Christmas with the Johnsons

Christmas morning dawned well before dawn and the kids were thrilled with the contents of their stockings. 

 Afterward, we relaxed a bit and then went to a Christmas Morning service at church.

 Following church, we did presents with those present.

Mitchell was delighted to receive 49 of the Magic Treehouse books!

 Then we went for a walk and followed it up with some redneck snow play. Mitch enjoyed the relaxed pace of the lawnmower and read the entire ride!

 Shannon squealed with delight and thoroughly enjoyed her turn behind the mower.

 Crazed joy!

 LaVines arrived and the little girls began their nearly inseparable time together.

 Haylee can play the piano and had a couple of "talented" accompanists.  

 We opened more gifts

 some of which resulted in peals of laughter!

 Haylee's hair chalk was very popular.

 More redneck snow play

 and BJ didn't get the mower stuck this time!

 The guys and kids made a fire out front and played in the snow while the gals redecorated parts of the interior.

Grama Sally's gingerbread house met its demise at our place.

It was fun to spend together over the Christmas weekend.

Christmas Eve Festivities

Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year. We got to host a brunch this year at our place and it was lovely.

Gram brought over the gingerbread house, all the way from Greenbluff without catastrophe!

Shannon shared her book, "The Cat in the Cupboard", with Great Grampa Pobst. He was an attentive audience!

We enjoyed brunch

and then celebrated my 36th birthday. I am probably the most spoiled 36-year-old in all of Christendom. 

Mom made delightful coconut cupcakes and Gram and Grama brought some chocolates to enjoy.

Mitch coerced people into playing Monopoly.

It's special to have time together with my grandparents, and time where my children get to make relationships with them. 

After brunch, we went our separate ways to continue the celebration of the day.

At Johnsons, Mitch and Shan did a pre-church pose with the tree.

Our family did the readings for the Advent wreath at the Baptist church.

Back at Johnsons, we enjoyed our fondue feast and then prepped for bed. Mitch wrote Santa a letter, the kids enjoyed 'A Visit from St. Nicolas' read by Grandma, and it was time for visions of sugar plums to dance in their heads.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Nina and Neut

Our Christmas vacation began with a visit from Auntie Nina! It was wonderful to have her here.

 We did a lot of eating, visiting, and hanging out. 

She was here, too, when Bryan and the kids arrived with our new-to-us cat, Neut. He is super affectionate and much loved.

 He is also very tolerant. Shannon hauls him all around, covers him up, and gets right in his face countless times each day. He cannot doubt that he's been full on adopted! We certainly still miss Poly, but Neut (or Charlie!) is rapidly filling the cat-shaped void in our lives.

Our tree!

It took me 3 hours to light this beast, requiring leather gloves, a head covering, and still resulting in a rash, bleeding hands and pitch in my hair (which I removed with crunchy peanut butter as the Gojo was frozen!). Worth it, though - it smells wonderful. 

Shan was very enthusiastic about helping to hang and create ornaments.

Mitch recognized so many of the ornaments and was pleased to help. His hair makes him resemble an elf!

There's something magical about a Christmas tree!

Warners for the Weekend Win!

The weather tried to derail our weekend plans, but Mother Nature lost! The Warners made a 4 hour drive north to spend Friday night with us. Such friends! Our kids literally had their noses pressed to the window watching for their arrival. We enjoyed a late dinner and play before heading to bed.

The boys started in Mitchell's room. Lots of happy, and hyper, little dudes!

The girls started in Shannon's room after story time. However, all 3 Warner littles migrated to their parents' room before calling it quits. Ah well.

A bit of 'Home Alone' to start off the day. Won't be able to fit all 5 on the couch in coming years!

Snow play began in the park, with neighbors.

Lots of snow throwing and minimal discord - a win!

Shan pulled Avery all over the place, much to Avery's delight.

We had planned an outing to Wenatchee to find a forest tree, but changed plans to accommodate weather and road conditions. Plan B was a previously unknown tree farm off Road 3. There was a bonfire, hot dogs, cocoa and marshmallows included!

The trees were giant - at least 12 feet high!

More snow monkeys.

The girls hauled their branches around happily.

Dear friends

The best we could do...very pretty setting.

We snacked at the truck before bidding adieu to the Warners as they returned to Hermi. What a treat to continue our tree hunting tradition with special friends!

Snow Day

Monday night the snow began to fall and we awoke early to a 2-hour school delay.

 The kids bundled up and headed outdoors! Soon, we learned it was a full cancellation. Won't love that in June, but enjoyed the extra day now!

 Snow fights with the boys!

 No snowballs, apparently. Just big clumps of the cold, white stuff.

 Because nothing says friendship quite like pummeling your pals.

 We joined the Springs on a sledding outing up Statter.

 Mitch flew down the hill!

 Shan went down solo, too!

 In spite of her faces, she loved it!

A wonderful day. Now, may we make it until vacation . . .