Bear Valley

Over the weekend, we headed with friends to their family mountain house to have some more fun in the snow. It was a great weekend full of skiing, sledding and snowmobiling. We even got to visit an old gold rush town on the way home. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

The cabin was only accessible by snowmobile. The kids had a great time riding various ways. On the seat...

On the back of the sled....

and in the sled

Ian found a bear!

We all had a great time sledding. Sledding is even better when there is a snowmobile at the bottom of the hill to take you back up...

Daddy going down in the inner tube

Ian getting some help in the red sled

all the way down the hill

Emma and her friend on the way down

So fun!

Playing in the snow while waiting for a ride

All the kids

They had a great time playing together all weekend

The cabin we stayed in

"Daddy, can we take it home with us???"

On the way home we stopped in Columbia Ca. It is now a state park set up like a gold rush town.

Driving a wagon

riding in the back

old fashion bowling

the game takes a little longer without the automatic pin setter

Ian wanted to learn about gold panning

The stagecoach ran through town

The town jail

It was great to see another part of the state we live in and have some more fun in the snow with great friends.

Another Soccer Player in the family

Ian has started soccer classes while Emma is taking an art class. He seems to really like it.


On the way to class with our new ball

Practicing at the school park

Skiing into the New Year

On New Years Day, we headed east to find some snow in the Lake Tahoe area and do a few days of skiing. Dan got me my first pair of skis for Christmas and Emma was really excited to ski again.

Everyone skied this year. Even Ian! Emma went to 3 days of ski school and Ian went to 2 days of ski school.
Our goal with Ian (our cautious child) was for him to just have a good time and not cry when with these big boots and sticks stuck to his feet. Mission Accomplished!
Although he did not learn any real skills, he had a great time, especially when Daddy took him up on the "big hill"

Ian "Skiing"

Skiing to Daddy
Ian also spent a lot of time like this:

At least he had a big smile on his face
Pretty much the only time Ian cried was when we had to give back his skis and boots.
Emma once again amazed us with her ability and adventuresome spirit. After three days of ski school, she is now skiing Intermediate (and some difficult) hills. On the last day of class her instructor took the class through the trees and a little place called "The Ditch of Doom". Emma loves skiing and says this was the best vacation ever (better even that Disneyland and Hawaii). Here are just a few pictures and one movie of her success.

A little blurry, but one of my favorite pictures of the fun she was having

Heading down the hill

Heading into "The Ditch of Doom"

Made it in!

Skiing through trees

We had a wonderful time and will be heading back out for more ski time in two weeks.

Tis the Season to be Jolly

We had a fun filled December with lots of events and activities to celebrate the season. At the beginning of the month, we put up our Christmas tree.


Emma decided to be our stand in while the real tree was being put up.

Ian helped to decorate "the tree"

Finding all their favorite ornaments
Everyone had to have a turn putting the star on top:



The finished product
One day we went to a friend's house to decorate Gingerbread houses. Emma and Ian each took one side of the house. Emma was very artistic with her side, while Ian was very precise.

Emma's class at school was in a concert of holiday music.

Ian waiting for the show to start

Emma ready to sing

Emma and her teacher and the flowers Daddy got her
One evening, we took the train into downtown San Jose their Christmas in the Park. Emma's girl scout troop decorated one of the trees.

Thanks for the fun glasses, Uncle David

We saw Snowman and Santas in all the Christmas lights
The weekend before Christmas, we (along with Emma's gingerbread Fred) took a quick trip down south....

To visit these guys:


and this girl:

Even though it was pretty crowded, we had a great time visiting the new Carsland and riding lots of rides. We know had to work the system and spend the least amount of time in line using fast passes and rider switch passes.

Santa came on Christmas eve and left a big stash of presents under our tree and we have had a long school break to try out all our new toys. One if the favorites is these magnatiles:

I already know that we should have bought the bigger set

Both kids have had a great coming up with creations
On New Years Eve, we went over to our friend's house to celebrate with great food and fun.

We didn't make it quite to midnight but we got pretty close. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas seasons and have an amazing new year!