Steamboat 2013!

This trip was many years in the making, but we finally made it!  We skied with Taylor and Price about 10 years ago and have been 4 times with Hayley and Adam, starting back when we lived in Lubbock. 



We always thought that a big ski trip would be so much fun, and boy were we right!  We arrived in Steamboat on a beautiful afternoon.  We immediately fell in love with our condo that was right on the slope of the mountain.  Pure perfection.



We checked out the hot tub and heated pool, and although we tried to hit it up one night, it was not to be.  The pool closed at 10pm and us crazy kids were ready to roll a bit later than that.



 

Back to the Edgemont...this place was awesome!  A really nice pad for us to live in for 4 nights.  The bathrooms even had heated floors!  Heaven.



After we got settled, it was time to have a late lunch, so we met the shuttle outside our condo...





and went to Slopeside for some much needed fuel.  We just had to order some Colorado Bulldogs in honor of finally making it back!



 

Later that night, we had dinner at Cafe Diva and soon found out that this tiny little unassuming restaurant had some of the best food in town.  Yum!

 

The next morning, we were ready to get to the top of those mountains!

The boys were ready...

and so were the girls! 

It was a great first day of skiing.  No big spills and we all made it back feeling pretty good:)

We went to Slopeside to listen to live music and just had the best time hanging out with everyone.

The next morning we woke up to snow.  Lots of it!  And it continued to snow all day long.

It got pretty hard to see at times and was probably our toughest day skiing. 

When the guys spotted this picnic table, they did not hesitate at all to go lounge for a minute.

Other times, when no tables were in sight, they just lounged on the mountain.  Ha!

After a hard, full day of skiing, all of us were excited to get out of our ski boots and go chill by the firepit.

Jared was resourceful and had a make-shift cooler going right behind him!

 

We made smores and hung out until it was just about dark...then we headed inside for some lasagna that had been cooking in the oven.

After dinner, we thought it would be fun to go soak in the hot tub.  The condo provided these robes for everyone, so we put 'em on and hopped in the elevator.  We were really looking forward to it, but we were too late.  Boo!  Better luck next time.

For our last day of skiing, we awoke to sunny skies and it had stopped snowing.  Hooray!

We had some professional pictures taken at the top of the Gondola.  I love this one of group...

and this one of me and my hot hubby, too.

Adam and Hayley got to pose with the skis, which was so cute...

and Taylor and Price were really good sports about crawling up the mountain, but it turned out good!

We named ourselves Ski Team Next Level.  Get hype!

And even pulled off this daring and dangerous pyramid:)

Love that I got to ski with these two girls. 

After we were done with our photo shoot, we took off down the mountain.  It was perfect--ski days really don't get much better.

The bottom half of the mountain was sunny...

then we got on a lift to go to the top and it suddenly turned really cold!  It was beautiful, though, and felt like we were inside a postcard.

Who am I kidding?  The whole day felt like a postcard!

Just look at this wide open run.  Fab, fab, fab.

Hayley caught a sweet moment of us riding up the ski lift...and then we headed back for some lunch.

That afternoon, the girls rallied, the boys took naps.  At least, two of them did.  Jared read a book and drank some Shiner on our balcony.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, I suppose.

Us girls had SO MUCH FUN on our own, though!  We skied progressively harder runs all afternoon and busted a move on blacks the whole way back to the condo.  It felt good to know we've still got it!

Our last evening we went souvenir shopping for the kids and were not surprised to get a phone call saying that the guys had found a bar inside the Sheraton Hotel.  When we met them there, they had made friends with Jack, an Ambassador of Steamboat, and all three were holding court.

We enjoyed listening to the band and then were off to dinner at the Oar House.

As if our steaks were not filling enough, we ordered two mile high mud pies for dessert.  Check out the size of these monsters!

The next morning we went outside to catch the shuttle down to Gondola Square. 
Is this not so picturesque?  It was tough to say goodbye.



We had such a fantasic trip with our friends and really could not have enjoyed ourselves any more if we tried.  We were missing our babies, though, so it was time to say goodbye to Steamboat.  For now.  We'll be back, though, no doubt!

6 year stats

Hooray for a great check-up on Monday!

Jackson had his 6 year check-up with his pediatrician and passed with flying colors.  They tested his hearing and vision and said everything was perfect.  Yay!

Here are his stats:
Height: 47 inches (75%)
Weight: 50 lbs (75%)
Blood pressure: 98/54

And the best part...no shots!

World Champions?!

Sunday night we had Jackson's end of season basketball party.  Now, don't get me wrong, the little Mavericks did really well and tied for first place, but if you didn't know better, you'd think they may have won the world championship!

We started off the night by meeting at the coach's house...and hopping in this huge Hummer limo!

Of course, Jackson thought it was really cool.  And who are we kidding, Jared and I did, too!  Afterall, it was our first time to ride in a Hummer Limo, too.

Thank goodness there was a separate area in the back that was perfect for four little rascals.  Where might we be headed in our sweet ride?  Del Frisco's, of course!  Yes, we rolled up to Del Frisco's Steakhouse with these four boys and two others met us there.  For a basketball party!

Before dinner, Coach Ray gave out their trophies.  One of Jackson's favorite parts of the night, for sure. 

We were missing two teammates, but had fun celebrating with most of the Mavs.  They have come a really long way this season and learned so much.

 

The coaches and dads all played a big role in teaching these boys how to be great team players. 
Way to go, Mavericks!

After feasting like we have never done before, we hopped in our ride and headed back to Murphy:)

 The ride home was even crazier because the other two kids hopped in with us. 
It was a night to remember, for sure!

Meanwhile...back at the ranch

This past weekend we finally didn't have any sports, so we took full advantage of it and headed north!

We woke up Saturday morning, got all bundled up, and went down to check out the lake.  It was a pretty day, and we were so happy to be able to spend it outdoors.

Jared and Jackson decided that I didn't own any good ranch shirts, so they remedied that problem by buying me a good ole Roper shirt at Cavendars for Christmas.  Can't say I've really had the need to wear it before now, but I was game since we were going to the ranch.  Both of our outfits cracked me up.  Jared wearing an american flag t-shirt, John Deere cap and me in my Roper gear.  We had J take our picture so that Jared could send out a tweet that read, "I love America, John Deere and Cowgirls.  Yee haw!"  In hindsight, I should have made him say "cowgirl," but I doubt that any of his 6 followers even noticed!

Little Miss Fearless was all about the four wheelers and especially liked going through the "jungle," aka the trees:)

We raced the boys and had so much fun.  They threw dust in our faces one time and Lila started hollering,"come back here you stinky boys!"  Then we got in front of them and I said "girls rule!" which was quickly followed with "boys drool!" from Lila.  Ha!  She's so sassy sometimes...I love it.

After four-wheeling, it was time to brush and saddle the horses.  Maddie did a great job getting them ready.  The kids all loved brushing them and did so well.

Our trail ride went well...for the most part.  During the middle of it, though, Jackson got thrown off.  Yes, you read that right, my son fell off a horse!  He and Jared were riding Doc and they went under some branches that were a little low.  The branches broke on Jared and that spooked Doc, so he jumped and took off running.  The next thing I know, Jackson is on the ground, looking pretty stunned, but not crying or anything.  We were all in shock, but he told us he was fine, that he fell on his bottom but nearly "stuck the landing."  Good grief--my heart was in my throat for a second, but then I was so proud of him.  He got right back up on that horse and we continued on.  Such a brave little guy.

The next morning, we started the day out perfectly, and got to enjoy this beautiful sunrise.  So pretty!  We had another fun day at the ranch and then came on back home.  Lila was not a fan of this, as she has decided that we should live at the ranch full-time.  She cried and cried about how she didn't want to leave.  Sweet girl has such love for the horses, it's really cute.  We hope to get back up there soon and see more sunrises.  They just start your day out right, ya know?

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

Jackson's whole class got to wish him happy birthday at school yesterday.

Hooray for fun friends!

He took iced sprinkle cookies with him to share with all his classmates.  He also got to wear this cool birthday crown all day, too.  The birthday has been well celebrated, that's for sure!

Jackson's 6th Birthday

It's official!  On Sunday morning at 8:26, Jackson turned 6 years old.  He had been counting down the hours for the previous 24 hours!  Think he was excited?

We celebrated by having homemade pancakes, maple bacon and some cheesy eggs.  J opted out of the eggs, but promptly put away 3 pancakes and 4 slices of bacon.  He was one happy little guy.

It was a really nice, calm way to start the day and we all had fun with the birthday boy.

Since his last basketball game of the season was later that afternoon, he and daddo needed to get in a little practice time. 

I think all that hard work paid off...

because Jackson was ready to roll by game time!  He won the tip-off and was off and running.

He played so well the whole game, scoring 12 points and getting lots of rebounds.  He even intercepted a handful of passes and played smart ball.  We were really proud of him.

Victory!  The Mavericks won 27-5.  They ended the season with 7 wins and 1 loss.  Pretty impressive!

After the game we went home and got ready for our cookout with the fam.  Uncle Scott, Aunt, Lyndsie, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Maria, Poppi, Boom, Gigi and Madison were all there to wish Jackson happy birthday one more time.  We had cheeseburgers, chips and ranch style beans--all of J's favorites.  We also went around the table and everyone shared something that they really liked about Jackson.  It was so nice and he loved it. 

A few things that were said: Jackson is a great big brother and I love him. (Lila). Jackson tries hard to be the best at everything, whether it's sports, reading or math. Jackson has great love for the Texas Rangers and can remember all of their stats! Jackson shows people how much he loves them. Jackson is a brave little guy! Jackson still gives me hugs at school and tells me that he loves me every day. Jackson has a kind heart.

I know that there were more, but I can't remember them!  To sum it up, though, we think he's a pretty cool little dude.

We had just enough cupcakes left over from the night before, so I didn't have to make another cake!  Yay!  Jackson chose a vanilla cupcake and we all enjoyed dessert with him.

Present time!  He got so many nice things from everyone.

One of his favorites was this electric guitar from Memaw and Poppi.

He also loved the Cowboys jersey and helmet.  In fact, he's worn it quite a bit since he opened it~he takes it in the car and wears it around the house, too.  Ha!  Guess you never know when a football game might break out. 

This sums up our 6 year old so well - playing soccer and wearing his new goalie gloves, basketball uniform and football helmet.  Think he's a sports nut?? 
Love it.  And we love you, J man!  So very much.