Sledding and Snow!

Hannah and Jacob in the morning after the first snow this winter.....getting ready to go to school.  They were hoping for a snow day -- but no such luck. 

We have had one good storm before Thanksgiving -- which gave us 6" or more of snow.  So the cross-country skis and sleds got dusted off and brought up from the basement; the snow boots and ski boots made an appearance; the coat rack and bench is fully loaded with hats, mittens, snowpants and winter coats; and the kids started asking for hot cocoa and marshmallows.

We skied around our house with the kids while Lois was visiting and the kids loved it!  Sophie even tried the strap-on cross country skis and loved "sliding" as she called it.   Luke struggled at first but then was determined to get back out there with the big kids.  Hannah and Jacob had a lot of fun skiing on the hill from our neighbor's house to ours.  

Luke on real skis this year!  No more strap-on skis!

We also took a trip up Hot Brook Canyon
 and went sledding at the Bastian's house.  It was a fun day of sledding and fellowship with good friends.  Pat and I got a new sled for the kids at Ace Hardware that morning that all four of them can ride in together.

Our friend, Sky

Sweet brother helping his sister up the hill

The boys were both very good about helping Sophie back up the hill.

I LOVE this picture!

She was a trooper!  And had such fun - she would giggle most of the way down the hill.

Our Christmas Tree

A new tree!  We have had a little table-top tree for the last 4 years.  It was fun to get a bigger tree this year!  I found a tall, skinny tree which fits perfectly in our living room.
After several years with our small tree that didn't hold many ornaments, the kids had so much fun discovering all the ornaments we could hang on our tree.  

Each year the kids receive ornaments from us and from Nana and Papa (a tradition my parents began when I was young).  There were several ornaments that we have never been able to hang up because they were too big for our little tree.  What a gift for me to watch the kids unwrap and discover the ornaments - each one had a special memory for us - from different times in our lives.  It was fun to talk about them with the kids.  And to share the ornaments that I received as a child.  They learned new things about me and what things I liked as a child.  A great afternoon together!

A visit with Santa

Hannah and Luke wrote letters to Santa this year.  And hand delivered them to Santa when they saw him and Mrs. Claus on Saturday.  They were so proud of their letters.  

 

The girls wore their Big Sister/Little Sister shirts for their visit with Santa.

 I thought for sure Sophia would be scared.  But she got right up on Mrs. Claus' lap and talked a blue streak with her.  They gave Santa their letters and he had a special book to put them in which he showed to them. 

 This is the first time our kids sat on Santa's lap (Jacob had a few experiences with Santa when he was young but they always ended in tears).  And this year he said he was too old to take part.  The small-town Santa experience was wonderful.  They took time to listen to the kids, interact with them and this helped our kids not to be afraid or shy.  They each gave Santa a hug goodbye.  Sophia talked about giving Santa a hug for the rest of the day.

The next day Luke found our Santa hat and he and Hannah had fun playing Santa and Mrs. Claus together.  Hannah stuffed his belly to make him look fat and they made pretend lists which Santa read and then delivered presents to our stockings.  I love their creative play!