Happy 6th Birthday Abby!

It is crazy to think that Abby's birthday was almost 6 months ago ( life has been a bit busy).  She looks so much different now that she is missing most of her front teeth! Better late than never, I guess. We had quite the week of celebrations for out little girl.  

On Friday I brought treats into class and they had a little celebration at the end of the day.

Abby with Mrs. Aguilar and another birthday girl, Sophia.

Abby and Tyrah

We had an early celebration at Corvette Diner. This is the kids' favorite for birthday dinners!  It might have something to do with the shakes, giant cotton candy, balloons and all the attention! 

Abby wrote her thank you notes- this one was for uncle Andy.  It is AMAZING to see how much she has grown as a writer..I need to document more of their work!

We also celebrated at Bucca de Beppo with the 4 of us.  Another fun, crazy place that is associated with birthdays for our family. 

Buddy the elf and brought Abby a cupcake and set out her presents the night before her birthday.

Zack was a very good helper and was so patietn watching Abby open presents.

She really wanted a sewing machine and she has actually used it a few time but we should use it more!

Money from Great Grandma and the Zanes.

And her favorite, bagels!

We had a great time celebrating our favorite 6 year old!

Highlights at 6:

Lost 1 tooth

Best Friends: Tyrah & Ava Jane

Reading books on her own and writing more each day

Loves science experiments, people, and climbing

Has holes in most pants, gives herself her own haircuts- UGH!, plays hard and is both shy and outgoing all in one.

She feel the joy and pain of those around her with her whole being.

Our Abby is a unique and loving soul and we are grateful she is ours.

The Beginning of December

I was relieved to find out that I was only 2 months behind on the blog- It feels like much more.  I guess that is because December was such a full month.  So here are a few highlights from the beginning of the month. 

We got in the Christmas spirit at Balboa Park for the Grinch.  It is such a fun family tradition and a great way to start off the month!

We got the tree up and decorated thanks to our wonderful helpers!

It was Zack's year to put the star up on top of the tree.

 The Alticks were in town and we met them for an afternoon picnic at Orfila. As always it is so amazing to see Michelle and her family but it was especially fun to have the whole crew together. It was a Clark & Hughe reunion and so fun to see our kids play together and our moms too. Three generations of friendship!

One of my favorite parts of the holidays are the Christmas cards.  The Buelow's card was the first to arrive!

Matt and I were fortunate to get a quick getaway to the Four Seasons at Half Moon Bay.  Matt attended a conference there for a few days and I tagged along for an evening.  It was such an amazing hotel and a great place to unwind.

Of course Buddy the Elf joined us for the month and kept us all entertained with his shenanigans.

The kids were so into the holiday spirit and it encouraged a lot of writing for both of them this year.

Abby and I taking a break during a shopping trip.

Taking some time to enjoy the beautiful weather and paint the scenery.

Zack LOVES turtles as I know I have mentioned before.  We were all impressed by his initiative to write Santa  a letter.  He wrote Santa a letter by copying a page from his favorite turtles book to ask for a "box turtle" and some other things.  I love the envelope addressed to North Pole and that he figured out how to do this on his own by copying the book. 

HIs class put on a Christmas musical.  He was so cute up there.  We realized the morning of hat he doesn't have any white shirts so his old sweater had to do the job even though it was a little snug:)

Shane is our neighbor an in Zack's class:)

Lots more to come for the busy month of December!

Thanksgiving 2014

This year, for the first time ever, we celebrated Thanksgiving at my Uncle Ron's in Canyon Lake.  He has a beautiful house on the lake and a great boat to enjoy the amazing lake. My cousin Coul and his family were visiting from Montana and my Uncles Mike and Damon came up with us also. 

In addition to a lovely scenery, we enjoyed great company and a wonderful turkey dinner with contributions from all  We have so much to be thankful for but family, health and happiness truly top it all.

The kids getting ready to go out for a sunset boat ride.

Out on the lake. I alway love being out on the water- especially in a boat.

Road Trip to Lake Tahoe

Matt and the kids had the week off for Thanksgiving so I booked our time share in Lake Tahoe and took a few days off too!  We invited our neighbors, the Dennys, to join us and we caravanned the 10 hour trip.  We were both pleasantly surprised that neither stopped for the first 4 hours.  We made good time and the kids kept busy coloring, playing various games and asking us, " how much longer?".  They were pretty good but after the 100th time Abby asked how much longer we practically begged her to watch a movie and she had no interest in it which was amazing since she could probably watch movies for hours at home if we let her.  Kids?!

Z kept busy with legos

There was an amazing double rainbow that we admired for a while. 

We arrived at the hotel around 3 and the kids were in and out before we started unpacking.  we had a great first floor until where the kids could roam around and explore their surroundings.

After a full day the kids loved their slumber party and the adults were happy to be in the other room:)

Playing Jenga with my girl:)

Day 1: It was so beautiful out but not quite cold enough for snow.  We enjoyed the food, ice skating, music and great company instead.

On day 2 we drive up to Mt. Rose, which had a few runs open and was much cheaper than Heavenly.  The kids got lessons in the morning and Chris, Matt and I got a few runs in on our own and then watched the kiddos in ski school.  

Zack and I took a break and had lunch and then practiced on the bunny hill.

Abby wasn't quite getting stopping down in ski school and I thought she would be done for the day but she went up on the  lift with Matt and had no need for stopping she just charged all the way down!

Zack and I joined Matt and Abby and we skied down the mountain for the next few hours over and over.  One of my favorite moments of parenting is snowboarding down the mountain with Abby next to me totally loving cruising down the mountain and Zack between Matt's legs right next to us.  I can't wait to get back on the mountain with my family!

After a full day of skiing we drove an hour back to the hotel and the kids were set on hiking up the mountain to see the sunset. I'm so glad they pushed us to do it.  It was so beautiful up there and a great hike!

It was  great trip with new friends that feel like old friends.