Point 'em Straight and Go!

On Christmas evening we loaded up 13 people into 2 vehicles and we were on our way to Colorado. All the kids were sleeping and the drive was going good until we reached Decatur. Snow storms had blown through a couple of days previously and the roads were still covered (very thickly) with ice and snow. We spent about 3 hours driving between 10-20 mph! This was quite stressful. As we drove this horrible stretch of road, there were cars,trucks and 18-wheelers stranded in ditches along the road. However, believe it or not, this was the better choice of driving routes. The other option would have been to actually drive through snow storms in Kansas. We successfully maneuvered the treacherous roads (which were closed the next day!) and made it to Colorado 24 hours later. We have been going to Colorado for the past 28 years, many of those driving, and we have never seen driving conditions like that, especially not in Texas!

The passengers in our caravan included the four of us, my dad, my aunt, my sister and her 3 kids, both of my brothers and my sister-in-law. Skiing is a favorite pastime for my family and it was very special that everyone in our group was there this year. Some of our favorite family memories are of snow skiing.

Lauren took lessons in ski school for her second time and by the last day she was riding the ski lift. Jason and I picked Lauren up from her last day of lessons and we all rode up the ski lift together. She did amazing! She got off the lift all by herself without us even touching her. She then skied down the mountain, never falling and rarely stopping. Check out the video on Lauren's blog. Jason and I were beaming! We both love skiing and we are so proud (and a little surprised) that she did so awesome. We get so excited when our kids enjoy the same things that we do. Times like this are one of the reasons I love being a mommy.

We have now reached the point in our life that I am reliving the moments with our children that I remember experiencing with my parents (this makes me feel old). We are also getting to play role reversal. My dad spent a lot of time when we were little pulling and pushing us along flat ski areas and expending a lot of energy helping us. This year he got a little payback as we all had the chance to help him out. We had a lot of good laughs and treks down memory lane. Thanks dad for never leaving us behind!

Christmas Revisited

As soon as Lauren's school was on Christmas break, we headed back to the good ol' USA to celebrate with our family. We were only home for two weeks and one of those weeks was spent skiing in Colorado. We had six different family Christmas celebrations, so we stepped off the plane and hit the ground running. Straight from Intercontinental airport, after a 10 hour flight, we headed to our first Christmas celebration. The rest of our holiday followed pattern and we had no down time. Despite being extremely busy, we had a great time seeing all our family, visiting our friends at church, and spending New Years Eve with our friends and their children. We are so blessed to have so many loved ones in our lives to share our time with.

Choo Choo, Look Who's 2!

A lot has happened since my last post, and that is probably why I have been putting this task off. I will first start with the most important and then over the next few days I will work back and cover all of Christmas.

My little baby boy is 2 years old! It is very hard to believe. He is a little boy now and not a baby anymore. It is amazing how much he is learning and doing. His vocabulary and speech has taken off and he spends all day letting you know exactly what he wants and belting out songs. He will also make it very clear if he is not happy, what a temper! There is definitely a big difference between he and Lauren, and I love it.

Since Justin's birthday is so close to Christmas and we would be traveling during the Christmas break, I felt really bad that I would not be able to throw Justin a real party. I know he doesn't care and doesn't know the difference, but I do and I love giving the kids birthday parties. However, instead of 1 party, Justin had several celebrations. We tried to celebrate his birthday with different families during our Christmas celebrations. We also had a cake here in Assen on his actual birthday and a party with our Mums and Tots group.

Right now his favorite things are Thomas the Tank Engine and Lightning McQueen. I think we thoroughly covered these bases with his Christmas and birthday presents. Justin loves building his train tracks and racing his cars. What a boy!

Before we had Justin, I never thought anyone or anything could compare to Lauren and the love and sheer joy that she brought to our lives. I was so wrong! Justin's smile and giggle are pure joy. We have been blessed with two amazing children who's love for us and each other completes our family. Thank you Lord.