Thanksgiving 5k

Lyndsay ran a 5k with her siblings on Thanksgiving morning.

Tired!

New Skis

Last year I broke my downhill boots, my ski poles, my AT bindings and my Telemark bindings.  Sick of constantly worrying about breaking something, I decided I would try to sell my old skis and purchase something more reliable.  I ended up  purchased a used Dynafit setup this year, which will hopefully provide years of worry free skiing.  The skis, bindings and skins were $380 and the boots were $50.  I loved skiing on Lyndsay's setup last year because they were relatively light, and my new setup is even lighter than Lyndsay's. 

My new skis are on the left, and Lyndsay's are on the right.  

The new boots weigh in at 8 lbs.

The old boots, 9.6 lbs.

The new setup, 18 lbs.

Lyndsay's skis with the old boots, 20.2 lbs.

I hope I like these skis.

Scott and Katy's Engagement

The night after we stayed in Scott's cabin I went on a tour up Silver Fork with Scott, Katy and Jeff.  Scott proposed to Katy at the top of the hill, just a couple of hours after this photo was taken.

I had to turn back early for more family Thanksgiving celebrations, but I was able to try out my new skis and boots on my new ankle.  Everything felt pretty good.

Silver Fork Cabin

Scott invited us to stay at his family's cabin in Silver Fork the day after Thanksgiving with a bunch of our friends. It was fun to see everyone and fun to stay in such a beautiful place.  Cruz got some hugs from Ginger.

Our boys were crazy.  Mace kept us up until 4:00 in the morning.

Group photo attempt #1

Group photo attempt #2

Cruz's first bite of peaches

On Thanksgiving we fed Cruz his first bite of real food. He seemed pretty excited to try the peaches.

He didn't like them very much.

Mace eating Cereal

Tyler made this video of Mace eating a bowl of cereal.

I think he did a great job!

It makes me laugh, hope it will make you laugh too!

Rock Climbing

When Mace was a baby, Tyler bought a full body climbing harness for little kids. We have been waiting for it to fit.

We tried it out last November, but it was still really big on Mace. 

We haven't spent much time in our garage this year, so Tyler and I cleaned it out. We pulled out the harness again, hoping it would fit.

It fit beautifully! Mace wasn't too sure about it in the beginning, but loved it in the end.

Cruz enjoyed watching his big brother!

Tyler and I both hope Mace learns to love climbing.

Tyler added a bunch of holds to the wall to make it easier for Mace.

At one point, Mace figured out how fun it is to swing from the rope. We moved the crash pad, so that Mace could swing into it.

Here is a clip of Mace swinging into the crash pad.

He also loved hanging from the top of the ceiling. Tyler would let him drop a little bit at a time. Mace thought it was hilarious!

It was so much fun to spend time together as a family. 

We are finally getting the hang of life with two kids.
We are thankful that this is our life!

My Fender Bender

The day after Tyler had surgery on his ankle, I headed to school. On the way there, traffic came to a sudden stop, and I wasn't able to stop quickly enough. I ran into the car in front of me and caused that car to hit the car in front of it. I was so upset, but I have felt blessed through it all. 

I was glad that 

-no one was hurt 

-there was a safe place for all the cars to pull over to

-no one was mad at me for causing a wreck (especially since one driver was pregnant and it was the other driver's birthday)

-I was able to drive my car home

-my in-laws picked up Tyler's car from the hospital, so that I could head back to school

-we have car insurance

-we have accident forgiveness

-we were able to borrow a car from my in-laws and

-my car was fixed faster than they estimated.

Aesthetically, my car looked the worst.

Potty Training, Take 2

This was just too funny not to document!

Mace didn't want to use his potty and instead made it a toy! Don't worry, this was before he used it, so it was still clean.

Mace trying so hard to pull his underwear up all by himself. :)

Potty Training Mace

Last month, during my fall break from school, we decided we would start potty training Mace. We decided to have a "potty party" in the bathroom. It was a pretty crazy and by the end of the day, we wondered if Mace was going to catch on. We had more accidents than successes those first few days. Luckily, our daycare has been a big help! Mace now usually goes the entire day without any accidents. He still wears a pull-up to bed, but that's okay for now!

Here are some pictures from the first day:

I bought all kinds of salty foods to help encourage more drinking. The red box is the treat box. Every time he had a success, a treat would "magically" appear.

This was Mace, while the potty still seemed fun.

He sure enjoyed the food!

Mace's first success! His reward was a few stickers and a pack of fruit snacks.

It has been so fun to watch Mace master a new skill!

Mindy Gledhill CD giveaway!

My friend, Ashley, is doing a great giveaway for a new CD!

It is Mindy Gledhill's new Christmas album and I am hoping I win one of them!!

Here is her blog, so enter if you want to try to win too!

http://betweenwestandmain.com/?p=268

Thanks Ashley :)

The Nicholson Family 2010

We finally decided it was time to order a photo book from 2010. We have been watching all the deal throughout the year. We finally came across the deal that we decided was too good to pass up. I am so excited for it to get here!! Now, you all get to enjoy a digital copy too!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Now, I get to start working on 2011's book!

Halloween

A banana and a monkey

Ankle reduction surgery

A few years ago I crashed while skiing and hurt my ankle somehow. After the swelling went away there was still a little bump on the tip of my inside left ankle. The bump ended up rubbing on my ski boots every time I went skiing and was really annoying. I decided to go see a podiatrist about it to see how big of a deal it would be to have it taken off. He convinced me that I should have it taken off no matter what just in case it was cancer. So, I went in for surgery on the 26th of October. I really hope the snow doesn't start falling soon because I can't ski until Christmas.

It is a good thing my podiatrist does not do breast enhancement as well!

Recent Pictures and Cousins

Here are some pictures we have taken lately.

This is one of my new favorites of Cruz.

I LOVE this one. This is how Cruz smiles a lot of the time. I love how he squints his little eyes!

He loves to suck on his fingers. He hasn't quite found his thumb yet.

Can you believe this little guy is already 3 months old? We had to take him to the doctors on October 8th,  for a cough he has been dealing with. He weighed 18 lbs 9 oz! 

Shellie, Tyler's older sister, and her family were in town recently. 

Sydney and Cruz

Brenner, Meredith and Mace

All the cousins on the Nicholson side.

Mace, Sydney, Cruz, Brenner, Meredith and Sadie

Meredith, Sadie, Mace, Cruz, Brenner, Sydney

The older kids are holding their younger sibling

All the girl cousins. Sydney, Meredith and Sadie 

(We didn't get one with the boys.)

It was really fun to spend time with Shellie and Paul. Their kids are so much fun. I was glad that Mace got along with Brenner. Last time they came for a visit, Mace was jealous of the attention Grandpa Roy was giving Brenner. As soon as Mace learned that Brenner liked trains, he and Brenner became the best little buddies. They were so much fun to watch. We are getting excited for Christmas to see them again.