Christmas Morning

Are you kidding? Do you see all those presents! Lilly and Davis were amazed that Santa came into our house and dropped off all those presents. They had so much fun opening each gift and appreciated all their toys! Even Grandma and Grandpa got in on the action helping to rip open the presents, and Daddy's job was to cut through all the packaging and twisty ties that hold the toys into the boxes. Lilly's favorite gifts were the dollhouse and the Rapunzel horse, while Davis loved playing with all his remote control cars. The kids spent the day playing with all their toys...way too much fun for one day!

Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve we all open a present from Grandma Kelly. Here are some pictures of Lilly and Davis opening their Christmas Eve present. They loved the act of ripping open the paper, tearing open the box and seeing a brand new pair of jammies. They loved them so much, they stripped off their clothes and immediately put on their new jammies. Oh boy, Christmas morning is going to be fun!

Grandma's Here

There is always baking to do when Grandma is in town. The kids made some yummy chocolate chip cookies with a little help from Grandma. Hmm...not quite sure why there weren't as many cookies as there normally are. Could have something to do with Davis eating the batter!

Christmas Party

Lilly's School Holiday Party is today, so she got all dressed up for the occassion. Thank's Grandma Kelly for the sparkly Christmas dress. I think Lilly would wear it everyday if she could. Who knows...she may still be wearing it this summer!

Milkshake

There was a kid's concert last night at the new Solaris in Vail. The band, Milkshake, played and Lilly got her grove on! The video definitely highlight's Lilly's extreme dance moves to a kid version of a Twisted Sister song. Davis was a little less animated, but had fun watching the scene, shaking his diaper on occasion, and most of all loved following Frosty the Snowman around. Lilly danced until she had to be carried home!

Nordic Skiing in Vail

The whole Place Family went Nordic Skiing today. Mom pulled Davis around the track in the Cariot, while Dad coached Lilly. Lilly was a true natural. She never stopped and wouldn't even wait for mom and Davis...she just couldn't stop. It was so much fun to be able to do something outdoors as a whole family. It was a fun day for everyone.

In the Kitchen

Cousin Olivia spent the night on Saturday. The kids enjoyed a parade in downtown Eagle, playing Rummikub, and baking up a storm. Here are the kids frosting cupcakes and cookies...hmmm, I wonder if the icing even made it on the cookies and cupcakes. Looks like Davis enjoyed his frosting. We love our cousin Olivia and can't wait until the next sleepover!

Winter Fun

A few weeks ago we all went for a run using the jogging stroller, and we stopped at the Downtown Eagle park for a little play time.

Oh Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree is up and the kids are counting down the days until Santa arrives. It is going to be a long month!

Davis' ABCs

Here is a quick clip of Davis singing his ABCs. Hmm...seems as though we still need some work.

Ski School

Lilly had her first full day of ski school. She was so excited to practice her pizza wedge! We watched her slide across the hill, get up from a fall, and having fun! Her report card says she still needs to work on stopping...shocker! The first picture is Lilly getting ready to go up on the hill. The second picture is at the end of the day with her instructor, Karin.


Davis also went to his own version of ski school...sort of. He went to Small World Daycare so that mommy and daddy could ski with friends. Davis had lots of fun going to the Pirateship park in Vail, making a bell during arts and crafts, and playing with new friends. His report card said he was happy, busy, and content. Here is a picture of Davis and mom at the end of the day at Small World Daycare.

Preschool Prodigy

Lilly has been learning so much at Preschool and loves to keep going at home. Every week at Rumpelstiltkin Preschool there is a theme that the kids learn about, like Native Americans or Volcanoes. Must be last week was Planet week because Lilly came home doing this...

She also has worked with mommy all summer and into the fall on reading, writing, and math. We call it Mommy School. Lilly can write her alphabet, is beginning to spell words, can read about 20 sight words, reads a couple of her books, and is a whiz with math concepts...must be she gets that from Aunt Karen. She is reading her sight words in the video. Watch out Kindergarten...Lilly Place is ready!

Morning Routine

On school mornings Davis gets ready to go to school with mom, and Lilly gets ready to go to school with dad. Lilly usually gets a little extra snuggle time in jammies while watching cartoons in mom and dad's bed. Davis' favorite morning routine is to give hugs and kisses to his sister before we leave. Here he is snuggling up to Lilly this morning...super cute!

Princess Tea Party

Lilly went to a Princess Tea Party at the Gypsum Rec Center today. I dropped her off with about 30 jumping princesses. Davis stayed for a little while acting as the sole prince. Really he just wanted a little play time at the gymnastic's center. We then left Lilly and she had pizza for lunch, decorated cupcakes, and of course had hot chocolate tea, like any proper princess. She came home with a few crafts, some stories, and lots of smiles.

Halloween Part 3

So tonight was the real deal. Both kids each got a bucket full of candy. Davis was a little afraid of all the Halloween decore, especially the ones that moved and made creepy sounds. Lilly was a trooper and knocked on door after door, said Trick or Treat, and took one piece of candy for herself and another for her brother. Finally, she turned to mom and said, "Mom, I'm tired and want to go to bed." Oh my...that was a first. We all had fun and have lots of candy to show for it! The first picture is with Davis' friend from school and our neighbor, Mason. The last picture is trick or treating in action at our next door neighbor, Tracy's house.

Ryder Visit

Our little buddy, Ryder Poole, came over for a afternoon visit. Lilly and mom read him some stories, and Lilly made him a 'boy' picture for his room. Ryder is one cute kid and we loved seeing him!! Oh...it was good to see his parents too!

Halloween Part 2

Lilly had her Halloween party today at preschool. One of her friends at school was dressing up as a witch, so she wanted to dress up as a witch to be all matchy-matchy with him. She looked adorable, had fun, and even took a nap! She came home with a huge bag of candy, so she is making improvements on her trick-or-treaking skills. Sunday will be a good night!

Halloween Part 1

Davis had his school Halloween party on Wednesday. He really enjoyed the chocolate cupcakes. That same day Eagle had a mini trick-or-treat in Eagle Ranch, so we dressed up and practiced our trick or treating. Lilly needs more practice as she took only one piece of candy at each place and even denied some candy. Davis is well trained as he grabbed as many pieces of candy as would fit into his claw. He had half of it eaten by the time we got home, and Lilly has eaten two of her four pieces of candy two days later. We will do some more training this weekend before the real event on Sunday night.

Make Good Choices

This morning Davis was having a naughty moment and hit his sister, so he went to his crib for a little time out. When mommy went in to talk to Davis about making good choices, this is what she found...

Future Helicopter Pilots

This weekend the kids went to Eagle Ranch for a pumpkin festival with their dad, while mom was in math class. They were busy bouncing in the bouncy houses when a Flight for Life helicopter circled a few times and landed. The kids were instantly attracted to the helicopter and ran over to check it out. Apparently Davis was so enamored with it, he bypassed the line, scooted to the other side of the helicopter, batted his eyelashes a few times at the pilot, flashed him his famous grin, and got special treatment. He got right in...it was like he had a VIP pass. Lilly thought the helicopter was cool too! Who knows maybe they will be pilots when they grow up! Pretty neat experience for them both.

Happy Birthday Buddy

Can it be possible our Buddy Boy is 10 years old? He looks just like one of the kids, and quite often acts like it! Happy Birthday Buddy...we love you!

A cow says MOO!

Just a few of Davis' many talents: cleaning and animal noises.

Singing in the Tub

Maybe she watches too many princess movies?

All good parties lead to...

a sleep over! Mommy's friends came over for dinner and there were a whole bunch of kids; the Dekanichs, the Pribramskys, and the Places. The mommies had fun hanging out while the kids had fun riding Cheese (the mouse wheely ride) up and down the hall and playing house. Then Lilly's BFF, Quincy, spent the night. It was a good girl's night; although Davis appreciated having Thomas and Joseph Dekanich here to balance things out.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch out at 4 Eagle Ranch, while daddy did his bike race. The best part was picking out pumpkins...there were so many, it was hard to choose. We also got in a wagon ride before it started to rain. A fun fall day!