Hardware Ranch

The male elk fighting for dominance

The "posers" sitting pretty with a bobcat in the visitors center

Sitting on the sleigh and anxiously awaiting the tour

Claire and Emmy waiting to get on the sleigh

Grandpa showing Cohen what Elk antlers look like!

So my dad called this last weekend and asked if Scott and the kids wanted to go to Hardware Ranch and then on to lunch..his treat! We have taken the girls a couple of times to go see these huge creatures up close and they have loved it every time. The experience in itself is so much fun...you load up onto a sleigh pulled by horses which takes you out into this open field where hundreds of elk migrate to during the winter, every year for many many years. It is a preserve a "safe zone" for these animals in which they are fed daily, it was a tactic to help the farmers back in the day because the elk were eating all the farmers crops....it worked these animals have come back every year for years. It is so cool to be within feet of these monsters. Thanks Grandpa for the fun weekend Scott and the kids had a wonderful time and to top it off.....Golden Corral for LUNCH!

Colquitt Cousins

Gabe and Cohen(on right) in a rare moment of not hitting each other or screaming,"Noooo....mine! We are certainly crossing our fingers that the next time they see each other that this will only be a phase of the past"

The girls with their Build-A-Bear creations. Thanks Chelon for the fun treat!

Having fun coloring their bears boxed "homes"

We loved every second that we got to visit and hang out with our cousins from Texas. Emmy and Claire miss Halle and Kassi so much so they really had a good time catching up on barbies, babies, Hannah Montana dance off, bob sledding down my stairs(my ears are still recovering from the high pitched giggles) and it really seemed like the time went too fast. Chelon I really had a fun time hanging out with you over the week and really grew closer to you. Thanks for being a wonderful friend and sister. How lucky am I that I have been blessed with 4 great sisters and to add another with you I feel truly blessed. We had soooo much fun and we miss you all so much. MOVE BACK!!

And then there was NEW YEARS!! 2009

What can I say?? We know how to PAR-TAY! We rang in the new year this year with our kids and my 2 sweet nieces who were visiting from Texas. We headed over to my parents house around 8 to eat pizza, treats, play aggravation, have dance contests, and of course dance to the famous beat of G'pa's drums. We were struggling to stay awake so we decided to pack up around 11:30 and head for home into our warm beds..I was the trooper and rang in the new year watching Dick Clark drop the ball as everyone else in my house was sound and snug in their beds. No New Years KISS for me:( Halle, Kassi, Emmy and Claire building a pyramid all the while getting their sugar rush.

Daddy and Cohen ringing in the New Year!

The girls sitting still for a minute before running and dancing to G'pa's "beat"

I love all these little girls!

playing Aggravation with G'pa. This game lasted a loooong time. Good thing gramps had patience to see this game out. Whew!

We hope that 2009 is a year filled with happiness, health and wonderful memories.

Christmas Eve

Getting ready to read stories at G'pa's house.

All the grand kids on the Warrick side. Look at them all sportin' their new jammies!

I love how amused Scott looks in this picture(and check out his brother in the the corner:) This was at Nana's house while she was reading the classic"Twas the Night Before Christmas"

This is for you Chelon..."Tis' the season to be jolly..falalalala"

A task in itself trying to get all the kids to look and hold still. All the grand kids on the Colquitt side.

Christmas 2008

Cohen on his new drums from G'ma and G'pa Warrick. He loves them and has gotten some good use out of them already! Thanks for always getting such great gifts and making Christmas day so fun and memorable. The kids looked forward to going to your house all day long...the games, the treats, the activities you sure do know how to make it a special!
The girls with their new luggage from G'ma and G'pa Warrick. These will come into good use with all of the sleepovers at your house....Cohen got his own too! The girls also got their very own MP3 players from G'ma/G'pa....now choosing what songs to download...decsions, descions??

Emmy on Christmas morning! I love that she is still interested in dolls and all the girly things. She is so sweet and loved her doll and all the furniture to go with it. She got her own cell phone, shoes, dangly earrings, barbies,(presents from a couple of BOYS in her class) bead sets..she was such a sweet heart all day long and really enjoyed every minute of it.

I love Claire and her sleepy looking eyes. She is our little crafty/artsy kid..she loved the bead set as well as all her crayons, coloring books, dolls, her SWIMMING dog(that she just Had to have), barbies and new shoes.

Our lil' Cohen had such a fun time this year. He was old enough to understand that if you rip the paper off the boxes there are some pretty cool suprises underneath it all. He loved his fire truck, cars, balls, shoes, but most of all her loved the empty boxes and shredded paper.....go figure!

Feast Your Eyes On My Cute Family..

We had our family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago and I honestly thought things would go a lot worse than what they did. I was prepared though with skittles stashed in my pocket for bribery when Lil' Cohen just couldn't take it anymore. All in all he did good, considering it was his nap time and he was beyond tired, and the girls well..lets just say they love the camera and attention anytime! As for Scott and myself we were wishing that our photographer could have photo shopped about 50 pounds on both of us..yuck..the reality of pictures really bites!

I need to give a shout out to Alex Perry for doing these awesome pictures for us. She has just started up her own photography business so anyone interested look her up at: legacy-photo.blogspot.com. She is the cutest thing ever and she does an awesome job! Thanks soo much Alex.

Let The Holiday Parties Begin!!

This Friday we attended our ward Christmas Party. I so cant believe it is December and Christmas day is just around the corner....I am NOT ready!! We had such a fun time and it was so well planned out. We had the usual ham dinner, and a buffet of treats that the kids LOVED! I think Claire made 4 or 5 trips loading her plate each time(I hope everyone got through the line at least once before Claire came along) After dinner we had the Syracuse High Choir serenade us with beautiful Christmas songs and then followed by a "surprise" visit by the big guy himself. I love this time of year and all the activities it brings along with it. Hopefully, time will slow down a bit so we can actually take time and enjoy every minute of the season!Claire, Emerson and their friend Maddi waiting to eat!
Claire with just ONE of her many treats!

Daddy and Cohen. Cohen was to interested in the basketball hoops in the gym. This kids LOVES basketball...

Our friend Maddi and our sweet Emerson telling Santa she wants a horse, a baby doll, and maybe a cat. Hmm...I'm thinking Santa thinks the doll is sounding just about right:)

Look at Claire's nervous little hands. She was practicing in the hall what she was going to tell Santa she wanted. She asked for a doll and a swimming dog. Easy enough!

I LOVE the face on Claire here. She was ticked that she wasn't on Santa's lap, she thought that she wouldn't get the chance to tell Santa what she had rehearsed for so long in the hall....eventually she got her turn!

UNTIL THE NEXT PARTY....