Between Christmas and New Year's we had a great vacation, going to my Mom's house in Colorado for the week.  (I'm going to let the pictures do the talking for the most part here, with just a few comments.)  The first thing our three year old found when he went in the door was this dog - a draft dodger for Mom's door.  He figured it was just for him, and made friends right away.  He stopped in the middle of playing with him to tell our 19 year old daughter "He's growin' FAST!"

 He loved visiting his little cousin again - she is 5 months old now.

 She seemed to enjoy having a new toy :) and lots of attention.

My sister turned 35 while we were there, so my daughter baked her a cake and decorated it with skittles... and lots of candles. :)

 She had lots of help with the unwrapping.

 I

I walked into the back bedroom one day and found my boys all lined up watching television.

 So I added the baby to the pile and got a picture of all the important men in my life (minus the 21 year old, who is living on an Air Force base in California, and couldn't make the trip).

 The babies got re-intruduced.

Mine wasn't so sure he wanted to share the limelight.

 Of course there was lots of baby holding...

 

 And we all figured out how to play Scrabble and Mancala on my daughter's new Nook color.

I bought a new camera - just a cheap, tiny little thing that will fit easily into my purse or pocket.  The bigger one is too cumbersome to lug around all the time.  And now I can take self-portraits again.  The bigger one was awkward and impossible to take self portraits with unless I used both hands, which doesn't make for great pictures.

 Sorry Uncle J.  Had to include these :)  Our seven year old was trying out the new camera and was giving very specific instructions on how to pose...

 

 My daughter's one request was that we eat out at HuHot.  I'm not sure what culture that is - Mongolian, maybe?  Anyway, you go through a line and choose all the raw ingredients - putting everything into a bowl or two as you go...

Then you take it up to the big round cook surface and they cook it for you.

 

 The line was pretty long to get your food cooked, but it's fun and tasty, so it's worth it.

 We were seated right next to the line for the cooking, so we could visit while we were in line.  Still, it took a good 20-25 minutes to go through the line and get back to the table.  We had to do it in shifts too because of the babies, but in the end, everyone was full and happy :)

Of course we had to do a size comparison picture with the little ones, who are 30 days apart in age.  Our son is about an inch longer and still weighs barely more than she does.  But it's hard to tell.

 Of course the three year old had to get in on the photo shoot :)  It wasn't that long ago that he was this little!

 We played several games. This is a card version of Trivial Pursuit that was really fun.  I love Trivial Pursuit, but can't hardly get anyone to play it with me.  The card version was easier because it moves faster, and you get multiple choice answers and can steal other players' wedges.  Very fun.  We played it all New Years Eve - up through midnight.

The next morning everyone was very tired, especially the kids.  We got up to head to church, but the three year old was in a horrible mood so I ended up keeping him and the baby home.  (When he gets like that, there's nothing we can do - just let him rest).  We had planned to head out right after church, but the seven year old wasn't feeling very well, so we stayed long enough to watch the Bronco's game, then headed home after that.  It was a great week (and thankfully an uneventful trip home.  Everyone but me slept most of the way home.) I love our home here in the mountains, but I do wish we were closer to my family so we could get together more than a couple times a year...