February 28, 2010

Skiing in Colorado

Last week I had a great opportunity. I was invited by Mannatt's (a very large local asphalt and concrete company) to fly to Colorado and go skiing.

They own a condo at the base of Copper Mountain and the company makes several trips in the winter with employees and other contractors. We flew on their private jet, which definitely makes flying commercial seem like a real pain. We drove right up to the plane, got on and flew to Colorado.

When we arrived, Mannatt's suburban pulled right up to the plane and we left for the mountain. Pretty slick.

This is the 7 passenger jet we flew in.


A bumper sticker on Mannatt's vehicle. I chuckled, but don't be offended if you don't.


The view from our condo.


One day we went to the top of the mountain..... Great view, hard skiing. It took awhile. Lots of rocks and very steep. No trails and since it wasn't skied often, the snow was very soft....very hard to get up if you fell. We started at the peak of this mountain..


Here is a shot partway down. This isn't me, but I felt his frustration.


One day it snowed pretty hard. My face got quite cold from the snow. This is what I looked like by the time I got to the bottom. This isn't from falling, just from the snow hitting me in the face.


I went snowboarding part of one day. It's tough, but I did better than the last time I tried.


After a day of snowboarding, I began to think this little guy had the right idea.


I went down the half-pipe twice. I did pretty good as I made it to the top a couple of times. (this isn't me)


I loved the sweet looking buildings lining the resort.


One of the best parts was the great view everywhere you look. I wish pictures could really capture it, but this is as close as I could come.


It was a really great trip. Mannatt's paid for pretty much everything, so that made it even better. What a great trip.

February 9, 2010

Baby 2 - 26th Week Picture


Because I have been slacking at keeping the blog current, here is the utlra-sound picture of Baby Willis #2 that was taken at 19 weeks. And "NO" we still haven't looked at the picture that will tell us the sex of Baby #2.

February 8, 2010

February 7, 2010

Makenna Update

I have been bad at updating the blog. And because I like to refer to our blog to see all Makenna's accomplishments here are some updates about Makenna.

13 Months:
  • She can sign - puppy, thank you, and drink.
  • She takes two 1.5-2 hour naps everyday. And bedtime is 7:30.
  • She got her first molar.
  • She eats pretty much everything we giver her to eat. And she drinks whole milk all the time - no more formula.

14 Months:
  • Still takes 2 naps most days. The morning nap is 1-1.5 hours and the afternoon nap is 2 hours. And bedtime is still 7:30.
  • She has added potty, kitty, love you, Jesus, horse, and bird to her signing capabilities.
  • She says Dada all the time.
  • When asked what a cow says she will say "moo"
  • Loves to play with her baby. She will now pretend to feed her baby a bottle.
  • She continues to entertain us with her new dance moves.

15 Months:
  • She can now say - Mama, Nana, Papa, all done and baby. She will also say "woof woof" when we ask her what a dog says.
  • She can point to her toes and will stick out her belly when ask where those body parts are.
  • She only takes one 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon. Bedtime is still 7:30.
  • She can recognize family members in pictures. Especially daddy.
  • Her favorite toys are her farm and her baby.
  • She now has 12 teeth.
  • She loves to be a helper. She will "help" dust, throw her dirty clothes down the shoot, put her dirty diapers in the trash, and pretty much anything else we will let her help us do.

February 6, 2010

Thurday at the Bass Pro Shop

Makenna and I were getting cabin fever pretty bad on Thurday......so we decided to meet my parents at the Bass Pro Shop in Altoona. Here are a few photos of our time there.

February 4, 2010

FLORIDA!!

Yep that is right Jared and I took a four day trip to FLORIDA! (without Makenna)

Our first two days were spent in Melbourne. While there we stayed at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast call the Port D' Hiver. It was located right across the street from the Melbourne beach. Needless to say we spent most of our time in Melbourne relaxing at the beach and watching home improvement shows on cable TV. (which is a luxury for the willis family because we do not have cable at home)


Melbourne Beach


Port D' Hiver - Bed and Breakfast

Our third day was spent traveling up the coast. We made a brief stop at Cocoa Beach and then headed to Kennedy Space Center. I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed myself. Let me just say that we spent 4 hours there but we definitely could have spent several more walking though exhibits we didn't get to see due to time.


Our final night was spent in Orlando. While there we decided to take advantage of the free City Walk area right outside Universal Studios. We ate at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville, where we enjoyed the live entertainment.

Needless to say we missed Makenna a ton but we sure appreciated the time away from the cold Iowa winter.