As usual we had a pretty low-key New Years Eve.  Our dear friends came up to the county to ski so we were lucky enough to spend the evening with them.  We had a quick (but not quiet; seven kids) dinner at our house and then we all headed up to Copper to watch the fireworks.  It was super cold but we warmed up with some hot chocolate/cider and watched a great show.  The next day we all skied together at A-Basin.  It was another cold, blustery day but skiing with friends made it all worthwhile.  We had a ton of fun, laughed a lot and froze our tushies off.

 

These kids have been friends for most of their lives.

 

 

Love my friend and running buddy!  It was so fun to catch up:)

Jennifer

Due to owning a retail store, we usually need to stay pretty close to home around Christmas.  Although it would be great to be with family, we always make the best of it and enjoy our time together.  Some years we have hiked on Christmas Day, others we have gone on a snowshoe.  This year, mainly because everyone received new hockey sticks and pucks, we headed to the skating pond.  As it was the first time on our skates this season, we were all a bit rusty.  We played a mean game of three on three. Girls v. Boys.  The girls lost 5-1 but it didn’t help that one of the players sat in the snow bank and ate snow off of her gloves for most of the time:)  There was lots of laughter and we all went home with smiles and some sore behinds.

Merry Christmas.

 

Okay, I have tons of pictures and posts stacked up and not a lot of time to write them.  Be patient with me; I promise to get to them.  We have been busy with a move at our store, alpine ski practices, nordic ski practices, Taekwondo, decorating for the holidays, school programs, band concerts and much, much more.

Last Saturday, Alice had her very first (ever) nordic skate ski race.  It was really cool for Scott and I because we raced downhill and this cross-country ski racing was all new for us.  Imagine about 35 or so girls at a mass start, on skis….Crazy.  Anyway, we were super proud of her.  She did awesome, especially because she had only been to three practices this season (due to her skis being on back order).

It is fantastic to stand back and watch my kids. Whether it is a sport, a class project or instrument, they amaze me with their strength and determination.

Way to go, Alice!  We can’t wait to watch you crush it at the next race!

 

Warming up….

 

Alice and her new middle school friend, Sadie.

 

 

Charging toward the finish line.

 

Happy Thursday,

We are definitely on the countdown to Christmas.  I guess I better start wrapping!

Jennifer

Yep.  The Wescott crew headed out into the wilderness to find the perfect tree again this year.  It is an interesting year for us because, as you know, we have a very large puppy.  So with that in mind, I was pretty sure that a small tree would be good.  Something that didn’t attract too much attention.  Rosie will leave a small tree alone, right?

Nope.  We got a large tree. I will admit that I did pick it out (BUT, with the idea that we would cut it down about 6 feet) and it is gorgeous.  It is large.  It looked a lot smaller in the wild.  We don’t have a large home.  And this tree takes up a good part of our not so large home.

Anyway, the trip out to find the tree was good.  It didn’t take too long and we found it about 1/2 mile from the car.  Nobody cried.  All in all, a successful day.

 

My crazy crew with our not so small Christmas tree.

Jennifer

When we got up this morning, we took a vote on what to do today.  Scott wanted to ski, I wanted to stay in my jammies and the kids all wanted to go sledding.  Daddy and I lost the vote.  So, we all bundled up and headed to the sledding hill.  It was a gorgeous morning and we had a blast.  Our heinies will be yelling at us tomorrow but for today we are happy:)

 

After all that sledding, we made a quick stop at our local frozen yogurt place.  Yum.

 

 

Happy Saturday!

Jennifer

Happy Belated Halloween!  I hope you all had a spectacularly scary and fun night!

Paige was a purple polka-dotted monster.  She always gets my creative juices flowing with her crazy costume ideas.

 

The whole gang, ready to hand out and receive candy.

 

 

Nothing says Happy Halloween like a hippy photo bomb.  This mad scientist wasn’t fazed.

 

 

 

Sam decided at the last-minute to dress up as a chef.  I think the moustache was a great final touch:0)

Now we move on to Thanksgiving.

Jennifer

My baby is now a teenager.  Yikes!  Not sure how or when that happened but I sure am proud of him!  He is kind, sweet, honest, bright, super handsome and just an all around great kid!!!

He decided to invite a few friends to the bowling alley to celebrate along with his brother and sisters.  We all had a blast celebrating Sam.

Happy Birthday!!!

Did you notice…he cut his hair?  We loved his long, gorgeous locks but it is super nice to see his face again:)

Love, Jennifer (officially an old momma)

We are getting ready for winter around here.  We have been busing getting our yard and house ready for the harsh days of cold and snow.  We have electric heat at our house and because it can be pricey on those super cold days, we burn wood in our fireplace almost everyday.  I usually start it in the morning and continue it going throughout the day and evening.  Sooo, that means that we have to get wood somehow.  Last year we bought a couple of cords of wood and it was expensive.   So this year,  Scott got some free tree trunks and it was up to us to cut it into logs and split it all.  Thanks to my dad for splitting a ton of it and to our friend, Dwight, for letting us borrow his log splitter.  It took about three full days to get it all done.  Most of the time, it was a full family affair.  Hauling, splitting, stacking….hauling, splitting, stacking….

Today, because the kids had the day off of school, we got to spend a lot of time over at Breckenridge Stables.  We went over twice today to help out some friends who were taking care of three horses for a couple of days.  We helped muck, feed and exercise the horses and it was loads of fun. The girls got a chance to ride and I didn’t lose the wheelbarrow in the huge pile of horse poop.  A win for all of us:)  Mason was head carrot feeder and poop scooper.  Paige learned to “lope” around and Alice had fun exercising the horses.

Here are just a few shots from the day…..

 

One more day of vacation and then back to work!

Jennifer

 

This past weekend (along with about 15 other Frisco families) we went camping and mountain biking in Fruita.  Colorado has awesome mountain biking all over but Fruita is well-known for its fantastic lines and gorgeous views.  The campsite is popular and books up early (six months in advance) so we have been anticipating this trip for a while.  It was great to get away, ride our bikes, hang out with friends and just relax.  The weather could not have been nicer and we all had a blast riding, and riding, and riding…..

The truth is that we just really love to camp and throw in some awesome mountain biking and we are all in heaven.

Breakfast by the fire….

 

Crazy eyes Wescott….

 

Juice boxes are a real treat and only are consumed while camping…

 

Camping is fun…camping with friends…even better!

 

Serious mountain biking face….

 

Getting ready…..

 

Scott geared up and checking the trail one last time….or his Facebook page…who knows?

 

 

Mason waiting not-so-patiently for his turn on the super fast downhill.  He rode so well this weekend and had so much fun…

Anyway, we had a great weekend.  I adore these family times.  They are the best.

Now I have to wash EVERYTHING.  Ugh.

Jennifer