thursday afternoons at nana's

Nana is so sweet to let Carter come over and play while I work on Thursday afternoons. They have a great time together. They read, craft, explore, play outside, rest, cook... all kinds of things!

Yesterday, they did some cooking together and Carter made his own "cooking show video"...enjoy :)

And they also had some fun with marbles! Carter is so funny in this one... referring to Nana as "Nana Buchanan"... we never call her that! We thought it was so cute!

Carter loves that he is in half-day Kindergarten -- he so looks forward to his afternoons with Nana!

ku v. texas tech game

The boys love to do some of the basketball challenge games in Allen Fieldhouse before the game...

 cheering on KU :)

 they did the usual t-shirt shootout from the court... a nice older man on the end of our row caught a shirt and gave it to Carter... so kind!!

 KU had a great game!

Here's a video of Grayson and Carter giving the players a high-five before the game:

Rock Chalk, baby!

on finding big jay & baby jay

Last Saturday we headed up to Lawrence for the KU vs Texas Tech basketball game. We had a delicious lunch at Ingredient on Mass Street, and then arrived at the Fieldhouse pretty early. The boys love to find Big Jay and Baby Jay before the game. And, let me tell you, the Jayhawks are a little hard to find at times!!

 A nice usher-type guy told us that if we stood by this hallway, about 30 minutes before the game started, we were sure to find the 'Hawks. And we did!! :)

 Baby Jay came out first and gave the boys a big bear bird hug ;)

 LOVE!!

 and then Baby Jay was off to cheer on the guys!!

Grayson and Miss Kay are on either side of him

 and then, just a few minutes later, we spotted Big Jay! 

 Miss Kay and Jerry giving the big guy some high-fives ;)

Jerry got a blurry but fun pic of Mom and me with Baby Jay -- love our 'Hawks!!

for the right reasons {a book review}

I was blessed with a very fun opportunity to read and review (the Bachelor) Sean Lowe's book that will release in late-January! As many of you know, I am a HUGE Bachelor fan, and have been watching the show since the very first season in 2002.

Sean's book was a great testament to his Christian faith, and how he chose to stay strong in his morals and beliefs throughout the shows. His commitment to marriage and his family is evident as well.

There is also some very fun "insider-type" Bachelor info that I loved reading about... behind-the-scenes tales that are so interesting for those Bachelor-junkies. :)

All in all, I loved reading Sean's story -- from his time playing football at Kansas State to working as a young professional... then his time on the Bachelorette with Emily, and then finding true love with Catherine on the Bachelor and eventually getting married!! 

Thanks for sharing a piece of your heart with the rest of the world, Sean!

more angel fire fun

The beautiful elk that greets you as you drive into the ski village -- he was all decorated for Christmas!

 the view of the mountain never gets old!

 Jerry and the boys (so glad they are all wearing helmets -- yikes!)

 making s'mores at the condo -- Nana brought HUGE marshmallows!

my three favorite boys on the lift :)

 a lift selfie with Grayson

 we're headed to the top!

it's always good when you can't see the rocks at the top of Upper Domingo :)

 our friends, the Haralsons, were staying in Red River at the same time that we were in AF, so they came over and skied two days with us

here are the kids: Will, Grayson, Liz, and Carter

 all the guys!

Brad, Jerry, Will, Grayson, and Carter

Brad and Jerry took the big kids down their first black at AF -- Sluice Box! Woohoo!

skiing in angel fire

On our first day of skiing, Jerry, Grayson, and I headed up to get a few runs in while Carter took a private lesson. It was beautiful... we were the first skiers on a few of the runs, so we enjoyed some fresh powder while we got our ski legs back! 

 Jerry and Grayson

 Angel Fire had gotten quite a bit of snow, so almost every run was open! Yay!

 love that you can see a little bit of the village from way up high!

 Carter's private lesson went well until he had a bout of altitude sickness on the bunny hill. Poor guy! His ski instructor said he was making great turns, though. And, he got to ride down the mountain on a snowmobile. Maybe that made it all worth it?!?

Anyway, here come Jerry and Carter skiing later that morning. Carter was doing great!

 he did so well!

our family of four on the mountain :)

skiing videos :)

Here are a few video snapshots of the boys skiing this year! :)

happy new year!

On New Year's Eve, we loaded up in the car and drove to Angel Fire, NM for a fun long weekend of skiing! On our drive through the mountains, right before Eagle Nest, we spotted some beautiful deer.

 Angel Fire has a torchlight parade and fireworks on New Year's Eve, right on the mountain... so we bundled up to go watch!

 the sunset was breathtakingly beautiful!

 we had no idea there was a mascot in Angel Fire ;)

 the ski patrol all skied down Exhibition, each carrying two torches with fire... the picture doesn't do it justice, but it was really cool!

 we had front row seats!

 here come the skiers/snowboarders with their torches!

 and then they put on an amazing fireworks show... right on the mountain!

Happy New Year!