Decorating Gingerbread Men

It has been such a pleasant Christmas Day here. Santa really spoiled us this year. On Friday we had a fun party here with our neighbors and friends. Last night we enjoyed soup and bread with family and friends. I even got to play Settlers of Catan with our friends, and Britt almost beat me--almost.

I believe it was Saturday the kids decorated these cute gingerbread men. Garrett didn't decorate a cookie, but he left us with this little pearl of wisdom:

"If the man that delivers bread has red hair, does that make him a Ginger Bread Man?"

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Everyone!! More pictures to come. . .

Oh, The Weather Outside is Delightfully Frightful!

It has been a dry winter.  So dry.  Most of us around here have been running around in flip flops and shorts, and no one thought we were crazy for it.  Until this week, it hasn't even really been cold. 

Everyone around here has been fasting and praying for moisture to sustain us in this land.  But I have to admit, my motives in praying for snow were a little more selfish.  My husband recently purchased a new smowmobile and a new truck, and all "winter" long he has been itching to get out and break in that snowmobile.  I am all for people having a hobby to relieve stress.  (My hobby is watching Netflix on my computer while making blog books and photo books, and/or playing the Settlers of Catan App on my iPad).

Anyway, it has been a loooong, dry winter.

One of the happiest sounds in the world to wake up to is hearing your young daughters exclaiming, "It snowed last night!  Dad, Rachel doesn't believe me that there is snow on the ground!" 

 
 We may or may not have made it to school on time this morning, because we had to spend a few extra moments enjoying this:

 

 

 

And you know what else?  It has been snowing off and on all day.  Oh my!  We LOVE Snow!!!

Just Saying "Hi"

This is just another one of those test posts. The only Blogger App I could find is an iPhone one, so I'm probably not going to love this option. I just wanted to try it.

And here is a picture that won't post because I have exceeded my limit. But I had to try anyway.

Fun at the Tree 4 All

 Aren't my girls adorable?

 I love that my little princess still loves sitting on Santa's lap.  And I love that when you want to visit Santa, if you wait until Saturday morning instead of Friday night, you can see him right away instead of waiting an hour or more in line.

The thing I love about this picture is how patiently and straight Olivia is waiting for their dance to start.  She stayed right in place the whole time they were waiting (and it was a while, too).

 She loved being one of the "flames"

 I love my pretty little dancing girls!

This year, when the school year started, the girls immediately begged me to let them participate in dance, and in gymnastics, and in the singing youth performing group "Hold That Note".  I said yes, they could be involved in the different activities, but they would have to choose two each.  Tyler is doing gymnastics and "Hold That Note".  Rachel is in jazz dance and "Hold That Note".  Olivia participates in ballet dance and gymnastics.  It keeps my afternoons pretty busy, remembering to take them to their various activities, but it has been such a joy to see how much they have progressed and how much fun they are having being involved.

Olivia dances at the Tree 4 All

And here is Olivia.  As you can see, she takes dance very seriously.  But she loves it even if you can't see it in her face.  Both girls were fun to watch.  I will post some pictures, too after this.

Video of Rachel's dance at the Tree-4-All

For those of you who couldn't be there, here is Rachel performing at the Tree-4-All.  She is in the back right corner.

A Day of Gratitude

When you look through some of these pictures, you may think that the thing we are most grateful for, particularly these awesome kids, is the technology we enjoy.  But I promise, we were all really enjoying the food and especially the wonderful company.  I think Gavin's favorite word this trip is "Cousins."  We love Thanksgiving!