Little Mermaid.

This was on Friday, lining up for the parade at Alex's school. Here, Cassidy is sporting the "Sleeping Beauty" costume. Oh, and the kid on the right is a bucket of green slime!For this one, the whole family gets into it. This was a neighborhood Halloween party, and Cassidy is a sort of fairy princess.

And finally her Trick-or-Treating costume, her "super, super, fancy dress!" Alex was a Power Ranger.

Milestones

Dear Alex,

You are my spunky little five year old boy and I love you to pieces. Right now you are so excited about starting kindergarten in the fall. Today you asked me: "Mommy, the day after we move to Kansas, I'll start kindergarten, right?" I explained it would be a couple weeks and you said "well, there's only 7 days in a week, so that's not too long!"

Yesterday, you learned how to pump on the swing all by yourself! It was such a proud moment for both of us! You said you couldn't wait show your kindergarten teacher that you can swing all by yourself. You've spent A LOT of time out there on the swing by yourself lately, just swingin' away.

You also learned how to read a couple months ago, and that is a HUGE milstone that Daddy and I are so proud of your for. You started out back in February sounding out words and you just kept at it until you were reading short books. We got you a set of "Bob" books with twelve little stories in the set, and you plugged through the first set, and then it seemed like you just breezed right through the second 12 books. We are so proud of you. You are reading lots of things now!

You are so outgoing and friendly and I'm so excited for you to make new friends in Kansas. You make us so proud Alex!

Love,

Mommy