A Winter Wonderland - McCall Winter Carnival

Last Saturday, we took a family day trip up to McCall for the annual Winter Carnival. We had a GREAT time seeing all of the cool snow sculptures and walking around the town! We barely missed a big snow storm...so that was good timing. It was CrAZy how many people were gathered in such a small town at the same time! I LOVE McCall and have so many great memories there ~ it is such a charming little town both in winter and summer. Enjoy our photos of this Winter Wonderland...

KINGS OF THE MOUNTAIN!

I sure love these kids!

A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE SCULPTURES...

Check out the crowd...definitely the most people I have ever seen in McCall!

Hunter is officially a TEENAGER!!!

Happy 13th Birthday to you, Hunter!!! Actually, we ended up celebrating his birthday a week late this year since he and Colton were in Virginia for his ACTUAL birthday. It all worked out though; it was like an EXTENDED birthday...and who doesn't love that?? The original plan was to go sledding out at Grandma and Grandpa Knutson's farm where they have 80 acres and lots of BIG hills, but unfortunately all of the snow had melted. :-(

So we decided to go ICE SKATING instead!!! Woo Hoo! Kyla got to also experience ice skating for the first time, which was fun for her. After ice skating, we hit Primo's for some good (cheap) pizza, then headed back home for some cake, ice cream and games. It seemed like everyone (especially Hunter) had a great time. It's REALLY hard to believe Hunter is now officially a teenager. CrAZy! Where does time go??? Next thing you know, he'll be driving...Yikes!

The Birthday Boy

Maddy and Kyla having fun...



Kyla's 1st time ice skating!



Maddy and Mena

Good times at Primo's...


Go Broncos!!!

Make a wish...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!! This has been kindof a crazy holiday season for our family. I went on a vacation to Hawaii for the first part of the month, which threw me way off...it didn't feel very 'Christmasy' while I was on a beach getting a tan! Not that I'm complaining...In addition to that, the boys left on December 20th to spend Christmas with their mom and stepdad in Virginia (and then they all traveled to Tennessee to spend Christmas with their mom's family.) They were very excited to see their mom since they haven't seen her for four months...so it was good for them...but sad for us. It was definitely not the same not having them here. But we still had a great time spending time with our families and Kyla. She is getting to a really fun age now...she was very excited for Christmas.

We had an 'early' Christmas with the boys the night before they left. We went out to dinner and let them open their present from us. (We let Kyla open one that night too.) I played a trick on them (as I learned to do from my own mom), and sent them on a scavenger hunt to find their presents. It was pretty fun to watch...and we got it on videotape. At the end of their scavenger hunt, they found their presents in the garage. Hunter got a new laptop, and Colton got an electric guitar and amplifier. They were both pretty excited about their presents. Of course, they immediately started playing with them, so we didn't get to our traditional gingerbread house as I'd planned. Kyla and I did it a few days later.

We spent Christmas Eve with Craig's family, then spent Christmas Day with my family in Ontario. We had a great time spending time together...as usual. And I even got Craig to play Canasta with us this time! We hope everyone else had a memorable holiday and enjoyed spending time with loved ones!

Happy Birthday, Colton!

Colton turned 11-years-old on December 16th...Wow...hard to believe he is getting so old! We had his birthday party the Saturday after his birthday, since I was still in Hawaii the weekend before his birthday. Colton and his friends seemed to have a great time hanging out, eating pizza and cake, and later playing some Rock Band on the Wii. Colton also got lots of great presents from his friends and family. His grandparents (Farmor and Farfar) also came to his party, which was a special treat. We are so proud of Colton...he is such a sweet, caring young man. Hope it's a great year, Colton...we love you!!!

Wherever Colton is, there is Kyla...

Boys will be Boys...

Awesome skateboard! Thanks Mimi and Papa!

Oreo ice cream cake! I could only get one candle in because it was rock hard! We should have tilted it so you could see the top...oops!

Rock Band...Good Times!!!

Kyla was one tired girl to sleep through all the noise of Rock Band!

Mele Kalikimaka from Hawaii

Early this December I went on a wonderful 10-day vacation and cruise to the Hawaiian islands...courtesy of my mom! Thank you so much, mom!!! I love you so much! My mother-in-law, Lydia, also joined us since it has always been a dream of hers to go to Hawaii. So we made it a 'girls' trip.

I lived in Hawaii for about six months when I attended a semester of college back in 1991, and I hadn't been back since. So it was so much fun going back...it brought back so many great memories of the great times I had there and the great friends I made. This time I also explored all the other islands, which was so much fun!

We really lucked out with weather too...two of the rainiest places in the world (Kauai and The Big Island) were 85 degrees and sunny while we were there (which we were told by the locals was very rare!) All of the islands were gorgeous; each island has it's own uniqueness! After seeing them all, I think Oahu is still my favorite island...possibly because I lived there and have so many great memories! But I definitely wouldn't mind going back to any of them! I promised Craig that he could go next time! :-)

You will see from the slideshows of each island - we did A LOT! Every day was action packed to make sure we got to see as much of each island as we could. And we did...though I think there were a few days that the moms were wishing they hadn't let me plan the entire vacation! But hey, how often are you in Hawaii??? I wanted to make sure we did as much as possible.

Enjoy the slide shows...and by the way...just 'X' out of the 'add your review' at the bottom of the slideshows to make sure you see the pictures better. I'm using a new webite for my slideshows....so it's a little different.

Beatiful Oahu - The Gathering Isle

Kauai - The Garden Isle

Kailua (Kona) - The Big Island

Hilo - The Big Island

Gorgeous Maui - The Magic Isle

Back in Oahu

My Beautiful, Pregnant Sister - Deb

So I just had to post a few recent pics of my beautiful little sis, Debbie. When she was home for Thanksgiving, she got them done by Amber Fisher - our most favorite photographer in the WHOLE WORLD!!!! They turned out so great that I couldn't resist posting a few on our blog. Enjoy...

Um, yeah...I couldn't even dream of looking this good NOT being pregnant!!! No fair!!!! :-)

I love you sooooo much, Deb!!! I am so happy for you and Chad. You will be wonderful parents!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This Thanksgiving was extra special. We have so much to be thankful for that we decided to celebrate it twice! We had a Knutson celebration the Saturday before Thanksgiving with both of my sisters coming to visit. It was so much fun getting everyone back together. Unfortunately, Colton was coming down with a head cold and wasn't feeling too great. But he did make it to see New Moon with us that evening. It was so much fun watching Kyla and her cousin, Morgan, play together. They are the best of friends...and LOVE playing dress-up in grandpa's hats and gloves! Kim and Debbie are both pregnant too...so fun! It is always so much fun when we all get together. I LOVE my family more than anything in the world!!! I am one lucky girl!

The Knutson Family

The Knutson Girls

Colton and Kyla playing with blocks

Hunter is such a great helper...both with cooking and babysitting!!!

Morgan and Kyla had so much fun playing dress-up and being SILLY!

My beautiful sis, Kimmy, and my cute nephew Oliver

We celebrated actual Thanksgiving with the Fagans. Craig's brother, Sean, and his family came from Seattle. So again, we had all of the family together. I taught them all how to play Canasta (a Knutson family tradition), which was really fun. Next to teach them Pinnacle! The boys' cousin Justin spent three days with us, so that was lots of fun. Craig and I also had our photographer do a family photo shoot, since the Fagans are not so great about getting photos on a regular basis, and usually only get everyone together once a year. I can't wait to see them! Stay tuned and I will post them on the blog in a few weeks. :-)

The Fagan Family

Kyla LOVES playing with Uncle Dean and Aunt Karen!

'Pony Boy' is always a hit...and Karen's special game with the kids. :-)

My beautiful niece, Missy, and me...wearing contrasting outfits - not intentionally planned!
And of course, cute Justin with the puppy dog eyes!
We hope everyone else also had a wonderful Thanksgiving spending time with loved ones. :-)