Passover

Jen was gracious enough to host Passover dinner for the whole (and extended) family and made it really fun for everyone.  She bought masks and games and lots of other creative stuff to make the seder fun and understandable for the kids, with food and wine to make it equally delicious for the adults!!

All 8 kids were attentive for the most part - excited to see what props from their goodie bags would be next

Then they took turns saying what they would take with them if they had to leave the house quickly to journey across the desert -- Isaac said "my wallet" (hilarious for many reasons, one of which is that he doesn't have a wallet) 

then they rebuilt the egyptian temples with blocks

Having the opportunity to spend holidays with the family - even when they are in the middle of the week - is one of the really special parts of being here for the kids and for us.

More snow days!!

Okay- it's April 15th and we are over the snow and ready for Spring! Unfortunately, the weather gods of Colorado disagree and we have about a foot accumulated with the predictions calling for that much more overnight and tomorrow morning! How is it possible that we were playing outside with no jackets yesterday?? At least Isaac, Caitlin and Bill made the best of it by roasting marshmallows in the wood burning stove :)

Colorado Springs

Bill and I had a fantastic weekend in Colorado Springs -- including a couple of beautiful hikes around the Garden of the Gods and up the "Incline". The weather was beyond gorgeous, as were the views.

Afterward we relaxed at the beautiful Broadmoor, had a delicious dinner, drank too much wine, and slept late -- a perfect weekend away!

St Paddy's Day

We started off the day with a trip down south to visit Grandma Rhoda at the nursing home.  Grandma Gerri brought clover glasses that the kids loved and we joined Grandma Rhoda for a music lesson which was as much fun for the kids as it was for the grownups :)

Next we stopped off at a friend's birthday party and got to see the "real Elmo" which absolutely blew the kids' minds :)

Then we headed home in time for a big St. Patrick's Day feast with homemade corned beef, cabbage, soda bread, and a LOT of beer and a whole bunch of friends...with kids...for a fun, chaotic party. No pictures of the actual party, but I did snap a cute one of the kids with the Anderson siblings before everyone else showed up.

Caitlin's First Haircut!!

Although I had to promise both Bill and Isaac we wouldn't get a lot cut off, we finally got Caitlin her first haircut.  She was super-excited and sat very still the whole time, watching everything the stylist did carefully.  They only cut a half an inch - just to make it healthier, but she told me that it felt different afterward :)  

She picked out pink and purple bows (she couldn't pick just one favorite color) for her adorable post-cut hairdo, and a matching pink lollipop and already can't wait to go back for her next haircut.  Bill would be happy to let it keep growing forever... :)

Happy birthday daddy!!

Family birthdays are getting more and more fun now that the kids really get excited and look forward to it.  They helped Mayensi decorate Bill's office with balloons and each made their own card - Isaac even wrote "I LOVE YOU" and drew a picture of himself! Caitlin used all different colors and drew lots of "scribblenauts" :) They both woke up excited to give him birthday loving - we even heard Cate singing happy birthday in the monitor when she woke up.

Family tradition - candle in the toast

so proud to give daddy their cards

very helpful in mixing (and eating) the cake ingredients 

and icing the cake (one spoon for me, one for the cake...)

isaac was more of a perfectionist, making sure it got on every corner

Finally, we went out to a family dinner with Mayensi and Uncle Evan and the kids got to eat all of Daddy's birthday tiramisu :)

The family celebration was great, and now we are looking forward to the real celebration this weekend when we go away overnight sans kiddos to Colorado Springs to hike the Garden of the Gods and stay at the Broadmoor!

Vail & Winter Park

In January, we had a great weekend in Vail with the whole family stuffed into the Schrutt condo.  We had a great day on the mountain with all of the kiddos (except Sebastian) making their way down on skiis.  Arielle and Isaac went to ski school, and the rest of us skied the greens and blues (except for one run where Bill and I accidentally took Caitlin down a black diamond mogul run - oops!!) I had a blast racing Jaden down the mountain - it's amazing how quickly these Colorado kids become ski bunnies - we are definitely psyched for Isaac and Caitlin to follow that path!

Aunt Alli cuddling with Talia and Caitlin

Alli and me skiing together for the first time in 5 years!

Bill and Caitlin (pre bump-run)

Alli, Jaden, Talia and Jen accompanying me down the blues

Isaac and Ari in ski school - Isaac was doing a jump!

post-ski snacktime

post-ski beer time :)



Dinnertime for the kiddos

The dads got in a day or real skiing on day 2 and we hung around the house.  The kids had a blast running around and playing with each other and didn't even complain. 

In March, we headed to Winter Park for another fun ski weekend - this time at Uncle Evan and Aunt Adrienne's condo.  Instead of cousins, the kids had a blast playing with Ludo and Nala (dogs) and got spoiled with attention by their aunt and uncle.

Caitlin is obsessed with Ludo - who is approx. 6 times her size.

On our way to the first ski run - the kids were bundled up and excited - but the (below?) freezing temperature didn't make for a long day of skiing.  They were troopers for the first few runs, but by noon the wheels fell off and the hysterics could only be cured with the promise of hot chocolate and no more runs!

Evan rode with Caitlin (back) and Bill rode with Isaac (front), and they both made serious progress on their ski skills as a result of the Anderson Ski School attention

Isaac got down the whole mountain on his own on the greens and made an impressive effort to get down the blues too.  He has no fear, and loves to try to get in jumps wherever possible.

Cuddling with Uncle Evan post naps and baths!

On day 2, we got bundled up again and went tubing.  We all had a blast - I thought they would be scared because it was fast, but the kids loved it and wanted to go back down again and again.

Overall, 2 great weekends combining our two favorite things about Colorado - hanging with family and skiing!