Kids first time Skiing

This morning we went up Skiing with all the Brothers and my Dad and then in the afternoon we had all the kids come up and learn to ski on the bunny hill.  It was a perfect day for skiing and it was fun to have everyone together skiing like we used to do when we were younger.  I guess having Ryan come in town gave us a good excuse to go up and it was a lot of fun trying to teach the kids.  Maddie, Colton, Alex, Gracie and Isabelle all tried.  

Gracie had some interest and did pretty good but then all she wanted to do was drink hot chocolate.  All the other kids really picked up on it quick and graduated to the bigger learning hill.  By the end we had some good skiers and even Gracie wanted to try the larger hill.  Hopefully in a couple weeks we can try it again.

Getting Gracie's Ski Pass On

Isabelle Ready to Go

First Try up the Bunny Hill

You can't see Gracie but I am trying to teach her to lean forward and not backwards

Grandpa helping Isabelle

Grandpa having a small problem on the Escalator

Alex couldn't stop so he just sat on his Skis

Gracie was a little tougher to teach, she spent a lot of time on the ground

Colton getting the hang of it

We graduated to the bigger hill!

Once she got on the big hill she really got the hang of it

By the end she was doing really good

I think Gracie had more fun drinking the Hot Chocolate

Everyone but Alex (He had to use the restroom) after skiing

Carrying Gracie to the Car

Brook's stayed at Grandma & Grandpa Barker's while we skied, him and Grandpa playing

Isabelle Baptism

January 14, 2 days after her 8th Birthday, Isabelle was baptized a member of the Church.  This is a big deal, and the weeks leading up to it, Aly made sure that everything was going to be perfect for her big day.   Now that it is over I would say it couldn't have gone better.  

We arrived at the Church at 10:00 to get dressed in our white clothes and make sure that we were ready to go at 10:30.  This being a stake baptism we didn't have to do much except show up.  Isabelle looked so pretty in her white baptism dress and I had the chance to Baptize and Confirm her.  Walking into the water I could see the excitement on Isabelle's face that she was ready to be Baptized and I was excited because the water was so warm!

I got a little choked up when I baptized her just thinking how fast the past eight years have gone and how old she is getting.  I felt so blessed to have the opportunity of baptizing her and helping her on her journey back to her Heavenly Father.  She went all the way under and we didn't have to do it again luckily and then we got ready for the confirmation.  

Afterwards we had a luncheon at our house to celebrate her baptism as well as her birthday.  With around 50 people at our house it was a little tight, but it was great that so many people came out to celebrate her big day.  

Here are the people that came to her Baptism:

Aly's Decorated Cake

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve 2011 at the Ferrans:  Great Prime Rib, songs sung, gifts exchanged, a 450 pound safe carried, and Brook's having enough and falling asleep on the couch.

Isabelle decided that she wanted to play her guitar for Christmas Eve so she worked on the song: "Silent Night."  Last minute we talked her into singing too and she did a great job.  Since I brought a mic and speaker it then turned into everyone wanting to sing, so this was one of the first Christmas Eve's where music was a big part of the Ferran Family party.  

We had a great time even if we had to carry John's new safe in from the Garage.  

The girls singing "Christmas Bell's are Ringing"

Preston sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"

All the Grandkids' in their Pajamas

Isabelle's present from Ryleigh

Brook's excited about his new computer