After meals with the family we try and have everyone pitch in to help with the clean up process.  Ever since getting the sweeper vaccum Abby is usually the first one to ask if she can vacuum the floor.  Even in her church dress she is happy to help clean up after lunch.

Ever since Abby was a toddler she was always so good at playing by herself and coming up with the most creative scenes with her toys.  When she was 3 years old it was all about the little princess dolls.  Now that she is 7 years old it is all about the Sylvania Families.  I love how creative she still is.  

We were all getting ready for church and when I asked Andrew if he was ready he came into the office all ready for church with his scary ringwraith mask on.  I guess he thought he was Sauron's missionary or something.  It was both hilarious and a little terrifying.  

As a family we decided that we needed to do a better job of sharing our love of the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.  Mike came up with 5 things we are going to strive to do better and gave us a Family Home Evening lesson on them.   Way to go dad!

One of Mike's patients made him an awesome lego thank you board to thank him for putting in cochlear implants so he could hear.  That is just so cool.  

Emma decided that she wanted to try and go out for the swim team at the YMCA. She had never really swam laps before but was familiar with some of the strokes from past private swim lessons.  I was so impressed with how well she did for her first time.  She kept up with those beginning girls like her life depended on it.  I can see that with some more practice she will become a great swimmer.  

I love that I get a little extra time with my girls before they head off to school.  They looked so cute today in their sweaters and boots and curled hair.  

Tonight we headed over to the Club at Flying Horse to see the new Villa's and sample the different kinds of steak that would be served in the new Steakhouse.   Looking out over the golf course we got to see a beautiful sunset.  At that moment I was just happy to be hanging out with my man.

There is never a dull moment when Abby is around.  She is usually doing something funny or wearing something funny.  Not a day goes by that she doesn't put on at least one of her dress ups and dance around for us.  I just love this little girl of mine.

It is always the time after family scriptures and prayer that we love.  Sometimes we end up just talking or being super silly with each other and then sometimes we just like to watch a few Studio C clips together. One of the things we love the most is laughing together.  

After such a great week visiting family in Virginia it was finally time for us to head home.  As our plane was getting closer to home we looked out the window and saw snow that seemed to go on forever.  It was both sad to realize we were heading back into cold country but also beautiful to see it from above.  

After such a wonderful Thanksgiving feast the day before we decided we had better get out and hike today.   All the families drove out to hike Bear Den.  The views were absolutely amazing and the kids had a great time exploring and being with their cousins.  It wasn't a very long hike which everyone was grateful for.  When we got back to the parking lot Jacob took all the kids for a short ride up the dirt path in the back of his truck.  They all thought that was the coolest.  Later that night Mike, Peter, and Andrew were up to no good carrying out the prank we had all decided we would play on the Holtom Family.  This year we decided that post it notes on Jacob's car would be the coolest prank.  Peter and Mike walked from Grandpa's House to the Holtom's house and proceeded to place pink and grey post it notes to Jacob's car.  It looked awesome.  Apparently a neighbor in the neighborhood watch saw that someone was messing with the Holtom's car and called the cops.  We didn't find out about that until the next morning.  Kim and Brooks saw the car and told the cops that everything was fine, knowing that it was probably Mike that did it.  It was hilarious and I think our best prank yet.  

The girls woke up this morning and were so excited to help Lorene make preparations for our Thanksgiving feast.  Abby helped mix the stuffing and stuff the turkey.  Emma was super diligent in peeling the sweet potatoes.  I enjoyed watching my girls learn some great skills.  Most of the day before our dinner was spent playing in Grandpa's backyard swinging and riding on the tractor.  

Thanksgiving was a huge gathering of family with the Grandpa and Lorene, the Holtom Family, The Virginia Wilhelm Family, the Colorado Wilhelm family, and Brooks' cousin and her husband.  The food was delicious and the company was very entertaining.  I could tell that Grandpa Al was so happy to have all of his kids and grandkids together for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  It is always nice to be reminded of how blessed we are to have such a wonderful extended family.  

We spent most of the day today just hanging out and playing at Grandpa's house.  The kids all got to ride on the big tractor and the boys took turns driving the tractor.  This went on for quite some time.  The kids also enjoyed roaming around the woods in the backyard, swinging on the tree swing, playing cards with Lorene, and having competitions of foosball down in the basement.  Later in the day Mike and some of the kids got together to play a friendly game of flag football.  There was definitely ice cream involved after.  We really enjoyed this relaxing day at Grandpa's House.  

We were sad to say goodbye to Adam and Myisha this morning.  After they headed to the DC Temple we headed back in the swagger SUV and headed back downtown for another day of sightseeing around the mall in DC.  Today we focused on some of the monuments.  Our morning was spent touring around the US Capital building.  During our tour we were able to see the Crypt, the Rotunda, and National Statuary Hall.  We could see how beautiful the Rotunda and Inner Dome normally are, but during our visit the Rotunda and the outside of the Capital Dome were under construction.  It was kind of disappointing to not get an unobstructed view of the top of the Rotunda.  We all liked the Statuary Hall with some of the state statues.  Our favorite state statue was actually the one from Colorado that had an astronaut on it.  This statue was actually in the main lobby area.  

After our tour was over we walked across the street to get tickets from our State Representative to go and see both the House of Representatives and the US Senate.  Both meeting areas were impressive even though they were empty because no one was in session.     

After finishing up at the Capital Building we had to hustle to the Washington Monument for our tour.  The walk along the mall area was quite long and we ended up getting in a cab so we would not be late for our tour.  The kids loved riding up the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument.  The views from up on top were absolutely amazing.  We spent a good deal of time looking out over all four views from the top.  We finished just as the sun was starting to set.  The kids ran around on the grass around the monument for a while and then we headed to the Lincoln Memorial.  We took a peak in the WWII Memorial and then were surprised to see that Grandpa Al was waiting for us there.  He drove some of us to the Lincoln Memorial while Mike and Peter walked.  It was a good thing because our legs were really tired.  Since the sun was setting the lights were all lit up inside the Lincoln Memorial.  The kids really liked this memorial.  As we were walking down to meet Mike and Peter we noticed the full moon sitting to the left of the Washington Monument.  The view from the Lincoln Memorial towards the Washington Monument was stunning.  It was the perfect way to end our 2 day adventure in Washington DC.  

One of the things we were looking forward to during our trip out east was visiting the museums and monuments in DC.   We were so blessed to be able to spend time with some of our best friends, Myisha and Adam, on our visit downtown today.  They drove up from southern Virginia to spend some time with our family.  Mike rented a large SUV so we could all fit inside and venture downtown together.  We parked at the Ronald Reagan building and then walked over to see the White House.  The sidewalk closest to the lawn was open which was a much better view of the White House and the grounds.  Andrew wanted me to take a picture of him pretending to climb the fence.  I knew that wasn't a very good idea but I obliged and snapped a photo rather quickly so we didn't get into trouble with the security guard that stood only 20 feet away.  After waving bye to Obama we headed towards the museums on the Smithsonian strip.  The walk was rather brisk and we were pretty cold so we stopped at Cafe Paul to get some hot chocolate and a pastry.  It was such a treat after walking so many blocks in the cold.  

After warming our bellies and hands we headed over to the Natural History Museum.  This museum has always been one of our favorite museums.  We headed first to the dinosaur exhibit which was under construction but they had a small section for that exhibit.  It was a total bummer.  At least they still had the T-Rex and the Triceratops up and the fossil lab was up and running.  We enjoyed reading about the fossils that had been found in the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota in 2013.  We even got to see part of a tibia of a duckbilled dinosaur that they had collected in Montana last summer.  It was 66 million years old.  Amazing.  After leaving the dinosaur exhibit we took some time to read about and see the mummies they had on exhibit.  It was fascinating to see real mummies and read about how old they were and how you could tell if they were from royalty or not.  I have to be honest, they were a little creepy.  We went from one creepy thing to another as we headed over to watch the Tarantula feeding.  Those things totally creep me out.  The next stop was gems and minerals.  Everyone had their favorites and wanted their pictures in front of them.  After enjoying that part of the museum we walked through Africa section with the life sized animals before leaving the museum to go and eat lunch.  We UBER'd it over to a really awesome Japanese restaurant to eat lunch.  We were so EXCITED to eat real ramen but when we got there the wait time was super long so we decided to walk through China town and head to a great pizza place called Pi Pizza.  The pizza was fantastic.

dum dum want gum gum

After a hop, skip and a jump we landed at the Air and Space museum after lunch.  This is another favorite museum of ours.  We love all the planes and the new exhibit called Above and Beyond which was an interactive flight exhibition.  We probably spent a good portion of our time at this exhibit.  Abby loved the section where you could pretend to fly with a flock of birds.  The Elevator to Space was also neat as well as the Space Junk game. The kids had fun playing this game where you got to compete with each other at "junker" stations trying to eliminate the most orbital debris surrounding Earth.  

Our last stop of the day before our legs were totally jelly was a walk through the National Gallery of Art.  This museum holds a special place in our hearts as this was Grandma Candace's favorite museum.  We loved seeing the artwork, especially Renoir and Monet.  At the end of our day we were completely filled by good times downtown DC with our friends.  As we walked back to the car we passed the building I used to work in when I worked for Arthur Andersen.  That part of my life seems like ages ago.  After getting back to the car we headed back towards Virginia to eat at our all time favorite restaurant, Sweet Water Tavern.  It was a fabulous day!

Today was Sunday so we headed to church with Grandpa and the Holtoms to attend Sacrament Mtg.  Afterwards we headed back to the house to change our clothes and adventure over to the cemetery where Mike's mom is buried.  It was surprisingly cold today but also really peaceful.  We had a good chat at the cemetery and told some stories about Candace.  The kids always love it when we tell stories about Candace.  I wish they could have known her.  After warming up in the car we headed over to Mike's old house on Woodland Way and went on a little walk along the trail by the creek that Mike and his parents loved.  Grandpa and Gina met us over there to walk with us. The kids loved having piggyback races and being super silly.  We loved watching Mike give his dad a piggyback ride.  I was shocked that Andrew could actually carry me on his back.  It was a ton of fun.  As a kid Mike used to play in the creek and get into all sorts of trouble.  I remember when Andrew was a baby and Candace would put him in the pram and take him for a walk along the trail.  I don't have as many memories as Mike does walking along this trail but I do remember it was one of Candace's favorite things to do after dinner and on Sundays.  It was fun to take a walk down memory lane with Mike and the kids.  

This year for Thanksgiving break we decided to head to Virginia to be with Mike's side of the family.  We took the kids out of school a day early and decided to fly when it was cheaper and less crowded.  We got through security at the airport in less than 5 minutes.  That was an all time record for our family.  This was the first flight we had ever been on a flight where there was an actual dog in the passenger seating area.  Lucky for us the dog was quiet and far enough away from us that we really didn't notice it too much.  After a relatively short and smooth flight we finally made it to Virginia.  Lucky for us, Grandpa Al lives only a short 10 minutes from the airport.  After a warm welcome and a great dinner we reunited with the Holtoms before settling in for the night.  The next day we got up and headed over to play laser tag with all the cousins.  Mike, Gina and I joined the kids and played a couple of rounds of laser tag as well as some other fun video games.  Later in the day the kids went to see the Peanuts movie with Grandpa and Lorene while Mike and I headed over to the airport for our Global Entry interview.  We met up with everyone for dinner at Peking Gourmet.  I remember going to eat here for New Year's when we lived in Virginia and Maryland.  The family still gets together every year on New Year's to eat Peking duck.  We convinced everyone to do it a little bit earlier this year so we be there.  The kids loved being reunited with their cousins.  It was so fun watching them get to know their cousins again.  

I must admit, I was just as excited as the kids were to find out that school was canceled due to all the snow.  It snowed from Monday afternoon until 12pm on Tuesday.  The wind blew so hard in the middle of the night that Mike and I kept waking up.  By the time the sun came up Tuesday morning it was still snowing sideways because of the harsh winds.  The kids and I felt so bad for Mike that he had to drive in to work.  In the 2 years that we have lived in Colorado this was the first time witnessing this kind of blizzard.  There were deep mounds of snow on the south end of our house both in the front and the backyard.  The kids were so excited by the 3 foot mounds that they started digging out little caves.  There was just SO MUCH SNOW.  I told the kids to wait until closer to lunch time when the weather would be a bit warmer and the winds wouldn't be so harsh.  They were glad they listened because when they finally headed out to play, the sun came out, the winds died down, and it stopped snowing.  It was the perfect conditions to have fun in the snow.  The kids made snowmen, raced and jumped into the big piles of snow, dug lots of caves, and played with their friends.  I attempted to shovel the driveway and only got halfway through Mike's side until I had to stop because it was killing my lower back.  That is when I enlisted Andrew to finish up Mike's side of the driveway before he got home from work.  It was then that I understood why Mike always shoveled the driveway before the snow got too thick.  Lesson learned.  All in all, it was a great day.  

Today we ventured over to the Paint Mines located near Calhan, Colorado.  The drive was nothing special as we headed along the plains of Colorado.  Once we finally got to the Paint Mines we knew the drive was totally worth it.  This place reminded us of a mini Badlands.  We climbed all over the sandstone-capped spires and hoodoos and were fascinated by the colorful hues of clay mounds.  We loved exploring in and out of all the rock formations.  Andrew was always one step ahead of all of us.  He was often found at the top of some formation way before any of us could get up there.  There was lots of climbing, laughing, some whining, occasional snow throwing, and kindness in helping each other traverse through the amazing maze of rock formations.  The kids were quick to find different "caves" and small nooks and crannies in which they liked to hide.  The pink, yellow and white hued rocks looked like rainbow sherbet.  I would have never thought something so cool was so close to where we live.  ​

It was only a matter of time before it finally started to snow in Colorado Springs. We got our first snow of the season in the middle of the night and woke up to a blanket of white snow.  The kids were so excited to see snow again. Unfortunately, everyone still had to go to school.  After the boys left for school Mike and I went out to play in the snow with the girls before they headed to school.  We all had such a great time throwing snowballs, making tiny snowmen in the backyard, and having races.  One of the best things about playing in the snow is drinking yummy hot chocolate afterwards.  

Jeff came to visit us over the weekend before his work conference up in Denver.  We really enjoyed spending time with him.  On Saturday morning I took him to go mountain biking at the Black Forest Section 16 trail.  We did a little less than 8 miles.  He's been off the bike for quite some time because of his crash and he still blew me away on the second lap.  He is such a great athlete.

Later that day all the boys went to the Air Force Academy vs Army football game and had a great time but came home at the end of the 3rd quarter because it got really cold.  Mike and I took Jeff over to the Club at Flying Horse to eat dinner at the Tack Room.  It was a great way to end such a fun day.

On Sunday we all went to church together and then enjoyed relaxing afterwards. I enjoyed watching Jeff play with the kids in the backyard.  They loved hanging out with their Uncle Jeff.  I loved talking with Jeff about the start of his new life with his wife Jennifer and their two boys Mason and Matthew.  I am so excited to meet his new family.  I am so grateful we got to spend a little time with Jeff.  

While my brother Jeff was visiting this weekend Mike took all the boys to the Air Force Academy vs Army football game.  They all had a great time.  Andrew and Peter got to play with some Army toys, see some Air Force planes, and sit around in the cold and watch the Air Force beat the tar out of the Army.  I guess it goes without saying that the reason the Army football team is so bad is because we are busy winning the war.  Go figure!