Our Merry Christmas Card

In case this got lost in cyberspace....And for our own record....

Spending time with these three boys has definitely been a highlight of the holiday season. We are thoroughly enjoying Jake's new job here and the time he's been able to spend with us. We love having Daddy home with us! And I definitely don't miss those 80 hour work weeks he did one December!

Let it Snow

Playing in the snow has definitely been one of Christian's favorite activities this winter. He loves to get his snow clothes on and head outside for a variety of activities, including playing with the dump trucks in the snow, building a snowman, EATING SNOW, making snow angels, riding his trike or scooter in the snow, or rather CRASHING them into the snowbanks, shoveling snow, and anything else his little mind comes up with. I have loved watching him enjoy this winter weather!



Jake, on the other hand, might have his own opinion of the snow. A man who loves cold weather and served his mission in the freezing temperatures of Russia, doesn't complain too much about having to wear a coat often. But after the fourth morning in a row of shoveling the driveway, he came inside and declared, "Let's move! Let's go back to Georgia.". Of course he doesn't really plan on fleeing the state just because of a little snow, and so his new declaration was, "We have got to move somewhere lower!". Living so high on the benches has proved to bring lots of snow when others get very little. However, we are quite happy where we are, so I guess we'll just have to put up with the snow. His third and current solution, which he is trying out this very night, is to park the car in the driveway instead of the garage, in order to save on shoveling. Funny.

As I am typing this it is currently snowing outside and making our street another winter wonderland. I actually prefer it to the brown, yucky, dirty look. So I suppose tomorrow morning will bring more shoveling (although not as much with the car parked out there) but it will also bring an opportunity to go sledding with the boys, which we've been hoping to do! So to this weather I say let it snow! I can't wait to see the looks on the boys faces as they race down the hill!

O Christmas Tree

Jake hiked in and chopped down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, and it was so exciting to put it up and decorate it the following Monday for family night. I always love getting the Christmas tree up and seeing its glow all month long. The is the fist time in a few years we've actually been able to get it up at the beginning of the month, since we weren't busy moving or selling our house instead. The last few Christmases we either didn't get a tree or we didn't get one until just before Christmas.

Well, within the first few days of having our tree up, Ethan pulled it over twice in one day and the boys discovered how much fun it was to throw things into, either from the floor in front or behind from the stairs. I was ready to take the tree down already and it was only the first week of December! I kept threatening it too. It did make it to Christmas, but was quite a wreck by then! The lights strands were hanging all over the place and most of the ornaments were either at the top or under the tree. Jake and I were very anxious to get it out of the house, so much that Jake almost took it down Christmas night. Our exhaustion got the best of us instead, but the tree did come down the next morning. I think next year I'd like to adopt the German tradition of putting up the tree on on Christmas Eve. :)

Decorating the tree



Ethan and his accomplice cousin Dylan getting into mischief on the stairs behind the tree (sometimes they were just so cute having fun being naughty it was hard to be mad)



If nothing else, the tree provided a great background for these lucky Christmas pictures I snapped one Sunday after church!


Even if they might get into mischief sometimes, these two little guys are my favorite! And they look so handsome in their Christmas vests! They wore them every Sunday in December. I couldn't get enough of them.

Family Parties

Attending family parties has been fun, especially as it's been three years since we were around for any of these.

The Froerer family party was a lot of fun with "Minute to Win it" as the theme. Everyone was put on a team and assigned to different competitions. Even Christian got in on the fun and competed at sorting M&Ms and the catch the oreo in your mouth game. He really enjoyed watching all the competition too! Best of all, we came home with some classic photos! The one of Jake attempting to catch the oreo is my favorite. Grandma's facial expression is a close second.



We also attended the Klein family Christmas party and enjoyed seeing some cousins we hadn't seen for a long time. This is a cute picture of the boys with Grammy and Aunt Camille at the party!

Christmas Cookies

It wouldn't be Christmas without lots if Christmas sprinkles!




I love this picture of our cookies. It tells so much--Ethan's all have just a few sprinkles and a bite or broken piece out of them, Christian's are saturated with Christmas sprinkles, and mine are the rest, with just the right frosting and just the right sprinkles. :). Daddy missed out, as he was at work, although he got in on the fun when he decorated cookies with his scouts.

Zoo Lights

Probably the best Christmas lights we saw this year were at Hogle Zoo. Grammy took us to see zoo lights one evening and the boys loved it! It was much more impressive than I imagined it would be and it was fun to see some of the animals at night. The tigers were the most amazing as they paced back and forth above us. I think Christian's most memorable moment was seeing two of Santa's reindeer and Ethan impressed us all by walking the whole light tour through the zoo on his own two little legs.








Thanks for taking us, Grammy! We had a great time!

Gingerbread Houses

Grandma and Grandpa had the grandkids over for gingerbread house decorating. The boys had lots of fun decorating (and eating) the candy, but I think the biggest hit was the train around the Christmas tree! Thanks for a fun morning, Grandma and Grandpa!


Christian and I also made our very own gingerbread house at home the next week to donate to an auction at the ward Christmas party for a sub for Santa fundraiser. It certainly wasn't the most ornate at the party, but we had fun making it and it was nice to get rid of all those skittles! The best part was that we got to eat warm gingerbread with milk for a snack that afternoon after we baked the house. Yum! That is a favorite Christmas treat!

Christmas Season Happenings

I have been wanting to get on the blog all month, and here it is past Christmas and I finally have a brief moment to do something I want to do in the evening, and not just something I have to do. So although it's almost over, here's what we've been doing to enjoy this wonderful Christmas season. I really do love this time of year!

...to be continued....

Thanksgiving Weekend in Wallsburg

Christian's first sledding experience! It was a tiny, gradual hill, but he loved it nonetheless. :)

Ethan doesn't especially enjoy the snow yet. I think it's the big snow pants, coat, boots...how's a little guy supposed to move in all that gear?
It was also Aunt Melissa's birthday, and we were lucky enough to have her join us for her birthday. She got in on some sledding, and then she and I went snowshoeing just before it got dark. There was only about 4 inches of snow, at best, but the scenery was beautiful! Happy Birthday Aunt Melissa!

Thanksgiving with the Gurr's

Children's Museum

I have a really nice friend who has taken us to the children's museum twice on her pass. The boys love it!