Steven is a great big brother, and a wonderful example to his siblings. We love Steven and are so thankful that Heavenly Father blessed us and sent him to our home. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVEN!!!!

Steven turns "16"

Today was Steven's 16th Birthday. I can't believe how quickly time flies. Steven was ordained a priest today, and after church we had both sets of his grandparents over for dinner and cake and ice cream. Steven is a terrific young man and a big help at home. He recently got his first 'real' job working at Rosati's Pizza, and enjoys earning a steady income. It's close enough that he can ride his bike, so now I don't have to stress about him getting his license. Friday night he had a few friends over for his birthday. They spent the evening playing Guitar HeroIII and went to the movies(and then came home and played Guitar Hero III again until 5:30 in the morning!!)

SNOW DAYS

Our second to last day in Colorado, we hiked up to Treasure Falls. They were totally frozen(except for a little bit of water you could hear coming from the back of them). It was beautiful, and the weather was so great the whole week we were there. On Saturday, our last day, it snowed non-stop. The kids had a blast playing out in it and building snowmen, igloos, and even a snow-mermaid. Sunday we had to shovel our suburban out of the snow and wait for the snowplows before we could leave to come home. (OK- I'm sorry this picture is sideways. I couldn't get it to turn--remember I'm a 'beginner blogger'--but hopefully you can tell it's the snow mermaid that Kourtney and Ivy made. They did a great job. The other kids were making some cool stuff in the snow, also. The first picture is of most of us that came up here(minus a few that had left early for home). This was our last day up here, and it was snowing pretty hard and it was a wet snow, so any amount of time we spent outside our clothes and hair got wet pretty quick. It was a totally fun week and we had the best time. This last picture is of those of us that hiked to the Falls.

New Years in Colorado

We've been ringing in the New Year in snowy, cold, but beautiful Colorado. There is a ton of snow(they had a big storm around Christmas), and the kids have been having a blast sledding and playing in the snow. We'll be here for a few more days. Steven and Dustin are going to try their luck snowboarding(they're big talkers on how awesome they're going to be), but I'm just hoping for no visits to the ER. Karsyn, I think, must have snow in her blood, because she wants to spend all of her time out playing and sledding in the snow, while everyone else comes in to get warm after short stints outside. We're having a lot of fun, and it's so wonderful to be here with other extended family members (Grandma & Grandpa Larson, Jared and Randa and Family, and Jeff and Becky and Family)--we miss those that couldn't come and wish all were here.
While here in Colorado, Kassidi has helped me start our family blog, known as The Stapley Chronicles. I'll probably spend way too much time trying to figure out how to put stuff on this, so please remember as you look at our blog that I'm a beginner blogger. Our family wants to wish everyone--our family and friends--a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We feel very blessed to have such wonderful extended family and friends and are grateful for all of you.