The Snow Forts

Jason has been taking the snow shoveled from the driveway and sidewalk to build the kids 2 snow forts in the front yard. They have grown as the the snowfalls have and now even have windows and alcoves. The kids have been having a blast with them. I think the biggest problem soon is going to be getting the snowballs OVER the walls!!

Jess showing off the inside
the perfect hiding spot
spying on the enemy
This is Jess standing between the 2 forts on the yard
Jason wanted everyone to see his Blazer now that it's dug out

Christmas at Our House

We had a wonderful Christmas at our house, even though we missed everyone! We wanted to share some of the pictures of Christmas morning with you all. I've tried something new with the slide show. I thought it might be a much easier way to post quite a few pictures. Please let me know what you think of it!! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

Finding the Right Tree

Here on base you can buy a permit to go out in the woods and cut down your own Christmas tree. We thought this would be a very interesting adventure! So, everyone bundled up and went for a ride :) We seemed to have forgotten how much snow had fallen recently...until Jason got out of the car to look at a few trees and sunk to mid thigh in the snow! The kids enjoyed playing around while Jason cut down the tree....which by the way was a little over 20 ft. tall before he started. He cut it down to about 12 ft before he brought it over to the car and then cut about another 2 ft off before loading on....because I knew there was no way that tree was fitting anywhere near my house!! After we got it home it took my cars spot in the garage where it got it's final trimming and is the beautiful Christmas tree it is today :)


Have a seat anywhere Sammy!
Jess sunk in the snow and Drew being so light didn't. For the first time Drew is taller than Jess!




Sammy and I infront of Jason's Blazer taking a break.
The tree behind Jason is ours after the first cut. This is the tree in the garage getting it's final cuts.

Jess' Concert

Click To Play

Jess had her first orchestra concert last Friday at school. She was very excited and nervous but she did a wonderful job! We are really proud of her. We wanted to share a few pictures and a video with all of you :) Hope you enjoy!

Ice Fishing

On Saturday we set out for a family day of ice fishing :) We were on a nearby public lake that one of Jason's friends took him to the other day. It's called Sand Lake. It was definitely a new experience!! Jess caught the first fish of the day and Sammy caught the biggest. Jason also caught one. Jess and Drew also enjoyed running and sliding around on the ice to keep themselves occupied.



This is how you use a hand auger. Everyone gets there own hole so Jason got to do this several times :)

Once the hole is drilled you have to shovel the ice chips from the area and scoop out as much of the slush from the hole as possible. Jess and Drew were more than willing for this job!!





This is the view across the lake. There were a few ice fisherman over there as well.

The first fish of the day. Can you tell she is a little proud??

According to Sammy this fish was well worth the wait!

Jess on the Violin

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Jess Playing a Tune

Jess has taken up the violin since we moved up here. She has been taking lessons 3 days a week and is in the school orchestra. She has picked up 2 songs already and is really enjoying it. Next week they will be having a holiday concert that I will video as well and try to share. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do :)