Christmas 2010

Christmas this year was great! We were so happy to have Mom and Corey in town to help us celebrate. Christmas morning stared around 8a (there was a 4:20a wake up but Doug put the boys back to bed and slept in their room). The kids opened presents and we ate breakfast. It was very festive and relaxing. Later we went to the Larkin's for their annual Christmas open house...cannot believe we've been going to this for three years! It was great to see everyone and visit. The kids had fun playing and we even had to pick Annemarie off the floor she was so exhausted from all the Christmas fun.

"Don't mind me, I'm just going to rest for a minute."

"Is it rude if I fall asleep on the floor?"

Christmas Eve

We had a nice Christmas Eve this year. Mom, Erin, Corey and I all went to Mass and then we had dinner here at the house. The kids were very excited about Santa.

Jack insisted on wearing his stocking as a sock...

Santa, we're ready!

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses with Tutu

While Mom was visiting us here in Whitefish she took on the task of building gingerbread houses with the boys. I'm so glad she did. I always remember doing this as a kid and really enjoying it. So when she mentioned doing this I was thrilled! The boys had a great time. Thanks Tutu!

It looks good enough to eat!

Jack's masterpiece.

The Littlest Christmas Tree

The 1st grade holiday program this year was called The Littlest Christmas Tree. Will was one of five Christmas Trees. He said three lines and did such a great job. The 1st grade class has about 120 students so having a speaking part was a big deal. We were so proud of him.

I call this the "Crabbiest" Little Christmas Tree.

There's the smile we like to see!

Looking for Some Holiday Cheer?

Darling Annemarie modeling reindeer antlers...
Crazy Annemarie yelling at the paparazzi...
Our little reindeer singing fa-la-la-la-la...

Will Turns 7!

Our little man turned 7 today! Will had a full day of skiing with Doug, Erin and Jack. Then this evening we celebrated with his favorite dinner - risotto and a M&M ice cream cake for dessert. Will received many nice gifts and was so excited! Thank you everyone!

Jack and Annemarie were very attentive and patient while Will opened his gifts. Jack was especially interested in anything LEGO or Star Wars related.

Yay, a new basketball!

We were still singing...

and Will started blowing out the candles!

The ice cream cake was delicious. We have 80% left, please stop by and have some. Happy Birthday Will. We love you!

Deck the Halls

We've been a little behind at getting our Christmas decorations up this year. But as of today we're ready for Christmas! The outdoor lights are up and the Christmas tree is decorated.

Time to decorate.

This year's tree is beautiful. Will picked it out and it's almost 9 feet tall.

Doug putting up the star.

Almost done...

So Pretty!

The Best Seat in the House

Any time the fireplace is on you'll catch someone in front of it. Gus is always there, and if Gus is there then Annemarie will usually lay down next to him and pretend she's a dog too. Will loves to color in front of the fire and stand within millimeters of the glass. So far no burns or melted clothing.

Opening Weekend

Whitefish Mountain Resort aka Big Mountain is officially open. Doug got up yesterday for some powder skiing and today he went of with the boys and Erin. We have lots of snow and it's looking like it's going to be an amazing season. Ski lesson for the boys don't start until the new year but if you watch the video you'll see they look great. Great picture of the boys!

Thanksgiving 2010

The Thanksgiving weekend did not turn out as we had hoped. Instead of being in Portland we ended up staying in Whitefish. There was so much snow along the route, it was extremely cold and we felt the drive may be a bit dangerous. So we stayed put and tried to keep things exciting. We had our own Thanksgiving feast but it was very casual and Erin was our only guest. We went over to Stef's parents' house for dessert and champage which was fun and delicious (thanks Fafa and Rick!). Also, I did not get one picture of the kids or family on Thanksgiving, terrible, I know! I did get some pictures of the kids in the snow.

It was a bit late, but Annemarie was thrilled to be out in the snow.

Will trying out the jump Doug built.

Jack's turn.

Ready...

The littlest Peppmeier is now completely outfitted and hopefully ready to learn to ski. We bought her a silver helmet and pink goggles this weekend. She's pretty excited about them and happy to show them off by running around in them.

The Little Entertainer

Sorry about the video being sideways, I forgot I cannot record that way. However, I wanted to let you all see what a silly girl Annemarie is. My goodness, she's such a clown and always looking for ways to entertain others.

Doug Turns 37!

(Sorry, I'm a little behind on the blog, I plan to get caught up this week) Yesterday we celebrated Doug's birthday. He open gifts and had cupcakes with the kids and then we went out for a grown-ups dinner with our friends. For a Tuesday night we had a great time. We started with drinks and shuffle board at the Northern and then a fabulous dinner at Tupelo. There was only one other group at the restaurant so it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Doug and the boys getting ready to blow out the candles.

Opening gifts.

Larkins, Peppmeiers and Peschels at the Northern (Erin was there too, she took the picture).

Pin & Cue

We met up with the Peschel's Saturday afternoon for some bowling fun. We had a kids lane and an adults lane and it was great. Laura won the first game, Doug crushed us on the the second game and John and Jack tied. Matthew and Jack are in the same class in school and they are inseparable. It's really quite funny, you'd think they'd be sick of each other, but they're not. I've been referring to them as mini-Doug and John.

Will trying to throwing a ball without the ramp.

Jack lining up his shot. All the kids did well, we may have some bowlers on our hands.

Halloween 2010

Halloween was lots of fun this year. We met up with the Peschels and took the kids trick-or-treating on Columbia (in town) and then went over to the Larkin's house in Creekwood and went to a few homes over there. The kids were very excited and their costumes were a hit.

Annemarie the skunk, Doug taught her to lift up her tail and "spray" people. It was very entertaining.

Aunt Erin came by before we left with treats for the kids. Jack dressed as a knight and Will as a ninja.

Trying to get a good picture of the kids...

...still trying

Matthew, Will, Jack and Annemarie on Columbia, ready to go!

An action shot, the kids were running from house to house they were so excited.

Annemarie and Superman aka Tyler.

Jack and Will showing off all their candy.