Aspen's First Fort

This is what I came home to on Saturday afternoon....

For those of you that know Jason, he takes fort building to a new level.

On the inside all of Aspen's favorite toys and stuffies were hanging out.

And I think Aspen was reading to move in permanently.

The other activity this weekend was enjoying some nice weather and going to the park. The whole family has been missing the park with the cold and rainy weather. Aspen was having a blast.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Taos, New Mexico

Thankfully Jason and I were able to go off for a few days by ourselves right after the new year. After we visited with Jason's family in Fort Worth we drove to Midland the next day and dropped Aspen with the grandparents. We continued our drive west to Taos, New Mexico. The drive was about 8 hours from Midland, but went by much faster than we thought since we didn't have to worry about entertaining a toddler the whole time. It was so much fun spending that time together and reminded us both of our honeymoon (when we drove to Colorado).

I've never spent time in New Mexico and honestly thought of most of it as desert. However, Taos had beautiful scenery, good food, and very friendly residents. We stayed at the Dreamcatcher Bed and Breakfast in the town. All of our past ski trips that we have taken we always stay at the ski resort. However, we both really enjoyed staying in the town and it was only a 20 mile drive to the mountain. Our b&b was awesome and we hope we can visit again someday in the future.

Taking our picture with the resident guest greeter--Jake.

We loved the skiing at Taos. It was more challenging than I was expecting, but the conditions were perfect and we never had to wait in line at the lifts. My biggest accomplishment this trip was facing my fears and taking on a black diamond run (the second most challenging--they had double blacks, which I had never seen before) that was full of moguls. We tried to take a picture of the run from the lift, but it didn't come out very well, but can't you tell how proud I am!

 Here's Jason coming down one of the runs looking like a rock star.

We took one day to drive out to two different sites that everyone told us we had to see while in Taos. The first was visiting the Rio Grande Gorge. It was really cold out and the wind was blowing and the bridge was iced over--so walking to the middle of it was slightly nerve-racking. I have never considered myself afraid of heights, but while we were walking I definitely could see how somebody could be thrown into that place of anxiety. It was a beautiful view and quite a site to see.

The next place we visited was the Earthship Visitor Center. Earthships are sustainable green homes made completely from recycled materials (the walls are made from tires that have a controlled temperature of about 60 degrees). They use the sun and wind for electricity, rain and melted snow for water (which is then used four times over), and they use the sun for heating. There is also a full green house "porch" where they grow all their food all year around. It was quite interesting to see these communities and get to tour one of the homes. Of course Jason spent the rest of the night talking about how we need to get an earthship--we'll see on that one!

We had a fantastic time and I am just so thankful to spend that alone time with my best friend. It was a wonderful trip that both of us will remember for a long time.

***Jason's parents had a great time with Aspen and I know she did too. Here is still getting into "trouble" at their office one day.

Afternoon at the Library

Since the weather hasn't been park friendly this past week, we've been having to do more creative activities with the little one during the day. On Saturday we went to the library and she had so much fun. The library we went to was right next to Jason's office in Westlake--the Laura Bush Library. It was very deluxe and we soon found out we weren't really suppose to be there. But of course they couldn't throw us out when you have this little cute one with you.

On the weekends Jason and I take turns sleeping in since we have such an early riser (however we have been doing an alarm system and today she slept til 6:30am--much better than 5:45am!). When I woke up in the morning Jason had dressed Aspen for the day already. I think he probably puts her in cuter clothes than I do--I was very impressed.

Although Aspen spent most of the time at the library playing with the puzzles, it was a fun thing to do on a rainy day. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Happy New Year!

I know this post comes a little late, but it's never to late for a couple of pictures and stories. We were gone for a little over a week right after the new year, so I haven't had the chance to do any blogging lately. Rewinding to our New Year's....

We drove up to the Fort Worth area to stay with Jason's sister and her family for the weekend. She had all of the Dzubinski side up at her house to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. It's nice that we all live in Texas and are able to get together for these occasions.

This Christmas was so much more fun with all the kids than the last one. The babies aren't really babies anymore and everyone is growing into their own personalities. It was great trying to get four toddlers to patiently wait their turn to open their different presents--I don't even know why we bother sometimes! Aspen loves to open presents. I have a feeling she just wanted to open everyone's gifts. The act of unwrapping could entertain her for hours.

We all got some wonderful gifts from everyone. Uncle James and Aunt Jennifer got all the kids handmade hats in different colors. The three little ones had dog faces on them and Cameron got one that looked like a mohawk. I loved the hat for Aspen and for the most part she will keep it on--double bonus!

Papa and Nanny know all about Aspen's affection to not only stuffed animals, but also particularly to monkeys. So of course how could they resist getting their granddaughter a HUGE stuffed monkey. Despite how large it is Aspen has been carrying "Lulu" all around and if we would let her I'm sure she would bring her to bed with her at night.

Lulu is the perfect size for Aspen to practice her tackling skills...

I always have a tendency to wait to the last minute to get Christmas gifts. This year since we were not meeting up with Jason's family til after Christmas I had an extra week for shopping. Thankfully my sister-in-law did a blog post about Cameron's interest in his other cousin's "laptops" they received for Christmas. I think I did pretty good on this gift--needless to say he loved it!

After all the gifts were open it became a free for all. Everyone was playing with everybody else's toys and for the most part doing fairly well with sharing. Trevor was really enjoying this sit-and-spin toy, although I guess he preferred spinning while standing.

We decided to take a walk to the park close by to their house to get some fresh air--I think everyone needed it! I love this shot of all the cousins in their modes of transportation. I was impressed with how well Cameron biked for the distance we had to go. It will be fun when Aspen's is that age and we can bike to the park. For now she is comfortable in her wagon.

We had a great visit with the family. We left Sunday morning and drove to Midland following Jason's parents. From there Jason and I continued on to Taos, New Mexico for a couple of days of skiing while Aspen stayed with Jason's parents. More to come on that trip. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful New Year!

Of course we had to attempt the group shot. I will say it's getting better every time...

Group shot from last year...

Our Christmas...

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. My brother and his soon-to-be wife drove down from Minnesota for the holiday and we all had a blast hanging out. It was nice for Aspen to spend some time with her Uncle Matt and Auntie Corry since we don't get to see them as much. 

We spent Christmas Day over at my Dad's house. That morning Jason, Aspen, and I opened a few presents for each other. It was so much fun to see Aspen opening her couple of presents. She loves unwrapping the gifts and put on a show for everyone at my Dad's house. 

 

 Aspen's Poppy got her a "Rody" for Christmas. It's an inflatable bouncy animal and Aspen just loves it. It provided some good times for everyone once we saw on the box it holds up to 400lbs. Everyone had to give it a shot!

Check her out playing with Rody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SON3xGdY_oM

 Santa dropped off some gifts for the adults too, which is always nice! Jason and Corry got a puzzle to work on that afternoon. It was quite the popular activity. However, Santa got the last laugh when the last piece of the puzzle was no where to be found. The only conclusion we have come up with--Aspen fed it to Kima (Matt and Corry's puppy). 

Santa also gave everyone a scratch ticket--even Aspen! Out of the six of us there wasn't one winner, but it was still a good time.

 It was a great Christmas and a delicious dinner. I unfortunately forgot to take any pictures of dinner, but that probably wouldn't do it justice. My dad made a whole leg of lamb and there was an array of wonderful vegetables on the side. Matt and Corry finished it off with an awesome cranberry apple crisp.

 The next morning everyone came over to our house for a huge breakfast because that's what the holidays are about--right? Stuff our faces for a few days and then don't eat for a few weeks! Aspen became very fond of Matt and Corry's puppy Kima. She was so sweet with Aspen!

A couple of different times when we were all together Aspen would love just going around the room and giving everyone  hugs. It was so nice watching her be such a sweet girl. She became very fond of Corry while she was here and I think they have a little bond with one another.

 The weather was pretty cold over the holiday, which was nice for getting into the Christmas spirit. However, it was a little chilly to go to the park. Yesterday it finally warmed up enough for us to take a ride in Aspen's new wagon from Santa. She had a great time riding all the way to the park. I still have the Radio Flyer that my brother and I used when we were kids. I hope Aspen cherishes her wagon as much as we did!

Matt and Corry left this morning to head back home. Last night they came over to say bye to Aspen before she went to bed. We went out to dinner to celebrate their last night in town. I'm so happy my brother came into town. There were so many great memories made and I love getting to watch Aspen spend time with her Uncle and Auntie. Thanks for making the trip!

What A Great Christmas!

We had a wonderful day and I'll do a post soon that includes more details, but we wanted to wish everyone a very, merry Christmas and share a couple of pictures.

Also, Jason got me a new camera for Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I'm so excited Christmas is almost here!

Aspen joined in on some caroling this morning...

Merry Christmas!