Future fashion designer?

Check out these ensembles. . .

Lauren has found her drawers are an unending treasure trove of fun and funky color combinations. Just check out a few of her, ummm, creations. And believe it or not, I let her go out in her consortium of colors.

There have been times in a past life that Lauren would dress herself. She would inevitably end up in something that was the most colorful combination possible. I was fine with her combinations, as long as we weren't going somewhere. If we went somewhere, I would "suggest" that she change one item. It went something like this, "Lauren, would you like to change your shirt into this one that I picked out and go to the store with me?" Then we moved to Taos. There are so many reasons that I love Taos (perhaps that should be a topic of a future blog). Just one of those things is that everyone accepts everyone as they are without judgement. Preston's school is chuck full of kids with bed head and mismatched, wrinkled clothing. Quite frankly, the town has it's fair share of adults who look the same...I have seen kids with dread locks here (and lots of adults too). The town is full of very "Taos-ish" kids, who obviously dress themselves. It is difficult to explain but I find it absolutely and completely refreshing.

Kennan and I have talked about what life will be like when we move away from this place. Will I change back into the mom who cringes when her daughter wears red striped tights, a pink floral skirt with a blue and green shirt under a multi-striped poncho? I hope not. Our house is much happier when Lauren dresses herself and I let her keep on what she chooses. You know the whole, pick your battles thing...

Grand Junction - Here we come!

It is official. Kennan signed the contract to join a group in Grand Junction, Colorado a few weeks ago. He finishes his fellowship the end of July so we will be moving in August.

Here is the story with the Mesa State paraphernalia: Mesa State is the college in Grand Junction. The group Kennan is joining does a lot of work with Mesa State. One of the doctors in the group sent us some "gentle persuasion" for Christmas. When Kennan signed the contract, we made a little "cover letter" with this picture. The group loved it (or at least they said they did...)

I can't believe after 4 years of med school, 1 year of internship, 4 years of residency and 1 year of fellowship, (yes, your math is correct, that makes 10 years after undergrad) HE IS FINALLY FINISHED! It has been a wild ride - but one that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Joy in the journey.

Taos Ski Valley ROCKS!!

This year has been deemed by Kennan as "The Year of George" especially when it comes to skiing. Those of you out there who LOVED Seinfield like we did (and still do) should catch the meaning of that statement. . .

Preston and Lauren have been in ski lessons every Wednesday through Preston's school for the last couple of months. It is FABULOUS on a number of different levels. First and foremost, they have turned into good little skiers. Their confidence levels have grown both on and off the slopes. Another great thing about Wednesday's is that I have been able to go skiing with the kids. Their ski lessons last from 9:00 - 2:30 so I would drop them off and then hit the slopes. I pick them up at 2:30 and we go and ski together for a couple of hours. It has been the best therapy a gal could ever ask for. My dad has always said that skiing "clears the cobwebs" out of the mind. I couldn't agree more!

Lauren is SUCH a cute little skier. As she makes her little turns, she is usually singing some song she has just made up.

Last Saturday, as Preston and I were riding up the ski lift he announced he wanted to go down the "Al's Run" - the run just under the ski lift. It was a very long black diamond run. Kennan said, "Yeah! Take him down it!" I had a very different response - I tried to gently persuade Preston that we should do another run. He insisted...so we did it. He did great! I was amazed.





Preston loves the jumps.

I told him that he jumped so high in this picture, I wasn't able to get his head in the picture. Really, I was just too close, but we wont tell him that. :)

Christmas Cards

If you know me, you know how much I love the whole Christmas card process. I love making our Christmas cards. I love receiving Christmas cards (hint-hint). I love seeing how friends and families have changed. I just love everything about it (except addressing the envelopes). I was a bit distraut this year when I realized that we didn't have a family picture (again). I was even more frustrated when I realized that we had about 2 pictures of all three kids together. No worries I told myself - I'll just take one. I tried MULTIPLE times and Carter didn't want to have anything to do with it. Every time I tried to take his picture, he would shout "NO!" and at the least would turn his back to the camera or even better, he would run the other way. Here are just a few of my attempts to get just the perfect shot...



This is Carter playing the "Go Limp" game. Boy, was that a fun one.












No, we do not have a baboon as a child...










This was one solution, but something just doesn't look quite right...








We went on a walk just after it had snowed. I thought to myself what a great Christmas card picture-all of us bundled up like one big happy, cozy family. I wanted to see if Carter would let me take his picture so I said, "Carter, say cheese!" He promptly turned away from the camera...









The picture I used for our card was nice - it just wasn't quite what I had invisioned. Better luck next year!

The finished product!

Taaa-Dahhhh!

Gingerbread Chaos

For Family Home Evening tonight we made our Gingerbread House (donated to us by Grandma & Grandpa Brenchley). The festivities started out with me trying to assemble the house and hearing Lauren say, "Oops Mom. It was an accident." She had "accidentally" snapped one side of the roof in half. Kennan fixed the problem with some toothpicks. Shortly after we started decorating, Carter fell off his chair and landed very hard on our very hard brick floor (yes, there was an audible bonk when his head hit the floor). After that, it got really fun! Actually, the kids had a ball and thoroughly enjoyed making their gingerbread house! Check out that concentration...

Carter turns 2!

The little terror has officially entered into the realm of the 2-year old. That is a bitter-sweet thing. It's sweet because the world of a 2-year old is all about discovery. Watching that discovery process occur can be priceless. The bitter part comes in to play when the little munchkin discovers things like...he is too small to go poop in the potty with the help of Lauren (yes, the brown stuff was everywhere and no, I'm not thinking of potty-training him yet. Lauren might be though.) Sweet=when Carter is enthralled with the ornaments on the Christmas tree and stares at them forever with a look of wonder and amazement on his face. Bitter=when he tries to take an ornament off the tree and it doesn't come. He pulls and pulls and yes, the entire tree falls over breaking many of those ornaments that he was once enamored with.

We could go on forever. Lucky for him and me, at the end of the day he goes to sleep and looks like an angel - all is forgiven.

His birthday party was all about trucks and trains - which he loved (sweet).

Check out the CUTEST skirt ever!

My super-duper extra talented sister (Cindy) made Lauren's Halloween skirt. If you want a special little gal to look this cute in one, Cindy is selling them and has quite an array (including Christmas skirts). Email me and I'll get you the details: pkvance2@hotmail.com

Happy Halloween!

Here are our little munchkins trick-or-treating at our house. Kennan stayed home to hand out the candy to the hords of kids that found their way to our door step. Our kids thought they were really funny to be trick-or-treating at their own house.



I also included a picture of Carter since he wasn't included in the "Halloween Preview" picture. He was the cutest little knight around...although not a very brave one. The scary costumes freaked him out. Take note: the first picture isn't a full body shot. Check out the other picture...when I was trying to get a photo of his whole costume, he went and stood in the corner while saying, no yelling, "No!" Getting him to smile with the kung-fu grip on the candy wasn't a problem. Actually, now that I am typing this, I remember it was a problem. I have about 10 pictures of him at the counter. 8 of them have him saying "cheese" while holding the Laffy Taffy right over his eyes...and giggling because I couldn't take a picture of his face.

Halloween Preview

Here is our Halloween Preview. Our ward (church congregation) party was on Saturday night. Kennan went as "Scuba Steve", Preston was a ninja and Lauren, was of course, a princess. Carter and I were sick so we stayed home and watched tv all night long. Carter is going to be a prince. I love coordinating costumes and since he is the only one I can still have a say in what he wears, I thought he would be a cuter prince then a mini-ninja.

Preston's news

Yes, it has finally happened. The Tooth Fairy got to visit our house! Preston was so excited. He even wrote a little note to the Tooth Fairy...it was really cute.

The Balloon Festival

This last weekend was the Taos Balloon Rally. I was told it was awesome.
Carter and I were sick so we couldn't go see the "lift off". We did get a little
treat of our own when a balloon drifted right past our house!

Grand Junction

Last month we drove to Grand Junction for a job interview. About 3 hours into our drive, we realized that our garment bag was still hanging in the front closet back in Taos. The garment bag contained Kennan's suits (kind of important for a job interview) and a formal dress for me. We were going to be attending a black-tie, hospital Gala. We hit the mall an hour before Kennan's interview and found him some pants, a couple ties, and a shirt. While I was paying for everything, the salesperson was in the back frantically ironing his clothes and Kennan was waiting to get dressed in his new threads in the dressing rooms. It was a bit hectic.



We were staying with some great friends from Philadelphia who happened to be about our same sizes. My dress was a little short - I am a bit taller then Jeena (imagine that - me taller then a friend...) and Kennan's suit was a bit too big but we didn't complain. We were grateful we could raid their closets!

Despite the fact that Kennan had a terrible cold and he didn't have the right clothes, the interview went great. We are going to Utah next month to check out the possibilities there and then it is decision time - YIKES!

Grand Junction

We went to Grand Junction to check out a possible job. As part of the "recruting" package, we went to a ranch owned by one of the doctors in the group. It was beautiful. We went on a great 4-wheeler ride and spent some time with the horses which everyone loved - especially Carter.

Dog-sitting

This is Galliger - the dog we got to "dog-sit" while Kennan and the other fellow were in Tucson for a course. (The dog belongs to the other fellow.) We all loved Galliger-especially Carter. He would chase that poor dog around the house for hours. Lauren played "school" with him and Preston played fetch. Even I loved having him around. I didn't like the shedding aspect...but oh well. We (read: everyone but Kennan) decided that we need a dog. I am on the hunt for a dog that doesn't shed a lot...any suggestions?

Bandalier National Monument

On Labor Day, we went and saw some really cool Indian ruins. These Indians built their homes in cliffs - so it was apartment style living (think Mesa Verde on a much smaller scale). Preston didn't smile in any of the pictures because he was pretending to be an Indian boy the entire time we were discovering the ruins (hence, no pictures inside the houses). The kids (and their mom) loved trying to imagine what each room was used for and what they did in their houses. We couldn't get Dad to play the "what was it like" game...

Switch-a-roo

Unbeknownst to me and Kennan, Preston & Lauren decided to do a little switch-a-roo. The kids raided our closets and made the transformation. Preston is now the Dad (wearing Kennan's clothes) and Lauren is the Mom (wearing Mom's clothes).

Body Art on Dad

Sunday afternoon, Preston and Lauren were watercoloring pictures for mom. They were supposed to be cleaning out their brushes but got a little sidetracked when Dad was standing in front of the sink. Here is what happened - as told by Preston & Lauren: "We had so fun. Lauren colored "light-ming" (aka lightening) and a necklace on Dad. Preston colored on his leg, "I love Preston". He drew a mustash on Dad. Preston also drew an indian crown on his forehead. Mom helped out by drawing an "I love Mom" tatoo and a bird tatoo (see forearm).

Our backyard adventures

Our backyard isn't like the ones we are used to. Instead of grass and trees we have dirt, weeds, prairie dogs and grasshoppers. It isn't what we are used to but the kids still love it. We built a sand box and we have a big patio for bikes and push cars. The most entertaining part about our backyard are the grasshoppers. Carter and Lauren chase them throughout our backyard and Preston encourages them from a distance :)

The Spud-man Triathlon

For the past 10 years, I have been "training for a triathlon". Thanks to my overly ambitious sisters, I finally did one! And believe it or not - it really wasn't that bad! My goal was to finish and finish I did! Kennan and the kids made this cute sign for me and my sisters (Brenchley is my maiden name).

Hike at Taos Ski Valley

Last week we took the kids hiking up to Taos ski valley and went on a really fun hike. The kids did great as long as I told them “Alice the Mouse” stories (an ongoing story about a little mouse and her adventures that include other characters usually named Preston and Lauren). We hiked up a fairly steep, very beautiful trail for about 45 minutes and stopped at a stream. Carter was ready to get out of the Kelty back-pack. He happily threw rocks in the stream for about 30 minutes. Preston, Lauren and I played hide-and-go-seek. Not to hard to seek Lauren when she is wearing a bright red sweater…Preston was a bit harder to find since he was in a navy blue sweatshirt. Lauren decided she was just “too tiwed” to hike back down the mountain so her nice dad put her in the back pack…but not for too long. She is a lot heavier then Carter. It was so fun.

Taos Sunsets

We are here in Taos and loving our lives here. Just check out this sunset (that wasn't edited at all in Photoshop).

My first blog

I was feeling a bit left out and quite left behind because so many of my friends have blog spots and I didn't. So in an attempt to keep up with the Jones's, here we are. Actually, I thought it would be a great way to show people just what a fun (come visit) and exciting (come visit) place Taos is (come visit) to live. So now I am going to try and figure out how to get pictures on this thing...