Mexican Train training

Last night, we were blessed by serving dinner to 4 of the sweetest people we know! What a comical night but sweet as can be! I loved watching our kids "be all ears" to their stories. GGGG, Ms. Flo and Ms. Doris were thrilled to pass on their Mexican Train skills to the next set of generations... of which our 3 loved!!!

hunting WaBbItS 2012

2012 marks our 3rd year of hunting "wabbits" as a family. for some reason we always hunt them near Easter and it just seems wrong to be shooting sweet little bunnies! but, it hasn't stopped the Kroons! this year, we thought it would be fun to add a friend to our annual trip... so Parker's good buddy, Caden, came along!

the four kiddos hiking along the road... they were so cute how they stuck together, chatting away and enjoying each other's company!
Nerf guns were a new addition this year. Parker is the only one that has any experience shooting a real gun but I thought the other 3 would have much more fun on the long hike if they could pretend they were also shooting!

The best part about our bunny hunting trips... is the panoramic view! We watch the weather forecast carefully to ensure warm enough temps and I am continually amazed at how this place always has bright blue skies!
Kep is our packhorse and Savannah fully enjoyed her plush ride in the Chariot. Her little legs needed a break after tromping through the snow for a few hours.
The boys' legs however did not get tired so they would post~hole through the deep snow... whatever it took to get a rabbit! Fortunately, our new camera has an awesome zoom to capture the four of them attempting to be sneaky hunters!
yup... all their post~holing was worth it, Kep shot the first bunny and the boys fetched it!
Caden LOVED every part of the day and thought it was so cool to be able to open and close the bunny's mouth and see his teeth!
Now, it's Parker's turn so Kep is reminding him how to aim... the score was 2 for Parker, 2 for dad!
boys will be boys... a wrestling match will always break out, no matter where you are!


Successful day... 4 happy children, awesome weather, 4 "wabbits", and new memories... what a blast!

Hilltop with Buchanans

Buchanans are some good friends of ours and they are skiing fanatics. So, it's becoming an annual tradition to hit the slopes at Hilltop at least one time each winter. Pretty soon, the adults will be outnumbered by kids and we will be left in their dust. These boys are fast and not afraid!!!

I love how little Hilltop is... this chairlift is awesome! I think Kep would love to turn one of these into a swing in our backyard to go with his snowboard bench!!!

good sunny times in Hatcher's

What a winter this has been!!! We are loving every part of it... tons of snow, lots of sunshine and plenty of family days in the snow! We hiked up Hatchers for another great day in the sun, snow and more family memories!I love that our kids turn any snow experience into a fun time... they take after their daddy! ;o) Here's the younger 2 reaching the first "bowl" and Savannah has learned that when the legs get beat... just crawl!!!

YaY! She made it to the top and could she be any prouder!?!
Brotherly love! You may notice a little tuft of pink at the bottom??? Yup, that's our li'l missy switching personalities and deciding she's too tired to make it up to the boys for the next photo~op! Gotta love it!
Parker decided this day was a snowboarding day so he hiked up in his boots and carried his board!
Kep is still hoping that this is next year's Christmas card pic! we shall see! It's amazing how he will dig a bench, prop the skis, learn how to use our new camera's self~timer mode; all this for a family pic in the mountains!
and after we expect the kids to sit still for many attempts we had to reward them with a "silly shot"!
I am always amazed by the beauty that is in our "backyard". We only have to drive 30 minutes and to enjoy this picturesque view. I loved looking down at Independence Mine and seeing how peaceful it was with this blanket of snow covering all the buildings.
Noah Hatcher is so proud that he gets to ski through Hatcher powder, again!
I think the best thing about powder is how slow you go!!! I don't have to worry about my li'l guy getting too far ahead of us and if he falls... he is well~cushioned!

FUN times behind the snow machine!

The Kroon families own 2 ancient snow machines, the Jag and the Panther. Although, they are old and not very snazzy... they never give up and they still provide tons of FUN! Kep remembers being pulled behind snow machines on his skis, when he was in high school, so he found a way to make this a new weekend activity for our kiddos! and it was a hit!

it didn't take long before they had a jump built into the snow machine/ski course and an added rope system for brave sledders to ride beside the crazy skier catching some air!

then, we remembered we had an old tube from our ski boat and this was the perfect ride for Noah and Thomas!

and then you might as well add a second skier and a second jump... why not!?!
The adorable 3 year olds kept safe and had their own version of FUN digging in the snow... we called it their snow box... instead of a typical sandbox!

our FUN day with friends wouldn't have been complete without colorful cups full of hot cocoa!

HapPY BirTHdAY sKI!!!

Our birthdays just happen to be two days apart and this day was a perfect way to celebrate! In fact, I think we decided it is our new birthday tradition. Kep took the day off, Mo~mo watched our children, we skied ALL day and filled our hungry bellies at Alaska's new Olive Garden! Fun and yummy!

sledding fun in the SUN

I love snow and I think my fav part about snow is how gorgeous it looks on sunshiny days! And, we've been blessed to have tons of snow and tons of sunshine this winter... so we headed up to sled with our beautiful Cuz Britt!

what a perfect way to sled... protected by Cuz Britt and she also carries the sled back up the hill!
the April Bday cousins enjoying the view from the very top!
love my li'l sledding buddy~ she giggles the whole way down!

1st trip to Alyeska this winter

Alyeska is def our fav place to ski as a fam but we only go there 2 or 3 times per year as it gets rather pricey. This winter has been rather cut up with our trip to CA, super cold temps in January and HUGE dumps of snow... so we FINALLY made it down to Alyeska in mid February! Our boys were pumped to say the least! And, we were fortunate to have the company of Popeye and Mo~mo and our good buddies, the Smiths! Savannah has not learned to ski yet so she enjoyed a playdate with Owen and Miss Pam!

Thomas and Noah snowplowing the mountain together~ they are both doing so well for li'l 5 year olds!
Kep on the mono ski!!! Kep could not believe his find on Craigslist this Fall... a mono ski! This was his first time taking it out for a spin and he sure made many heads... spin!!! Ha~ it was hilarious watching him swish his hips back and forth to get some turns and to keep this ski from going out of control! When I asked him at the end of our day how it went... he replied, "I'm converted, that thing is a trip!"
Noah skiing down Lift 3 with Popeye and Mo~mo!
Parker and Ella waiting (again!) for the rest of us!
All of us entertained with these 2 crazy guys testing the mono ski! Tom and Kep did awesome~ I would have been a screaming disaster on that thing! ;o)
the boys and their awesome ski instructor dad!
Noah was one tough skiing dude! The rest of the crew went to the top but we stayed at Lift 3 until 5:30! He is so fun to ski with as he sings or chats all the way down the mountain!