January

 The boys smothered Hallie Girl with love when she got to town!

We took the boys to Vail for a long weekend and it was a great trip. Even though it was a holiday weekend, Vail wasn't crowded at all. The boys had great skiing conditions (I opted out of skiing this year and spent my days exploring Vail Village!) and both skied really well considering they hadn't been since March 2020.  This was the boys first trip to Vail and they loved it as much as we do- it's a favorite for sure! 

We went over to Lionshead on night one and had dinner at Garfinkel's. It wouldn't be a ski trip without a giant ice cream sundae.

Saturday it was warm (40s in the Village) with blue skies, which made for a great first day back on the slopes.

That night we had dinner at The George in Vail. Before coming to dinner, the boys walked around the village and showed up with a box of Japanese candy and snacks. 

They also showed up with "The Tounge of Satan" for Creed, which is supposed to be the hottest candy. 

According to Creed, it is in fact, the hottest thing you can eat. He said it was many, many times hotter than the One Chip. 

Day two brought snowy conditions on the slopes.

Caleb ordered the famous nachos at The Red Lion, but regretted that decision about an hour after getting back on the hill. 

Vail got 7 inches of snow overnight, so Monday was a powder day. Creed made it to the back bowls first thing that morning and skied for hours before it was tracked out. While he skied, Luke and I explored Vail Village.

That afternoon we loaded up and headed back to Denver. Holiday weekend traffic on I-70 allowed the boys plenty of time to complete their make up work.

Our first (ice) snow day

December

Lacey loved her dog bone advent calendar from Grandma Beth!

Caleb played drums for Praise Band and led over 1,000 people at the all school Christmas concert. He played incredible and stole the show!

In the middle school band performance, Luke did fantastic on the drums as well.

Creed loves winter fishing on Cumberland, although this season seemed to be a little tougher than normal.

Christmas at Grandmom & Grandpa's

More cowbell!

It snowed on the 23rd bringing us the first white Christmas in years, and with temperatures below zero, we were all cold that day!

Creed even had his first "snow day" due to the temperatures. We decided to open a family gift that morning so we'd have something to play with all day! 

Christmas Eve Eve celebration with Grandma & Grandaddy at Jeff & Kim's

Christmas Morning

Luke was desperate to try his airsoft gun, but with temperatures below freezing, he didn't last long.

Gel Blaster wars at the lake

At midnight on New Year's Eve, we watched Georgia beat Ohio State on one TV

and the ball drop in Times Square on another. 

Happy New Year!

2022 was a FUN year! 

In January we visited Mark & Cathy at their new house in Cape Corral and spent the rest of the month at the lake house enjoying all the big snow falls. In February we made it down to the Keys and later that month PeePaw & Grandma Beth surprised Luke with a visit on his birthday. 

Creed and I made it back down to the Keys in March with friends, and we celebrated Tilly turning one. April was the official start of boating season, as we got the wake boat in the water and Caleb surfed in a full wet suit. We also spent eight incredible days with the boys in Costa Rica and showed them why we love it so much there. 

In May we dealt with Luke's diagnosis of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but still managed to get in quite a bit of lake time. Creed turned 40 in June while we were in Nashville for CMA Fest and Caleb celebrated his birthday in West Virginia on his first white water rafting trip. 

July was a big month, as we celebrated the 4th with friends on the lake and then later that month purchased our dream wake boat. August meant back to school and the boys transition couldn't have been smoother. While we had the BEST time during our homeschool year, they were ready to start middle and high school. 

In September we had lots of lake weekends and tried to soak up all that was left of summer. The boys flew by themselves for the first time in October to visit PeePaw and Grandma Beth, and we also celebrated Nana turning 99 that month. October also marked the end of lake season when we pulled the boat out and put it in dry storage for the winter. 

Creed and I celebrated our anniversary on November 13th in the Keys and celebrated Thanksgiving with family in West Virginia and then North Carolina later that month. December was a month full of all things Christmas!

The Fowlers are looking forward to 2023!