Donut Falls

For our day off from school today (Ry had to work) we went on a winter hike with my mom, my brother-in-law Slade (Erin's husband) and his three boys, and my sister Lindsey and her son Jonah. The weather in the valleys has been cold and smoggy (gotta love that inversion!) and it was so nice to be above it all--it was sunny, warm, and the air was clean. It was a great way to spend the day! The path was pretty well groomed by previous snow-shoers and cross country skiiers.

We made it all the way to the falls (it's only about a mile hike to the falls, but there were times that the kids weren't sure they wanted to keep going). We talked about finishing what you started, pushing on just a little bit more, even when it's hard and all of that... and we were glad we did. I'm not sure the kids got the deeper meaning of it all, but it got me thinking about pressing on, pushing forward, etc.

Most of the falls were frozen over, but we still got a glimpse of the water.

Crazy cousins: Tayden, Liv, Coleman, Evan, and Brady. You can tell it's warm--Liv shed her coat. I wished I had dressed with fewer and thinner layers too.

I had to include this shot of Brady (2 years old)... he had his finger up his nose for a good few minutes while he got a ride on the sled.

We finished off by sledding for awhile and going back to my mom's for hot chocolate and lunch--a great way to spend the day!

**Do you enjoy winter hiking?
**Have you been sledding yet this year?

Once There Was A Snowman

We had our first real snowfall of the year last Saturday--a fitting way to bring in December! The kids were so excited to go out and play in it and were successful in convincing Ryan that he needed to go out and shovel. The guilty look on his mug is just after he chucked a shovel-full of snow at me, the innocent photographer. Olivia and Coleman loved being in the snow and had a good time building this snowman. Today, in the sun he melted, small, small, small. Goodbye Mr. Snowman!