Viva Las Vegas!

Adam and I haven't really had a vacation together since our boys were born and we decided it was time for a little getaway. We decided on Las Vegas since I've never been there and Adam's been a couple times and loves it. Our parents split the time watching the boys and made it so easy for us to go! We couldn't even remember what it was like to go through an airport without kids and all the kid paraphenalia that goes with them anymore. We both kind of looked around like, is this for real?

Once we got toour hotel, the Bellagio, we went up to our room and vegged out for a little while, relishing the peacefulness of it all. We spent the next three days doing whatever we wanted! Adam played in a poker tournament for a while and I tried my hand at craps which I think is totally fun... neither of us made any money:-( We ate at some really yummy buffets and walked up and down the strip looking at all the cool hotels and shops. One of the days we went to The Price is Right gameshow. It was really fun though neither of us got called to play. I was all ready to win the showcase showdown too!

We had a wonderful time and it was so nice to have some time devoted to just the two of us! I have such a wonderful husband and I remembered so many reasons why I love being with him! Hope we get to get away a little more often than every 3 years:-)

Annual Bunn Family McCall Weekend

Here's some pics from our fun weekend in McCall a couple of weeks ago with the Bunn side of the family (my mom's fam). We had a blast and got to see a lot of family that only see a couple times a year. Lots of fun, fun, fun!

What a cute little guy!

Uncle Jim, my dad, Cole, Adam, and Uncle Wayne


Kristine and Mason

Cole thought this was great... Adam got a good workout:-)

New 2010 Activity ... skiing!

We were able to get ski passes for the whole fam (minus Mason) at the end of last ski season and have been anxiously awaiting Bogus Basin's opening. Then once it did open, we had to get through the business of the holidays until we found a day we could get up there.

So last Sunday after church we drove up the hill for Cole's first ever day of skiing! He did absolutely great and we were very excited that he was able to get the hang of it so quickly. We spent most of the day on the bunny hill and going up the bunny hill chair lift. He still has a way to go to learn to turn better and keep control but who wouldn't after just one day. He really wanted to just point his skis down the hill and go full speed ahead! I have a feeling I'm going to have trouble keeping up before I know it. Our friends Brad, Renee, and Brock got passes too and Brock (9 yrs) is already flying down the hill without problems! It'll be fun to be able to go skiing with them throughout the year too.

We had such a fun day and were worn out by the end as you can see:-)

My Masterpiece

I decided to make a cloth book for Mason for Christmas. I hadn't ever attempted anything with so many different materials and accessories so it was a challenge but it was really fun. I wanted to have a record of it in case it gets trashed throughout the years of play. Both boys really like it and I'm quite proud of my accomplishment! Adam got me a new digital sewing machine for Christmas so my next projects should be a breeze:-) (Or at least I'll get more practice.)

Christmas 2009

We kicked off Christmas with a Bucher family gathering the Saturday before Christmas. We did a prime rib on our BBQ and had a delicious dinner with steamed clams, scallops, and shrimp scampi. We had opened presents and then had chocolate fondue for dessert. Cole and Mason got some really cool presents that Grandpa made them. One was a race track for their matchbox cars and Cole got a "super strong slingshot" which was one of his biggest Christmas wishes.

For Christmas we were with the Johnson side this year up at the cabin in McCall. We got to go up Wednesday night and stay through Sunday so it was a nice vacation. We snowmobiled in and just vegged for 4 days. (as much as you can veg with a 3 and 1 year old) We woke up in the morning and sat in the hot tub, then at fabulous breakfasts, hung out, ate great lunches, napped/sledded/snowmobiled/read/played guitar hero/played ticket to ride, ate awesome dinners- including our traditional Christmas Eve seafood feast, and enjoyed everyone's company! Another special tradition we have is that my mom gives each of us a Christmas ornament and a special Bible verse to go along with it. It means a lot and is so cool to hear the verses she picks out for each one of us. It was so much fun with my whole family there. We also had my Auntie Fay, Uncle Charley, Kate and David up there at their cabin and they brought a friend, Jeannette. She is a refugee from Africa who has been here for only a couple of months and has no one that she knows here. It was so fun to get to meet her and share our family and the joy of Christmas with her. The day we left she said that it had been a very long time since she had felt any love and affection and that over the few days up there, she had felt love. It was so incredible to know that she was affected that way and it made me so proud to be part of a family that can give that to others! What a great Christmas!

Gingerbread House Night!

Every year some friends and I get together before Christmas and decorate gingerbread houses. I know it seems like the kind of thing you'd get together with your kids and do, but we like to do this as a girls night out. We each make our own house and then bring all sorts of candy to decorate with and dive in! It's so much fun and of course, just when it seems like the houses are looking perfect, we have to find places to add more. That's where I ended up with a snowman, duck in a pond, and fire in my yard! It's a fun tradition that I hope will last a long time!

Happy Birthday Mason-boo!

I have some major catching up to do here! My little baby turned 1 year old on December 14th and I am just now posting it! It is hard to think that one year ago he was this brand new 8lb 7oz little baby that arrived and immediately was part of our family that could never be replaced! We had to endure a few extra days in the hospital and some seemingly long days with the "light suitcase". Now looking back that was all in the blink of an eye and seems like such a minute memory compared to everything else. He is such a wonderful, smiley, inquisitive little boy. He lays his head on my shoulder each night when I pray with him before bed and it melts my heart. He yells "Mom" whenever he wants something. The words he's said so far include: star, dog, mom, dad, ball, uh-oh, and wow. He is almost running now and has been walking for the last 3 months. Still working on the crawling thing though:-) He loves to growl with Cole and is surprisingly resiliant to the bumps and bruises that come with being a younger brother. He has the cutest laugh which sounds kind of like a dolphin and has somewhat of an evil laugh component to it. He is just completely wonderful!

We had a little birthday party for him with family and had lots of fun! He ate each of the colored frosting balloons off the cake and then dug into the cake. As expected, he was a mess and very happy! He got lots of fun toys and books and was thoroughly exhausted by the night's end! Happy Birthday Toots, we love you!!!