The End of a Wonderful Year!

 We took the kids sledding in the mountains to send off 2010!  They have been dying to go since we went last year.  This was the first time we took Paige with us and the first time I’ve ever seen her in the snow with a smile on her face.  She had a bad experience sledding a couple of years ago and was pretty apprehensive at first.  After our first run she was hooked though!

Digging into the chips during our lunch break.

Mmmm… finger lickin’ good!

Um, somebody’s not pulling her weight here!

She did a lot more eating of snow than sliding on it!

It was a beautiful, COLD day!  With over 30 inches of snow, plenty of sunshine and good friends we all had a great day!  Now we’ll see how late we all manage to stay up…

It’s midnight somewhere isn’t it?

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve we went to the candlelight service at church before heading over to spend the evening with family.  After dinner and a couple of gifts the kids were begging us to take them home so they could go to bed!  Seriously, they couldn’t get home fast enough.

Once we were home they all tore into their new pajamas.  I managed one quick picture on the stairs before they headed up to bed!

Santa did stop by.  He treated us all well this year!  Trace got a video game and some gaming stuff.  Caden got his beloved Nerf gun and Paige was thrilled with her PINK Leapster!  We told them no one could be out of bed before 7am and I am still amazed at the fact that they actually do it!  They sat not-so-very patiently on the stairs waiting for Rick and I to get up.  Other hits this year included Legos for both boys, a magic kit for Trace and Pillow Pets for Caden and Paige.  Paige was also thrilled with her Twinkle Toes (shoes that light up) from Aunt Kim.  I was blessed with a new language learning program that rivals Rosetta Stone.  So expect to be hearing some Mandarin soon!

The aftermath is never pretty is it?  We had a wonderful Christmas this year with many blessings – not the least of which included family and friends!  By Sunday we were all pretty exhausted and spent most of the day doing – well, not much.

Tree hunting, Red & Green games and Gingerbread houses…

The kids in front of the final choice…

Trace had a try at sawing…

 

Caden had a try.  And I just gave it some thought!

 

The kids say this is why you don’t take teenagers tree hunting with you!

 

Trace’s school sends the kids off to Christmas Vacation with the Red and Green games every year.  Each class is assigned a color (red or green) and a boys and girls team from each grade is chosen in each color, to play a 10 minute basketball game.  Of course the best game is the teachers against the eighth graders!  The kids are so wound up and excited that you can’t help getting into it with them! 

Trace (standing on the right) was Red this year (obviously).  The eighth grade boys pulled off a win for the red in the last few minutes! Yay!

Today we made our annual gingerbread houses.  Every year we have made them with the same friends so it is definitely a tradition!  I was especially amazed at how much more detailed the houses looked this year over past years.  One more sign of how they are all growing up!  If I can find some past year’s pictures I’ll try to post them side by side.

Christmas is coming...

Paige had her preschool Christmas program, the boys had parties and I finished up my last day of work for the year! The end of the week was pretty insane and by Thursday night I had reached my peak stress level. Then as each event passed on Friday the stress dropped - Whew! Friday night I met Rick at the airport to fly with him for the end of his trip to Eugene. We knew all day the plane would be late (thank you wonderful San Francisco airport). So I wound up with five hours to try and stay awake kill in the airport. After two I was loosing the battle! By midnight we finally boarded and by 2 am we finally turned the light off in our hotel room! What a night. Saturday though, we slept in really late.
We wandered the mall and I even got in a little nap before heading back to the airport. Of course, that flight was late too. Apparently everyone else on the flight decided to drive so I wound up being the only passenger on the plane! Talk about service! The kids would have loved it.

So now we are on to the week before Christmas! Today I am finishing housework so that we can bake gingerbread men, sugar cookies and build gingerbread houses the next few days. Is it Friday yet?

Where oh where have I been?

Um, working, shopping, on facebook, shopping, napping, working. Notice there is no 'cleaning house' on that list - hmmm. All you have to do is look around this house to see that it clearly wasn't on the list - any list. Every single year I make mental plans of all the things we are going to do durning the Christmas Season. Gingerbread men, sugar cookies, sledding at the mountain, ice skating, hot chocolate and Christmas movies. You know, the real Currier and Ives type things. I pledge not to be hurried or frazzled but to instead create wonderful memories for my children! I'll have time to play carols on the piano and wrap gifts in front of the fire place. Most importantly, I'll have the time to sit in front of the Christmas tree, in the dark, and contemplate the real meaning of Christmas. Doesn't it sound wonderful?

----- insert screeching sound-----

It's pouring rain (literally. pouring); the gifts are half wrapped and the paper and trappings are strewn across my living room; no cookies have been baked -none. nada; the teacher's gifts are being rapidly thrown together at the last hour; the piano is buried; and the snow melted on the mountain the day before our scheduled trip (seriously the.day.before.).

So much for Currier and Ives. Somehow, mysteriously, Christmas will still arrive. And somehow, magically no one will care just how it happens. That is the beautiful thing about Christmas - it comes. Somehow or other it comes just the same.

So here is a picture of little miss fancy pants all dressed up for her grandparent's 40th anniversary party. Since it is unlikely I'll be getting to the Christmas cards this year - I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!