"In Summer... and Winter" at Big Sky

Click here to view this photo book larger

I made this book to celebrate some fantastic seasons up in Big Sky.
We get to go back for a few days again this Summer!

Christmas #1: Montana

This year we had just a few-hour window

where all the Hickles would be in the same city

at the same time...

so we planned a fun little get-together

at a local Legos store

and did the family Christmas there!

We started the evening off

building fun stuff from bins of countless lego designs,

then set up the birthday kiddos to open a few bday presents,

next the kids played "Santa's Elf"

and passed out all the actual Christmas presents,

then highly enjoyed watching each other open gifts,

and lastly the store manager brought us

small bins with caps, heads, bodies and legs

to make our own little Lego men/women to take home!

We ended the evening at Outback,

a Hickle favorite!

 

 

And, in case you didn't just pick up on it yourself,
there was definitely a THEME to the gifts this year!

We Hickles walked away with MANY Star Wars paraphernalia!

---The likes of which include--

3 Star Wars books,
an R2D2 wallet,
a Star Wars Lego ATAT,
a Star Wars Lego ARC - 170 Starfighter,
a Star Wars Lego Snowspeeder,
a Yoda and R2D2 ice cube tray,
both Boba Fett & Millennium Falcon t-shirts,
Darth Vader/Storm Trooper walkie-talkies,
tap-dancing Japanese Star Wars characters,
the Star Wars Lego Wii game,
and the list continues...

(PS Robbie totally sounds like he's seen the movies 200x...
He's never seen them even once.
He's just been well informed by his daddy, uncle and auntie!)

Beware: More Christmas Posts to Come

Our Big (Little) Buddy!

I didn't post about it
but on his birthday
we celebrated our Jacob Sterling
with extended family!

We put together a few favorite prints of Jacob

We decorated in green,
since Jacob had started talking about GREEN a lot!

We did it as a "potluck" and had hot dogs, burgers
salads, watermelon, jello, baked beans, etc...
Great two-year-old food! LOL!

Praying over our precious gift!

Look at this big boy with his "Paw-paw!"

 And we celebrated with Tres Leches Cake!

Here's a video of Jacob loving the attention of all eyes
on him while he blew out his candles =)

Remember, to view the video
you may need to go to our site directly
hickles.blogspot.com

And opened gifts-- thanks for lovin' our boy so well!

We're in love with this boy!

Happy Birthday Jacob Sterling!

We pray God bless you,
that you know Him profoundly,
that you influence others kindly,
that you grow in integrity and strength,
that you be a good friend, 

an honorable husband, 

a caring father.

We love you!

That Big Sky

We got to venture out into Big Sky, MT
again for a week with the Hickle family.

What a blessed week!

We saw wild animals
(deer, beaver, mama duck and ducklings,
deer, elk, bald eagle, and a fuzzy fox)
swam every day at least once,
hiked, walked, played countless board games,
ate like gluten free kings,
and greatly enjoyed family time.

I'm gonna let most of the pictures speak for themselves!

Just stepping out of the condo
means one can experience World Class views.
We went on many walks/hikes!

(This is Lone Peak.
Taylor calls it "Lonely Peak"!)

The condos have access to
two hot tubs and a heated swimming pool.
It was an every day pastime!

Grandpa brought his blow-up raft
and Taylor begged every day to go out on the lake.
We only had two kid-sized life jackets,
so when all three were in the boat Taylor had to wear an adult one.
When it was buckled up through the top
she couldn't sit or her chin would be pushed straight up.


 

Auntie Tricia brought so many great games on her Ipad.

The kids LOVED the uninterrupted week of Daddy-Attention

And Jacob learned what it was to wrestle =)


Morning Cuddles & Cartoons

Uncle Nate has introduced the boys to all things Star Wars.

Auntie Anna trekked up to Big Sky four days in a row,
commuting back to her job.
Thanks for making so much effort to be with family!

The Hickles 5

When Robbie prays each night
he often begins by saying,
"Dear Jesus, thank you for all these Hickles for right now."

This evolved from what he would often say
when we lived with Gary and Kathy,
At dinner he would exclaim,
"Look! We're all the Hickles!"

(Later he learned to add that we were not all the Hickles,
but that there were Bozeman and Colorado Hickles too.)

But look!
We're all the Hickles!