Strawberry Mine Adventures

Truly a weekend filled with adventure!!

From snowmobiles stuck in feet upon feet of powder, to ice cold feet, to 360 degree views and beautiful sunrises and sunset, to sledding, snowboarding, snowball fighting snow eating and snow caving, to no cell service and hosting lost snowmobilers, to washers stuck on fingers forever and lots and lots of giggles with friends.... we had a really great time!

Thank you Waves for always providing adventures.....

Merry Christmas

Christmas Day 2010

Oh, the excitement was too much to bear! Santa filled our stockings and left 2 bright pink electric scooters. What was he thinking? Josiah asked. The scooters say right on them for ages 8 and up!! Well, I guess Santa knows these girls because we had a blast all day long!! And then of course was the well hidden play structure pieced together by Daddy! Little did these girls know that my "science experiment" of covered windows this last week was really hiding a much bigger treat!!

Way too much fun!

Christmas Eve

Christmast Eve, a beautiful, blue bird, fresh snow, day. We enjoyed it on the slopes with our favorite cousins. Our favorite part was delighting in our little Sage. The girls took turns skiing down in front of him and then waited patiently for him to slide into their arms!

A perfect day!

Yosemite on Christmas Eve

This year we added a new twist to our Christmas Eve festivities. We still caravanned with Amma and Grandpa and the Worsters up to the Awahnee for a picnic lunch with the Waltner cousins. We played with the train, (although this year Daddy taught us how to control it), we still oohed and aahed over the beautiful decorations, enjoyed their sky high tree, drank hot chocolate and voted on our favorite gingerbread houses. We then continued on to Yosemite Valley to breathe in its breath taking beauty. But instead of being limited to just a few hours, we had all night because Grandpa had rented us tent cabins to stay in. So we dressed in our warmest duds and headed for the ice rink. Instead of a quick session around the ice, we took our time, we skated until closing, we watch the sun go down, the girls skated on their very own, and even held one another's hand for a lap around the rink.

After skating we enjoyed a hot pizza and cup of cocoa. We lounged in the lodge until all eyes were sleepy. We thought we were tucked in for a long night's sleep.... but little did we know we would be entertained for hours by a visitor in the night!! A BIG male bear who was not hibernating at all like a good bear should be in the middle of winter. Oh no, not this bear, he was an expert in bear boxes. He promptly broke into the bear box in the ten just across from us. Upon Daddy's urging, we rolled up our flap on our little canvas tent and watched the show. It was the salty chips that gave us the biggest surprise, for the only water to wash down such a treat, was a little puddle just outside our tent. Daddy and Adalie were standing right at the door when Mr. Bear decided he needed a drink. We felt him brush up against our tent as he lapped up his drink!! What a treat!!

Girl's Day

Lucky me.... I got to have a fun girls day up on the slopes with my favorite 2 girls and 1 of their favorite girlfriends too!!

Grandma's Girls

These are Grandma's girls. Girls she loves to death and spoils rotten. She is the expert in all things girlie and chocolatey.... from lacy tea parties to pretty dresses. And these girls love her and her love for chocolate dearly!!

Amma took all 4 girls shopping for their Christmas pretties and then invited them to a production of the Nutcracker. Again this year, these girls were entranced by the costumes and twirls.

How lucky we are....

Time for Traditions

It was no surprise when Daddy searched through the Christmas boxes looking for the cookie items. Cookie making is a tradition stemming from his family and continued in ours. We search for new yummy recipes and do our best to try them all. This years favorites were the Chocolate Chocolate Chunk cookies topped with candy cane crumbles!!

Mommy, however got a wonderful early Christmas surprise from Adalie. A beautiful (and extremely delicate - lesson learned from Josiah's Kinder year!) hand made ornament. She could not stand the anticipation a moment longer and so we opened up this precious gift a few days early. I have loved sitting under our tree and admiring the many memories it holds on its branches. From 1st Christmases and 1st hand prints to trips travelled around the world. And now, a new memory from Adalie's 1st year of school is added!

Last Day

The last day of school in 2010!! A day filled with pajamas, gingerbread houses, Papa and Grammy helpers, pinatas, playtime, stories, music and sugar, sugar, sugar!!

(Josiah - Mrs. Durrell's 2/3 combo class, Adalie - Mrs. G's Kindergarten class)

Christmas Program

It was time again for the North Fork Christmas Program. Mrs. Florey had worked for many weeks with the kiddos and they were excited. Amma took them dress shopping so they could look their Christmassy best!!

Josiah, with 3 years under her belt was a veteran of these programs. She was looking forward to a fun evening with her girlfriends. As well as, showing Daddy the songs she had been practicing and teaching to Adalie all week.

Adalie had several reasons to be excited. First, Grammy and Papa were coming to watch. Second, it was her very first year to be in the Christmas Program. Third, even though she was not quite the shortest Kindergartner, she got to be the last one in line because Mrs. Florey wanted her to take the responsibility of leading everyone off stage.... a big job I tell you! And last but not least, she got to be a jingle bell ringer!!

Oh JOY!!

13 Years

A fun little getaway weekend for just the 2 of us!! A little cabin in the mountains, lots of trails to explore, and a best friend to be with......

Thank you, I am grateful beyond measure!!

North Fork Christmas Parade

Although not exactly like your traditional Christmas parades, it is a parade none the less and therefore not to be missed.

We Tried

We tried to get a smaller tree this year..... but for some reason the trees look so small on the lot. It isn't until you get them home and measure them to the ceiling that you realize you have brought home yet another 18 foot tree.... ooops!

Oh well, how often are we going to be able to decorate our Christmas Tree with a ladder and hanging out the loft???

There is something so fun about decorating the Christmas tree...... using all 4 of us to drag it inside, trying to stand it upright, putting the 10 strings of lights on, digging through the Christmas treasure boxes, unwrapping the memories in every ornament, sitting down and admiring your work with a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie (of course).....

Magic Kingdom

What makes the Magical Kingdom so magical?

For us.... it is seeing the smile plastered across Amma's face on every ride. It is seeing the eyes of our children light up at every corner. It is riding the carousel despite your age. It is watching their hands raise in the air on the roller coasters. It is seeing their absolute delight in It's a Small World. It is anticipating the lights coming on at the castle. It is letting yourself believe in fairy tales. It's picking out a Minnie Mouse for your sister that you know she will just love because she has been quietly spying it all day and tucking it into her vest while she is sleeping. It is riding the fastest roller coaster in the world 6 times in a row and loving it! It is getting to share a day of smiles with our family.

Tree Lighting

Leaving the Shaver cabin after a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend of skiing the pow pow, hot tubbing, snow caving, sledding, gaming and crafting is never easy. So, this year we decided to have an ending destination.... the Pines Christmas Tree Lighting. A simple small town tradition was made extra special because it was snowing ....

Thanksgiving Treat

It isn't every year you get to ski deep powder on Thanksgiving weekend at China Peak. What a great introduction to the winter season fun!

And Thanks to Grammy we even got to do something new.... ride in the Ski Patrol's injury sled!!

Feast

The Pilgrims and Indians celebrated yet another wonderful Thanksgiving Feast. Soups were made in every classroom to share.

(Josiah, Kaia and Caitie - Mrs. Durrell's 2nd grade class and Adalie, Ashlyn and Kaiya - Mrs. G's Kindergarten)

Snow Day

After a really warm Fall, this November snow was truly a treat!! We obviously needed to dive in and enjoy it somehow..... so we loaded the girls' snowmobiles up, picked up cousins and headed to the boat launch and campground. The girls had a blast spinning brodies in the parking lot and racing around on the campground roads. While waiting their turns, they built snowmen, roasted marshmallows and rolled in the snow!

(Josiah &Piper 7years old, and Adalie & Ashlyn 5years old)

Avilla Getaway

Avila... just what the doctor ordered. Uninterrupted time together. Bike rides. Cinnamon rolls. Sand castles. Frisbee games. Runs with Daddy while cartoons entertained. Toes in the water. Rest. Walks on the beach. Swinging like spider monkeys. Swimming in the pool. But best of all..... 1st time boogie boarding!!

The boogie boarding was Josiah's idea. She is usually our adventuresome one, the one who will try anything once. And if it is successful, then Adalie will give it a go also. My favorite was watching Josiah and Daddy walking out to the waves, heads together giving wave riding instructions. They jumped the waves, waited for the best one and rode it in as far as they could. Big smiles all the way. We learned right away that a wet suit was a must... not necessarily for warmth, but for protection when you miss judged a wave and got pummelled. Adalie started with just surfing the waves on her board, but ended the day riding them all the way to the shore. Another new adventure to add to the books!!

And... of course home in time to play soccer games!!

We love the whirlwind.....

Trick or Treat

In keeping with our annual Pumpkin Carving traditions, we invited some cousins over to carve pumpkins. Whether free hand or pre-printed, everyone picked their own designs and got straight to work. It was Aunt Mariann's first time ever to carve a pumpkin! Josiah at 7years old carved her pumpkin all by herself. Adalie did all her carving and most of her goo scooping.... how brave of our little one who doesn't like things dirty or squishy! Daddy free hand carved Rocky Raccoon, a character in many of his make believe stories. And Mommy carved a mad-mummy....

The treat however, was the trick-or-treating we got to do afterwards. I mean real, door to door, knock, say "trick-or-treat", get a candy and run to the next house kind of trick-or-treating. Those of you who live in the city have the trick-or-treating advantage. Here in the mountains there is 1 neighborhood and thankfully they go all out for the occasion. Houses are decorated and candy is piled high! It was fun to see all the kids you know dressed in costumes with their parents in tow.

When we returned home, we lit our pumpkins and ate carmel apples. It was hard to judge who the winner was.... the first time witch, the political "vote 4 Seth", the original face, the free hand Raccon, the freehand alligator eating a fish...... instead we will just count ourselves blessed to have had some fun together!!

Mommy's Birthday

Just between us .... this was the first year that I actually noticed my age. Up until this year, it did not matter at all to me how old I was turning, I just love birthdays - mine, yours and the stranger getting sung to in the restaurant. In fact, I rarely remembered without counting from my birth year how old I was. So, I was always thankful when a good round number I could remember would come along. But this year.....was a bit different. This year, your medical charts get stamped "AMA" advanced maternal age..... yep that one hit home!

But I must say.... surrounded by my family both near and far I celebrated another birthday. And I put to you yet again.... Am I not the luckiest girl in the whole wide world??

Fall

One of my favorite Fall activities and one that is always on my birthday wish list, is a trip to Yosemite to soak up the Fall colors, to ride our bikes and to breath the cool crisp air. This annual trip has become a great way to mark the changing of the seasons.
This year the colors were extraordinary! We had one day of sunshine to hike to Vernal Falls. We counted each step to get us to the top. And one day of rain to ride our bikes through puddles on familiar trails. We ate pizza, stayed in the tent cabins and were struck with the giggles.
I can remember everywhere I looked, whether sitting on the rocks overlooking the river, riding bicycles through the trees, hiking to the top of the waterfall, taking pictures in the rain, or watching after my family as they walked hand in hand down the color laden trail.... and all I could think was .... "I am the luckiest girl in the whole wide world!"

Fickle Pickle

What is a girl to wear?? Adalie had so much trouble deciding what she wanted to be for Halloween this year. Her initial idea was to be a pencil.... which would of course require creative skills on my part ... which I completely lack! My first mistake, was to subtly discourage the "pencil idea" and encourage the "costumes we already have" idea (which I am still months later feeling very guilty about.... how cruel to crush a girls dreams of being anything she wants!! Pause.... then I realize, it is because of ME she is learning to second guess her own decisions.... oh the guilt!). Then, thanks to the internet, I came up with a great idea for creating a pencil costume. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that practical in the comfortable department and so Adalie nixed that. Now we are back to square one, unable to make a decision and me feeling guilty. So, she finally decided on the best of all her options.... changing her costume for every occasion!!

Smart!!

Good Bye

It is October and time to say good bye to all our summer loves!! What an incredibly fun summer we had. As I look back .... it was one of my very favorites. We were intentional. We made a list and made those things a priority. We spent time with family, time with friends and time to ourselves. We had a few firsts (boat camping, double skiing, Yosemite river rafting, etc) and many old favorites (dinner and jumping off the docks, camping on the party barge, etc). Once again, I find myself thankful to live where we do with adventure lurking just around the bend!!
Now, we will look forward to the next coming season.....

The Giants and the Dragons 2010

We L.O.V.E. soccer around here!!
Sure it takes up most of your Saturday, but it is so doggone exciting and totally worth it!

I have yet to sit at any point during any single game (whether my kids are playing or not). I expend an enormous amount of energy trying to refrain my hooting and hollering when my own child scores. I love to see their athletic skills emerge, to watch their faces turn red from running, to see their excitement when they score or win, to watch Seth coach the big girls, and to learn the values of being a good sport and playing as a team!