Well, that was fun!!!

Christmas in West Richland ~ we spent 4 days with the Bonus family and had a ton of fun! 

Thank you Adam and Kim and kiddos! 

"Bonk beds"

Josh did it! He made a loft bed for the girls. Every night the girls struggle with sharing a queen size bed, so he had a great idea to make a twin bed lofted over the queen for their Christmas present. Since we will be at Adam and Kim's for Christmas this weekend we let the girls have this bed early. They are super excited and ready for bed early! I suppose it's too much to ask that this excitement last for a year or more...Hehe.

As for the title: Vivian, for the longest time, thought it was bonk beds instead of bunk beds. We think that's a better name since everyone does seem to bonk their heads. So far Jared and Josh have bonked their heads. Hopefully that won't happen much more though.

Merry Christmas!!!

And now it's almost Christmas

I just wanted to take time to say how much we love living here!!!  The snow falling as I type, on the already snow-covered ground and mountains, is quite the sight to see!  Beauty all around us.

Getting ready for this Christmas season has been so much fun!  The kids are having a blast in the snow each day.  The Christmas songs are playing and the Christmas lights are on as long as we are awake.  The anticipation of Christmas morning continues to build excitement in all of us.

This year we will spend Christmas with the Bonus family in West Richland and we are super excited to do that!  Our Thanksgiving was spent in Colorado with my parents, Jesse and Kelly and family and Grandpa Klatt.  Kelly's parents, Tom and Kathy, came over Thanksgiving Day as well.  Since Russel and Zoey and family went to San Antonio, TX for Thanksgiving we didn't get to spend much time with them, but a few hours on Saturday before they left; the kids had a blast playing together, of course.  Shelby, Vivian and Jared also enjoyed playing with Anna, David and Joel throughout the week.  There was lots of laughter and lots of smile from everyone.  We even got to celebrate a special 5-year-old birthday party for Vivian while we were there.

We've had a good year, not free from troubles, but God is good and His loving care leads us onward and upward.  We continue to pray for His leading as this detail comes to a close.  It's hard to believe we will be moving in just 6 [short] months.  Could our next move be our "final" move?  We sure hope so.

Checking out the lights in Leavenworth, after having Vivian's birthday ice cream dessert at Cold Stone with family and friends.

Saturday Josh took the girls skiing, so Jared and I went sledding with some great friends.  Jared loved it and even carried the sled up the hill just about every time he went down!

Vivian and Jared playing in the snow that the snow plow piled up in our cul-de-sac.

I took the girls to see Elf Jr (with some super fun friends!).

Grandpa Klatt with his great-granddaughters. 

Happy Father's Day, Josh! #7 :)

Well, a lot has happened since my last post and we have been busy.  Let's see: we moved across town, took a month-long vacation, came back to this new-to-us house, have been playing with neighbors non-stop, had family pictures taken (hope to show those soon), celebrated Shelby's golden birthday (she turned 7 on June 7th ~ thanks for all the love you showed her with cards and letters!!!), went to birthday parties, Shelby's doing tennis lessons, and so much more!  Swim lessons are up next week followed by VBSs and then in August a visit from Grandma Mary.  This weekend we are excited to see the Bonus family!

Today for Father's Day we went to church, had a yummy brat lunch followed by a short nap (for Jared and Sharon), then we took the canoe to the river and played around in it.  The kids had a blast and so did we.  We met the Johnston's and also played on their new paddle board.  Then we ate a scrumptious pork taco dinner with ice cream for dessert.  It was a great day and the kids are wiped out.

I promise I'll post pictures some time...we have taken lots!  Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Love these kiddos!

So, I feel like a million things have happened since I posted last, and I cannot even begin to catch up.  But I will show you our kiddos as of last week:

Thanks to Molly for the great pictures!  (They were taken for the homeschool co-op we are a part of, for the yearbook.)

And we've moved! Here's our house:


We are doing great!  We finished up Shelby's 1st grade year on March 17th.  The more relaxed days have been really nice.  The kids are loving our new neighborhood ~ a cul de sac with lots of kids!  It's a fun change for us.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying Spring Break!

Snow fort fun!

It just keeps snowing here!  We have enjoyed this snowy winter and all the fun that snow brings.  Josh is actually out snow blowing and shoveling right now ~ that part isn't as enjoyable as the skiing and sledding and snow fort building.  Yes, today Josh and the kiddos built a snow fort in the back yard!

Badger Mtn Ski Hill ~ sledding and skiing!

We had a blast on Saturday hanging out at Badger Mountain Ski Hill.  This lovely little place is just 30 mins from our house.  We almost missed it and here's why...

 Here's the parking lot.  No sign, just a small lot for ~20 cars or less.  You hike up over the hill (along the telephone poles you see) and there's the sledding hill and then the lodge and ski hill.  

It's a great little hill with a rope tow for the bunny hill, a rope tow for the big hill and a t-bar lift for the biggest hill.  $10/person and only open if there's enough snow.  Luckily there has been a lot of snow this year.  It's such a great place for our family!  

Strong Daddy pulled Jared and Vivian in the sleds up from the van to the sledding hill.  

It was a foggy day and actually started snowing around 2:30 or 3:00.  We got there around 10:45 and went sledding until lunch, then Josh and I girls skied until 3:30.   

This is the lodge.  Not too big, but warm and cozy.  Great hamburgers!  

Jared and Ellie and Vivian ~ watching the beginner skiers on the bunny hill.

Lindsay and I figuring out my new phone.  :)  

Jared kept fussing at me and wanting my hat off.  I finally figured out he wanted my hair and his thumb.  :)  While Josh and the girls skied I took Jared inside the lodge to chill for a while.

This friendly dog hung around the ski hill all day!  He loved playing fetch.  We wanted to bring him home with us!  Good thing our landlord doesn't allow pets.  

Here's Shelby skiing by the end of the day (about 2 hours of skiing).  Josh would help her a bit up the rope tow, then after they started he would let her go...


SO fun to watch!  And I didn't get a good video of Vivian going for a long stretch, but she did really well, too!


It was an awesome day!!!  We were all tuckered out and slept great last night.  I was in bed and asleep by 8:15! Excited to go again sometime soon.