Sage sledding

This morning I was missing our Christmas fun and Sage and I decided to watch some videos from when we were there. We came across this one and both started laughing, so cute.

Sage practicing his riding skills

The other day I took Sage out to the ranch to visit friends and check in on the horses. One of the horses, Poco, was finishing up a lesson and Sage was able to hop on for a quick ride. He's such a pro, I was beaming. Once we were back home, Sage got out one of his plastic horses and decided to try out his skills again...

A White Christmas

We had such a wonderful time visiting family over Christmas and were THRILLED that we got a very white Christmas =) Sage went sledding, ice skating, and had tons of fun with all his cousins, aunt, uncles, Oma, Opa, Grandma, Grandpa, Erika and Alex. Thanks fam for all the great times together, we miss you already!

Wintery weather in Stillwater, MN

Sage had a fancy (bordering on addiction) for eggnog, here he is caught in the act

Uncle Dan toting all the kids around

Cousins ready to play in the snow (Sage still inside getting bundled up) and a very gracious neighbor who plowed my brother's drive as well. Oh Midwestern charm =)

I can't resist this picture

Yosemite

Over Thanksgiving weekend we decided to take a short trip up to Yosemite. It was amazingly beautiful (as always) and we had a great time, even though it was FREEZING! This photo is of Ducey's at the Pines Resort, we had dinner here the first night. Ahhhhh, memories. =)

This is Bass Lake in the winter when it's drained, usually this whole beach is under water.
Beautiful Yosemite
Beautiful, cold Half Dome
Cozy by the fire in Curry Village, trying to warm up a bit =)

Yosemite

What a cutie, so happy exploring everywhere

Sage getting rather cold at this point
A much smaller wintery version of Lower Yosemite Falls
Sage very happy now that he found a stick to play with, although, hands going numb...
Boy does he love his sticks and "sword-fighting". It was fun to watch him have so much fun playing in the woods, but once he registered his frozen hands, it wasn't much fun anymore. Any tips on how to keep mittens on a kid who REFUSES to keep them on???

Our lil' drummer boy

Sage is really into playing my drum these days, here he is showing off his "rhythm".

Oh how I love fall!

I finally got a chance to put up some great fall pictures of our time at Avila Valley Barn up in San Luis Obispo. The farm is one of my favorite places in all of California, I actually feel like I'm back in the midwest when I'm there =) Here's Sage devouring an apple his dad picked for him.

Doesn't Sage look so grown up in this picture? Cute, but sad - it's all going so fast!
Sage tromping through the apple orchard
Sage picking out which pumpkin he wanted
An attempt at a family pumpkin photo, Sage just wanted to go check out the goats more.
Here's a video of Sage feeding the goats, awwwwww, makes my heart sing that he loves his farm animals =)

My lil' buckaroo

I have looked forward to this day for many, many years. Dan took the morning off and we decided to go hang out at the ranch for a few hours. All three of us rode, most exciting of course was getting Sage on a horse for the first time. He rode good ole' Sierra and LOVED it. I am one proud mama! =)

Here's a video of his first ride. He didn't have any hint of fear, just big smiles the whole time. He's a natural cowboy =)

A Sage-asaurus!

We took Sage trick-or-treating with our friends the Ficsors. Last Halloween we were with them as well and it was only a few weeks later that their home burnt down in the Tea Fire. It was a great Halloween this year not only because it was, well, Halloween, but it was also the Ficsors first night in their newly built home! Sage was a dinosaur and Sammy was the Flash. I must say I'm pretty proud of my first homemade Halloween costume as a mom. =)

Check out that tail!

Sage looking up to Sammy as The Flash
It didn't take long for Sage to figure out that Halloween meant candy
Sage very proud of his lollipop

Heartbreaking news...

My heart is so very sad, my dear friend Lamon passed away this past Thursday. He and Margrett were leading a mission trip to Ghana and Lamon had a heart attack right after he finished putting in the cornerstone of the building he had built. There are no words to express the sadness and devestation felt by all, he was one of the most amazing men I have ever known. He lived an incredible life dedicated to serving the Lord, what a faithful servant. I consider it a treasured, Godly gift to be able to say that I was loved by this man and able to witness his love to Margrett, his boys, and everyone he knew. I love you Lamon, I miss you.