Christmas

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone and that it is already New Years Eve!! It's crazy how time flies.

We had a really nice Christmas. Joel and I both took the whole week of Christmas off. It was nice to spend the week together. We were able to do some fun stuff. We went skiing one day, that was really fun and made for some good laughs. Mykell is still learning, and lets just say while sking Mykell had quite a few falls,a broken pole, and she can tell you a really funny story about her losing her skis while getting on the lift!! We also saw a couple of movies. Marley and Me was my favorite, although after seeing the movie I can't get Joel or Mykell to stop looking at dogs on the internet. Poor Mykell is getting her hopes up, and it's not going to happen!! We also got to spend time with all of our families and I think we relaxed a little although I can't really remember that part.... But the most important part of the Christmas break was reflecting on the meaning of Chistmas. Christ's Birth!!

We hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas and we look forward to sharing the New Year with you!!

Here's Mykell telling Santa all she wants for Christmas is an I-pod!!

Mykell admiring her lime green I-pod

Look at this cute coat that I bought for Joel to give me on Christmas!! Doesn't it look nice with the pajama pants?

Doesn't Joel look so cute in his new shades?

Even Bella got a present!

Mykell's 1st Ski Lesson

Mykell had her first ski lesson at Wolf Mountain this past Saturday. She was so excited, and I must say she looked so cute in her new snow outfit! Mykell actually won the lesson and a free ski rental from a contest she participated in at her school. I knew that she really wanted to learn how to ski when I heard how the contest worked. Basically the person who ran the most miles in the first three weeks of November won a free ski rental, pass, and lesson at Wolf Mountain. Mykell ended up running 12.5 miles, and won the prize!! She had such a good time skiing. We actually had a pretty big storm on Friday night and Saturday so there was new snow and it even snowed a little during her lesson. Mykell was way exhausted by the end of the day, but she still can't wait to go back. We've already made plans for the next trip, this time Joel and I will see what skills (if any) we still have.

Here's Joel helping Mykell before her lesson. Notice that she doesn't have any poles. I guess they don't give the kids poles because they want them to learn how to balance without them! Sounds harder to me?

Here's Mykell riding on a conveyor belt that takes her to the top of the bunny hill!

Mykell sleeping in the car on the way home!

Happy Birthday Joel!

Joel's B-day was yesterday!! He turned 36!! He is now closer to 40 then 30! I think he's doing ok with the whole age thing. (no mid-life crisis yet!!) He is definitely not like me. I'm going to turn 30 on my next birthday, and I am not looking forward to it at all. Joel asked me the other day if I was still ok being married to an older man. I of course am still "ok" with my older man!!

We celebrated Joel's B-day on Sunday with the Petersen side of the family. We had a really fun party. Joel requested that his mom make chili and that we have cheese cake for dessert. I found something out about Joel that I didn't know.... His favorite kind of cake is cheese cake? I honestly didn't know that? Anyway, everything tasted amazing, and it was fun visiting with all the family.

Joel I hope you had a great Birthday. Your an awesome Husband and Dad. Mykell and I are so blessed to have you!! Happy Birthday!

Thanksgiving!!

I know I'm slow at getting my blogs posted, but I have a minute so here goes...

We had a really good Thanksgiving. We switch off each year between my parents and Joel's parents. This Thanksgiving we spent with the Rivera side of the family. We had a really good dinner (thanks mom), and it was fun to see all of the fam!! I contributed pies and mashed potatoes to the meal. And I'm proud to say that I didn't mess anything up! You can see a picture of the beautiful pies! My mom actually helped me with the pies. She's only showed me like 5 times how to make pies... I still don't think I want to try one without her present! !

Before we ate our meal we went around the room and all said what we were thankful for. My three year old niece Paige said she was thankful for "my Jesus"!! It was cute!! We all had and have so much to be thankful for. We are so blessed!

We also had a really fun game of spoons after the turkey dinner. I have to brag and say I was the winner. The game got a little violent, but no one was seriously hurt!!

Joel and I are now detoxing from our Thanksgiving meal and months and months of over eating! I hope everyone had a really good Thanksgiving.

Here is my mom preparing our meal! Thanks Mom!

These are the beautiful and delicious pies we made.

We just finished our meal and look how happy we are!!

I thought this was a cute picture of my sister Jen, Mykell and my mom!