One Year Older and Wiser Too!

Another year, another birthday. I actually couldn't remember how old I was turning this year! (Does that mean I am getting old? I do have wrinkles now...) If my math is right, I just turned 32. I'm officially "in" my thirties.

It's funny how one day doesn't feel any different from the next, but a particular date can signify change. I've always loved when the date changes to a new year, an anniversary is marked or a birthday comes. They are like chapters to me. Some, I am glad to move on from, and others leave me looking forward to the pages ahead.

So far, 32 is looking pretty promising! :-) Jason worked from home on my birthday and let me sleep in! I rolled out of bed shortly after 9AM (YES! So, nice!). He had the kids off to school and beautiful flowers for me in the kitchen. I had a nice lazy morning and then got ready to meet some friends for lunch. As always, I had a wonderful time with the girls! (Margaret had to leave before we took the picture.)

I did a little shopping that afternoon and ended up at Chevy's that night for dinner. (They have the best chips and salsa!) It was a very low key day, but totally perfect.

The last couple of years, Jason and I have gone skiing on my birthday. This year, my birthday fell on a Friday, so we decided to just go on Saturday. It was the first day in over a week that it wasn't snowing!The drive up was beautiful! I couldn't believe how low on the mountain they were requiring chains and how many people were trying to get up the hill.The weather and the traffic made the trip a little longer than normal, but I always enjoy the time alone in the car with my hubby to just talk and enjoy each other's company.

Traffic came to a stop about 2 miles away from the ski resort. People started to get out of their cars and talk to the other drivers, who were also anxiously waiting to get up on the hill with all the fresh snow! The first car, that came from the direction of the resort, was flagged down. "The parking lot is full!" he shouted out his car window. Its a two lane road and it's not like you can pull off and park on the side. We waited a few more minutes and more cars started to pass with the same news. We debated waiting it out. Not everyone was going to stay all day, right? Soon, another car passed with this news: " They aren't selling any more tickets today! They are sold out!"

We had never heard of such a thing! I guess everyone had the same idea. We turned around and flagged down the McCauleys and the Bohns, who weren't too far behind us, and told them the news. We were pretty bummed. Luckily, the McCauley's cabin wasn't too far down the road and made for a nice spot to get out and at least enjoy the snow.I love how everything looks covered in snow!I think Garrett had the same idea, when he tried to cover Jen and I while we were posing for a picture! As, it warmed up, huge amounts of snow fell off the trees, dusting everyone close by! Jason tried to help out mother nature...

We built a snow man with Maryn. It was fun, but it made me wish the kids were there. They would have loved to play in the snow. Maybe we will take them up next weekend.

I think our snowman came out pretty cute, but he needed nicer eyes. He looks mischievous...

It ended up being a nice day. Hopefully we will make it back up the mountain before all the snow melts away and if we do, we will definitely get an earlier start!

Colton Turns Two

I can't believe this little guy is two already! Happy Birthday Colton!

He LOVED his cupcakes! (I think he ate 3!)

Ashlyn was pretty excited too!

We just thought it was a great excuse to head up to Sacramento and spend the weekend with family!

Stephen and Danale

Alanna, Danale, Danny

Jason, Linda, Grandma (Beverly) Bates

New Year's Eve

This New Year's Eve was pretty low key. I didn't take very many pictures, but luckily, my sister, Jen, likes taking pictures as much as I do! We spent the first part of the night hanging out at my parent's house. My brothers were still in town with their families and we wanted to see them one more time before they went back to Utah.Katie and SterlingJen and Billy

The Wilding's came over and made Chinese food with us. (Janey's specialty is Egg Rolls. Yum!)And my cousin Sherry was going to catch a ride with one of my brothers back to Utah in the morning, so her parents drove her down and spent the evening with us.Sherry

It was fun hangin' with the fam. As it got later, we headed over to the Remington's to hang out with friends and bring in the new year.Jeff, Jason, Rod, Steve and ReedChristine and JenMe and StephanieDrew

Happy New Year!

Christmas=Family

To wrap up our last day of Christmas, we drove up to the Sacramento area to spend Christmas day with our extended families.

Our first stop was at Mike and Cheryl's to spend time with Justin's family and Stephen and Skyler. Danale and Justin

Tara and Jason

Skyler

We love Justin's side of the family and it is always so nice to visit them.

Then we went to my uncle Steve's house in Granite Bay to see my extended family.

I love my Grandma! She always wants us to hurry up and finish whatever needs to get done so we can play cards! She LOVES to play cards! Most of the memories I have of my Grandma growing up involve cards and chocolate chip cookies. We didn't stay long enough to play cards with my Grandma, but we had fun playing the present game and munching on goodies. My brother Sterling and his wife Katie

Jen and my Dad

I didn't take very many pictures while we were there, but I know Jen did. :-) Maybe I will steal some from her blog when she posts about it and put them in here.

Then we went back over to Danale's to meet Jason's cousin Alanna. Jason's uncle, Steve, died several years ago and Alanna is his only daughter. No one had seen her or been in touch since she was a young child. Through Facebook, she was able to be reunited with her dad's side of the family. Everyone was so excited to see her and have her back in their lives. She is a beautiful girl, all grown up and married. We talked for hours and had a great time getting to know her.

Christmas Eve (Again!)

After we opened presents at my parent's house, we decided to take the opportunity, while we were all together, to get a family picture. We met Shelley Van Wagenen at the Madsen's house for the shoot. It actually went pretty well for how many kids we were trying to get to sit still!

Afterwards, we went with the Bohn's to see the Madsen's new baby lambs Wes

Ashlyn with Uncle Jeff

The kids were so excited and the lambs were so cute!

Jeff and Jen (beautiful huh?)

Tara and Jason

When we were all done, we went back to my parent's house for a big turkey dinner and more time to hang out with the family. I can't tell you how much I love my sisters! They are almost total opposites, but both mean the world to me!