So, today, instead of manning the front counter at the Frisco store, I am home with a sick(ish) little girl.  My Paigie has a sore throat and seems to have lost her voice. I am praying that is isn’t the start of something worse.

I am taking this extra time at home to do some laundry, pick up and get some stuff done around the house.  With four kids, a husband and dog there is always STUFF to pick up and laundry to be done.  Anyway, while I am home for the WHOLE day I thought I should take the opportunity and blog.

Sunday, after church we went downtown Breckenridge to check out the snow sculptures.  Last year, we waited too long and after the summer like winter we were having, those babies were melting fast.  It is pretty cool to see what can be done with an enormous block of snow and some gardening tools.  Teams come from all over the world to compete.

 

Snowing here today, under a winter storm watch.  Snow is good because we are in a serious drought not to mention people like to ski on SNOW.  Bring it on Mother Nature. Bring it on.

Jenniffer

There are definitely some things that are tough about living in a small town (i.e. everybody knows your business, no fabric store, lack of culture and diversity).  As I have posted before, we are really enjoying this quieter, small town way of living.  Don’t get me wrong, we loved living in a bigger city as well but this has been a good change for us.  Last night was one of those times when we fell in love just a little bit more with Frisco.

The Spontaneous Combustion is one huge gigantic bonfire.  I know right?!?!?  I am getting excited about a bonfire?!?!?  Well, give me a PBR and a flannel, I am embracing the lifestyle.

The town of Frisco collects everyone’s Christmas trees for a month, piles them up and burns them at one big town party. Don’t be too worried; the fire department was in charge of throwing (and dumping with a front loader) all trees into the fire.   Adults are chatting and kids are running around, sledding on dirty snow piles, making smores on a separate smaller fire (smore fixings are provided by town) and just having fun.  This is something that (I hope) my kids remember forever.  We missed this event last year and I am quite sure we won’t miss it again.  After about an hour of “burning”, the town sets off fireworks from the marina.  After the fireworks, we bid our friends goodnight and walked home.

Aside from being covered in ash and smelling like a campfire until 2020, we are all in agreement that we won’t be mulching our tree ever again.

Jennifer

It is fun to have dinner on the family room floor while watching a movie.  Sometimes, it is fun to do something different.

 

I hope you do something different, sometime.

Jennifer and the rascals

I have seriously been slacking on this promised house tour.  So, here are some shots from our “living room”.  We didn’t have any furniture for this space so it has been home to a piano, a grandfather clock and a couple extra dining room chairs.  Now that we have found some furniture to fit the space (sort of) it seems much more inviting.  We love our wood burning fireplace and now we have a place to sit and enjoy it.  We bought the sectional used and added some tables that we had in the basement but were taking up too much room.  I bought some pillows, a lamp and ordered a big huge rug to add to the coziness.  I am still waiting on my rug and then I think my new living room will be complete.  Well, I am sort of looking for a different coffee table since this one is a tad too big but besides that I am good 🙂

 

When I got home from school pick up, I saw something that really made me smile.

I ran inside to get my camera before it was gone.

The sun was still hanging around at 4:15 pm.

That is very good news, especially if you live in the shadow of a mountain.

Days are getting longer.

Some days, it is truly the little things.  As it should be.

Jennifer

So, last year I shortened my year in review from pictures and lots of words to just a lot of pictures and very few words.  This year I am taking it even further and only posting my favorite picture from each month.  I saw this idea on another blog and thought it was a great idea.  Since my theme for 2013 is Simplification, I am all for the 12 pictures of 2012.

Enjoy.

January

 

February

 

March

 

April

May

 

June

 

July

 

August

 

September

 

October

 

November

 

December

 

Phew.  That was way harder than I had imagined.  Of course, I had a ton of favorite photos  each month but picked one that had a special memory.  It was really hard not to explain each shot.  Oh well.  Maybe next year I will go back to my usual review:)

I hope you all had an awesome 2012 and look forward to all that a new year brings.  Hugs and loves from the Wescott family.

Jennifer

 

No matter how hard I try, I cannot write a completely wordless Wednesday post.   Sooo, my parents spent a few days with us this week and Scott and I got a chance to take my dad out on a ski tour. He is a really good skier but had never skied outside of a resort.  It was a blast and he made it to the top!

To be busy.

December is always a crazy fun month.  We definitely don’t need to find things to keep us busy!  Here is a bit of a picture walk through December. As the month is drawing to a close and we are approaching the start of a new year, we give thanks for all the moments and memories made together.

Decorating our gingerbread house is always a fun family tradition.  This year we had a bit of a frosting fight 🙂

The bigs ran in the Frisco Santa Dash.  To keep warm at the start, they participated in a Gangnam Style flash mob.

Once again, Frisco Elementary oohed and aahed us with their holiday music program.  A couple of the highlights from the show were the 5th grade playing Ode to Joy on the recorders, a kindergartener panicking about a lost necklace during the finale and all my kids on one stage for one year of elementary school 🙂

Celebrating Christmas with the Werschky side of our family.  It was so awesome of them to drive up to our house this year!  The kids loved spending the day with their cousins.

Christmas morning.  Santa was good to all of us this year.

Some of the top gifts this year:

Paige~ drum kit (yep, you read that right)

Alice~ Ugg style boots

Sam~ Mario for the Wii

Mason~ Lego fire truck

What?!?!?! No!!!! Get your mind out of the gutter!!!

Snow, people!!!! We are getting some good snow and we are loving it!

This past Thursday (and the one before) Scott and I dropped the kids off at school and headed out for a ski tour of Mayflower Gulch.  We skinned up a couple of miles, took two thousand pictures (just me) and then skied down through some super cool powder. This is definitely my kind of skiing; no lift lines and no people.  Just Scott and I (and one lone tele guy) enjoying the beauty of Colorado.   I kept stopping to take in the beautiful views.   Mayflower Gulch is gorgeous in the summer or the winter and is definitely one of our favorite places.  When you get to the top there are some remains of super cool old mining cabins.  I love to imagine how those pioneers made it all the way up into the gulch and how tough the conditions must have been with no electricity, heat or running water.

It was an awesome morning and my date was pretty cool too 🙂

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  We have had a busy holiday season at home and at work so I am enjoying a couple of weeks off with my babies.

In the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut, I am once again reminded that our life here on this Earth is short.  We should love our spouses, treasure our babies (no matter the age) and keep our family and friends close, be it in thought and action.

As the holiday season quickly approaches I am also reminded that, instead of getting buried in cards, presents, decorations, holiday parties and commitments, we should stop, take time to breath and enjoy the season.  Earlier this week, I was frantically debating between two pictures of my kids for the Christmas card.  I knew that if I didn’t decide soon, my cards wouldn’t go out in time and they might be late.  And then I stopped. I realized that chances are nobody remembered what my cards looked like last year or when they arrived or if they even received one from us.  Are these silly cards really worth that much worry and time?  No.  I picked a picture, ordered the cards and went and made cookies with my kids.  Because they matter, my kiddos.  Not the Christmas cards or the bulbs that are out at the very top of our tree or the Advent calendar that we forget to add to EVERY DAY.  It is the precious time that I have with my kids and Scott and all the others that I care about.

Have I told you lately….that I love you.

(Thank you Rod.  BTW, did you know that there is a Rod Stewart look alike in West Palm Beach.  Really.)

No. Seriously.  I love you.

Jennifer