Arizona Trip

Eric had a business trip in Scottsdale AZ this last week, so he asked me if I wanted to tag along and have a little trip for myself.  I had such a wonderful time!  I didn't really do much except for work out, read, and walk around town.  It was so relaxing.  Eric was busy with work most of the time so I had a lot of free time.  It was amazing not having to worry about anyone else.  While we were gone family tag teamed watching the kids.  First Aunt Pat came over, then Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt watched them for a couple days, and then Grammy and Grandpa Rlowe watched the kids for a few days.  It is great being back in Colorado so that we have the family support!

Here are some pictures of the kids from the few days before we left for our trip:

The kids love to get out the tupperware and play with it in the kitchen

Ashton probably wished there was some cookie dough on the beater 

What a beautiful little face!

Cate wanted to do "Arts and Crafts".  So we made a bunch of Valentine's

Ashton wasn't too happy that he couldn't do everything that his big sister was doing

My parents took Ashton to his "My Gym" class while Cate was at preschool

My dad with the kids at the park by our house

Modeling the new outfits that Grammy got them.  They are looking so grown up!

Here are a few pictures that I took while in Arizona:

A picture of the beautiful Westin hotel that we stayed at in Scottsdale

View of the golf course from the back of the hotel.  I spent quite a bit of time reading my book here.  At night a bagpipe player played right up until the sunset.  It was beautiful.

Sitting at the fire pit at the back of the hotel, reading my book, and listening to the bagpipe player.  SOOO relaxing!

Ashton playing near our house.  The weather has been so nice since we got back from AZ.  

Up to Steamboat

We all went up to Steamboat for a week last week.  My sister was in town from Bakersfield CA so we went up for a visit.  Steph brought some of her coworkers and their friends so it was a full house.  We had a great time visiting and it was nice to spend a whole week up there.

Driving up to Steamboat

I took the dogs snow shoeing and it was so beautiful.  This is the view from the trail right by my parent's house. There was a lot of snow and I decided to turn around when I had to dig all 3 dogs out of a hole.

Steph and her friends helping Cate do a princess puzzle.

My Mom asked Cate if she wanted to have a dance party when we went up to Steamboat.  Of course Cate was very excited and told me that we have to bring her tutu and her dancing shoes.  Here she is dressed up for the party.

Of course Ashton wanted to wear the tutu because he has to do everything that Cate does.

Cate playing in the snow

Ashton playing in the snow.  The snow is taller than he is.

Ashton playing with both sippy cups.

Aunt Pat and Uncle Don gave Ashton a session of My Gym  for his birthday.  Here is a picture of him playing with all the other little kids.  He loved going and I look forward to taking him each week.

Fun pics

Cate and Ashton are starting to be able to do some of the same activities.  Here is a picture of them painting together.

Daddy and Cate hanging out on the couch together

Just a picture of Cate that I really like

Now that Ashton is eating the same food as Cate, they are starting to sit together at her table.  It is so cute to watch them eat together.

We took the kids to the recreation center today to go swimming.  The pool has slides, fountains, and a lazy river.  It was great to be able to head to a pool on a snowy day.

Behind Eric is the kids slide.  Cate keeps saying that she will go down it next time.  The kids had a great time at the pool.  It was a great family activity.  

Cate's First Day of School

Today was Cate's first day of preschool.  She did very well.  When we picked her up she told us that she made a friend named Emily and that she got to use glue.  What a great day!

Here she is with her backpack.  She had me check a couple times to make sure that her snack was in the backpack.  

Here is the artwork that she did today.  (I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture)

As Ashton gets older he is able to play with Cate more and more.  They enjoy playing with water in the kitchen sink.

I love this picture of them standing together and playing.  It is so much fun to watch them together!

Christmas in SLC/Steamboat

Eric and I took the kids up to Steamboat a couple days before Christmas to celebrate with my parents and Quentin.  Then we drove over to Salt Lake City to spend Christmas with my extended family.  We had such a great time.  It was fun to take Eric and the kids to Salt Lake and to show them what my family does for Christmas.  It took 6 hours to drive there and the kids did really well.  The weather cooperated and the drive was pretty smooth.  Here are some pictures from the Christmas festivities:

First we celebrated Ashton's Birthday with Grammy and Grandpa Rlowe.  They got him an ice cream cake.  He loved diving in to it!

Aunt Steph gave Cate a hair dryer for Christmas.  She said "I can't believe that I finally have a hair dryer".  I think that she likes it.

Uncle Q gave her Dora's backpack.  It came with a camera, a compass, a spotting scope, and a map.  On our drive to Salt Lake, Cate kept getting her map out to tell us which way to go.

When we were in Salt Lake we went downtown to the temple to see all of the Christmas lights.  At 5:30 they turn on all of the lights at once.  It was so beautiful.

On Christmas eve my Grandparents came to our hotel to have breakfast with us.  It was so great to spend some time with them and for Cate and Ashton to see their great grandparents. 

Here is a picture of us in the the lobby of the hotel.

Later that day we went to Crown Burger (a Lowe family tradition) for lunch with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins on my Dad's side of the family.  Cate and Susanna (my second cousin) were the only girl kids there.  Cate loved playing with susanna's hair.  It was so fun to watch them together.

On Christmas eve we went over to my Aunt Julie and Uncle Bill's house for dinner.  Here is a family picture of us before we went to dinner.

This is a picture of me with some of my cousins and some of our kids.  From left to right:  Missy and her son Will (3 weeks), Emily and Charlie (Lindsay's son), Elizabeth with Cate, Lindsay, Me and Ashton.

We were so lucky because Santa took some time out of his busy schedule to come to our party.  In this picture Santa is singing Rudolph and he had my Aunt Julie, Uncle Bill, and cousin in law Walter dress up with Antlers and noses.  We had so much fun having Santa visit.  We all sang a bunch of Christmas songs with him.

This is my cousin Elizabeth and her friend Todd singing with Santa.

As you can see Ashton wasn't too excited to see Santa...

Santa didn't want to take too much blame for the crying kids :)  He was actually very good with the kids and it was so much fun having him there.

Cate wasn't too excited either.

The next morning (Christmas morning), we took the kids over to my parent's room in the hotel to open the presents that Santa brought.  Here is Cate checking out what Santa brought.

Here is a picture of the kids opening their presents.

Here is Cate checking out her stocking

Ashton with his stocking

Playing with their new toys

Later that evening we went over to my Aunt Coralie and Uncle Bruce's house for dinner.  Here is a picture of all the second cousins together with the cowboy hats that my mom got for them.  It was very difficult to get them all to sit on the couch.  From left to right:
Will (3 weeks), Cate (3), Jack (3), Charlie (9 months), Ashton (1)

Cate and my Mom playing Go Fish with my cousin Eric.  Notice how small the cards are.

It was a very busy Christmas but we had such a great time.  It was so nice that we were able to see everyone in Salt Lake.  I haven't seen my cousins in years and it was great to be able to catch up with them all.