our first official vacation as a family of five

we decided to take the easy road this vacation.

no camping.

no cleaning.

we headed off to squaw valley or olympic valley in tahoe.

we stayed at this highly recommended resort called squaw creek.

i can't say enough great things about it. it's a awesome place for families. we got a really great deal on the room and just enjoyed every minute of it. luckily for the sake of the other people in the hotel we let them know we might be a little noisy so we were placed in between no-one, is that awesome or what? there wasn't anyone on our immediate right or left on the fifth floor.

after such a tough year it was a great treat to stay at such a

wonderful place.

we left on sunday and what a great road trip it was up to tahoe. we stopped in auburn for a picnic and hit a great park with water features and equipment. the kids had a blast.

on the way home we made it to the

jelly belly factory just in time to go on the last tour of the day.

we didn't know how the twins and dylan would settle in to new surroundings, but they did great much better than expected.

dylan isn't one to adjust quickly so we tried our best to set him up for success and have fun. after a day at the pool and checking out the grounds he seemed to settle with being in tahoe.

the twins did surprisingly well. nolan is just such a easy baby and has no problem having a good time anywhere he goes. taryn wasn't feeling well and was a little nervous so she took a little bit more of mommy's time than the others.

in any case we had a great time and when i get a chance in the next couple of days i'll post some pictures.

it was just beautiful up there.

love being up in the mountains.

what a beautiful world God has created for us to enjoy.

~shelly