January in Review

We've completed the first month of 2015, and though it's the longest month, it has flown by! We're embracing the weather and trying to get outdoors as much as possible, but this winter has been cold. 6 snow days already. But we've found lots of ways to stay busy.

Our first adventure just after Christmas was a trip to Deer Tracks Junction. It's a local animal habitat that breeds deer, moose and other game. They have an amazing tour, opportunities to feed and meet the animals, an educational show and the most amazing ice cream I've ever had. Yes, we wore snow pants and ate ice cream. It seemed right.

The kids are appreciating Cali more and more these days. Elise is a real animal lover, and when she shows attention to the dog, inherently Ryan will want to pile on too. Cali is getting old. And though her constant howling at the kid's discomfort rarely ceases, she is very gentle and patient with these kiddos. And I think she loves the attention almost as much. Almost.

Just after New Years we got to watch our Spartans in the Cotton Bowl with one of the most exciting conclusions to a season we've seen...since last year's Rose Bowl. Honestly, it was a bit of a let down to watch a bowl game other than the National Championship or Rose Bowl, but the win was exciting! Ryan learned an important lesson: we never give up on our team, because in sports you never know what's going to happen next! Though he became a Baylor Bear for a few quarters, he quickly went bananas in the last quarter during the epic win. Connor Cook will never know!

Elise is pure spunk and sass and sweetness. Sometimes all at once. Sometimes within 3 second intervals. And other times she is just plain passionate at whatever emotion she is feeling. She loves reading, building magnatiles (she did that tower above all on her own) and getting all dressed up. Bottom right is what we hope will be Elise's only trip to the police station to get finger printed.

Ryan is getting more mature by the day. It really shows with Elise as he tries his best to take care of her...when they're not bickering or competing :) He had an awesome mid-year report from his teacher. The first week of January he got to be the class Star Student. It also happened to be Donut with Dad's that week and my dad got to to join him and see his whole routine. The week concluded on Friday when our family came to class to read his favorite book and show off his most-prized toy, The Tiki and Rhonde Barber story and Uncle B's "vintage" toy truck respectively. Other pics: He's still napping on the weekends...because this kid plays SO HARD all week long. He's got a collection of critters that would make the San Diego zoo look like a petting zoo. And we got to have a mommy/son date night to see Night Out at the Museum 3. He loved every second of it (and the arcade.)

When we're not indoor building something—blocks, legos, magnatiles, megabloxs or some concoction of all of them, the kids have tried to get outdoors. Ryan got a snowboard for his birthday and is surprisingly really good on it. Elise mainly enjoys watching Ry on the big sledding hill across from our house...or getting pulled down the street on her penguin sled. And since I now have a full snow get-up, thank you Max, I can finally join in the play without feeling like I'm going to throw up (when I get cold, that's what happens!)

Elise loves playing doctor, and poor Ryan is the patient when Max and I aren't game. This month we were thankful for her "services"...we all got the stomach flu within 48 hours of one another. It's the thing you fear, but in the end, could have been way worse. We watched so much, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" that' I've accidentally been calling it "Jake and the NeverENDING Pirates!" 

Ry got the thrill of a lifetime when he attended his first Hockey game and got to ride the Zamboni during the first Period. Not sure how we'll ever top that but it was so fun for him. Abby and Michael came special to watch and we also had seats with the Ramseyers, so it was an extra fun Wednesday night all around. Elise even loved it.

The holidays with kids is generally as action-packed as you can imagine, but for my little team at ddm, it's even more so. Ever year over the holidays we're also prepping for the biggest event of the year for our client, Stryker. This year was no exception as I flew out to National Sales Meeting on January 4th. It was great to be in Scottsdale at the Phoenician, stay in warm weather, but it was especially great to see the months of my team's hard work pay off. After 16+ hour days, I came home, crashed and immediately got sick within a few days. I wouldn't want to start the New year any other way though!