Leprechauns have foiled us again!

Well we tried, but the leprechauns escaped their trap and wreaked havoc on our house.

The leprechaun trap Aidan made.  (Kellen made the rainbow.)  It was a great trap, but those leprechauns are pretty slick and got away.  They even took the coins we put in the trap to entice them.

It looks like Chula got in a tousle with one of the leprechauns.  They also overturned our couch pillows and scattered paper and placemats all over the downstairs great room.

We'll get them next year!

Green belt

A couple of weeks ago Aidan tested for his green belt in martial arts.  He was really excited and also a little nervous to test, but he did great and was presented with his green belt at the following class.

Way to go Aidan!!!

We're your Backyardigans!

Yep, that's right the older boys love the Backyardigans almost as much as little Curren.  And I have a picture to prove it!

Cabo San Lucas...yes again!

Last week we took the kids (and my mom and step-dad) back to Cabo San Lucas, MX.  We just love it there and since we finally broke down and bought a timeshare there we thought we'd escape the cold temps and snow for a little while.  Plus, with purchasing the timeshare we also received some bonus points so it allowed us to stay in one of their penthouse rooms.  It was HUGE with great views of the ocean and pool.

The kids had a blast playing in the pool as well as the beach.  It was Curren's first time at the beach as well as playing in "real" sand and he couldn't get enough of it.  The water...not so much.

Most of the time was spent at our resort, but we did take everyone out to some great local taquerias, down in to Cabo San Lucas (we now stay just north in San Jose del Cabo) to Pedregal to see some whales on the Pacific side as well as a local beach Chilleno where we usually go snorkeling.

It was a great trip!  Nice and relaxing and a good amount of time for the kids.  By Friday (the day we left) they were ready to head home to their normal surroundings.  We did have a snafu with our flight, which could've been disasterous..at least from a mom perscpective, but thankfully turned out well.  As the flight was taxiing on the runway the pilot told us they were having problems with their electrical system.  Of course Curren was napping at that time and I was hoping he's sleep a good portion of the flight.  (It's only 3 hours.)  To make a long story short, we sat on the tarmac for 3 hours while they tried to fix the problem and ended up taking off from MX when we were supposed to land in Denver.  UGH!  But the kids were troopers and behaved well.  Thankfully it wasn't a full flight so it was easy for them to get up and move around.  The pilot made up some time, thankfully and we got to Denver in 2 1/2 hours.

Can't wait to go back again!  It's nice going to a place we love and a place we're familiar with too.  It's easy for us to navigate through town and we know some great, but inexpensive places to eat.  Plus it doesn't hurt that Rick's BFF lives down there with his family too.

Snow, snow, snow

It took a long time for us to really get some snow, but over the last few days and weeks we've been hit with some good storms as well as some REALLY, REALLY cold temperatures.  (Thankfully we were in Cabo San Lucas for the cold temps.)  Anyway, here are some pictures of the boys playing in the snow a few weeks ago when we didn't have school.

BTW, it's so bright outside that I make them wear their goggles/sunglasses. Learned a couple years back when the older boys eyeballs, yes their eyeballs got sunburned while sledding.

Kellen is 6!

It's hard to believe, but Kellen is 6 years old already! We celebrated by going to Chuck E. Cheese. (Unfortunately, Aidan was really sick the week of his birthday so he couldn't join us.:()

(A visit from Chuck E. Cheese!)

(Kellen and his buddies)

(Kellen in the ticket blaster)

Then the following evening my parents took the family out to Red Lobster for Kellen's birthday dinner. Of course in typical fashion, Curren woke up from his nap with a high fever so I ended up staying at home with him. (At least Rick brought me some dinner.) Even with sick siblings Kellen still had a great birthday and received lots and lots and lots of Hot Wheels toys! Nothing's better than that!

Christmas

Hard to believe Christmas has come and gone already with 2011 right around the corner! We had a wonderful Christmas this year. My whole, and I mean WHOLE family came to town. My brother and his family (6 of them) drove from NC, plus my dad and step-mom came from Western CO and of course my sister, mom and step-dad who live here locally. So that means 16 people spent most of Christmas week at our house.

(Love, love, love this picture of all of us!)

The cousins had so much fun playing with each other and us adults had a great time talking and hanging out. We went to the Denver Mint, The Denver Art Museum (The DAM) to view the King Tut exhibit, Rick and my brother David spent a day on the slopes at Copper Mountain, Rick, Aidan, David and one of his sons' Quin went to a Colorado Avalanche game (hockey). Did a little hiking on Spruce Mountain down near Larkspur and we enjoyed lots of good food.

(Aidan, Kellen, Truman and Quin outside the State Capitol Building)

(All the kids around the gingerbread train my dad and step-mom made. A Christmas tradition in Sweden. The kids couldn't wait to eat one of the cars.)

(Kellen, Truman and Aidan leaving cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.)

(My nephew Grey is an amazing artist. He likes to design his own shoes with sharpies.)

Christmas morning actually started off later than expected...thankfully. The kids didn't start stirring until 7:45am or so and we actually had to finally wake Aidan up so he didn't miss out on the gift opening festivities.

The weather has been very California-like. No snow anywhere in sight.... well you can see the snow topped mountains from our house, but none in the Denver Metro area. In fact, Christmas day was in the 50's so we spent a lot of time outside, playing basketball and riding bikes.

(Aidan's new bike - a gift from everyone - thanks!)

(Playing a little basketball with Kellen in the foreground trying out his new scooter.)

The week with my family sped by way too fast and we were really sad to say good-bye to everyone, especially the cousins. Too bad there is about 1600 miles separating us. Thankfully we did get some great pictures of my whole family to memorialize Christmas 2010.

(Eden (17), Kellen (6), Quin (11), Truman (9), Curren (2), Aidan (9) and Grey (15))

(David, me and Kirsten - just for the record, I'm the baby:))