Happy New Year!

The kids and I went to Michigan the week after Christmas to see my parents:

I know, I know, I'm a little late in posting. But to make up for it, I'm posting lots of pics!  Ready?

First of all, I had to introduce (or in Chase's case, reintroduce) COLD WEATHER to the kids! Chloe was all decked out, fuzzy and adorable:

Chase REALLY wanted to play in the snow... until we got in it. We didn't last very long after this picture was taken:

We did buy him some better mittens and a coat while we were there, and his Uncle Kory was nice enough to loan him a pair of his kids' snow pants, so the next time we went out we were ready!

We took our "ready" selves sledding with Uncle Kory, Aunt Kiersten and the cousins. It was Chase's first time sledding and he LOVED it. I even got to go (it had been a LONG TIME)!

One day we woke up to find the snow was beginning to melt, which Chase was REALLY upset about. I literally found him in the living room, staring out the window. When he turned to look at me he had tears in his eyes and he said, "Mommy, I don't want the snow to go away!" It absolutely broke my heart. So we suited up right then and there and headed out to make a snowman:

Well, we couldn't stop there. We had to make another one for the birds:

(Do you like the bird feeder hat Grandma made?)

And then we made another one for... well, for Chase. This one he decorated with food coloring (Grandma's great idea)!

Here's a closeup of his snow-alien masterpiece:

We finally convinced him he needed to make a snow angel. OK, we didn't really convince him. We pretty much forced him. Not that you can tell or anything:

(Doesn't he look comfortable?)

Where was Chloe all this time? In the warm house looking cute:

While we were there I was able to catch up with a couple "old" (I hate saying that) friends. Holly came over with her two kids one night.  I love this photo my mom tried to take of all of us. Only one out of the four kids decided to cooperate (and that one was not mine)!

I also got to have dinner with my friend Krista and her family at her house, but of course I didn't think to take a picture (that's what my mom is for, and she wasn't there)!

We were also able to visit family friends and my step-family, who I hadn't seen in YEARS (scary, huh?)! Chase got to reconnect with his cousins, and Chloe got to meet everyone. This picture of all of the kids cracks me up. It looks like Chase is trying to kill his little sister.

Chase: Hold still, Chloe. It will only hurt for a second.
Chloe: Uhhhh... Chase? I'm not so sure about this....
Chase: Oh, it'll be fine.  Heh heh heh....

(Click on the photo for a larger view....)

Hmmmmmm.... Foreshadowing, perhaps?

Happy New Year!