fun in the snow!

We went tubing on Friday with my sister's megan and rachel! Went went on the little hill in my parent's backyard, but you would have thought we were on a major hill! What fun it was for Ev's to play with her amazing aunt's!

 

oh let it snow!!!

 

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Christmas Blessings 2012

We are abundantly blessed.  What a beautiful holiday season this has been.  Many trips to see santa.  Lots of exciting activities.  And overall a fresh reminder of just how much my husband loves me.  He lovingly and willingly joins us for each outing with a smile and joy on his face.  I know this just isn’t his first choice of things to do, but WE are his first choice, and so he joins us happily.  He certainly loves me.  I adore him. 

This Christmas, I think, will be Evie’s first memory of any Christmas at all.  I think 4 is when I started to really learn what Christmas means and how it feels.  I hope she remembers.  We visited the reindeer at Thanksgiving point.  I am certain they are the real ones.  Evie is too.  I think we could have watched them ‘til we froze to death.  They didn’t do anything special; they were just special and magical to watch. 

During the summer, we had visited Thanksgiving point.  Evie loved playing under the huge water tower.  Every time we drive by, she points it out.  She requested this picture of her under the water tower.  Funny child.  But, so adorable. 

Mom and dad needed their photo taken….and who better to take it than the resident pro!  (Evie….btw, we kept scooting lower and lower to make sure she didn’t cut off our heads!)Our local Chick-fil-A's facebook feed announced that Santa Cow would be present at their location for pictures.  We are HUGE chick-fil-a fans…. (check out our fun halloween from last year), and so we just HAD to get our picture taken. 

Last week, we visited the Homestead in Midway where we went on a sleigh ride.  What a magical experience!  Our driver was so fun, and it was chilly, but we stayed warm with a nice lap blanket and bundled in coats and together.  Near the end, the driver announced that we were arriving in the North Pole and that there were elves waiting for us!  Evelyn was so excited!  She asked if they were real elves.  Of course, we replied!  She was fascinated. 

When we stopped at the North Pole, the driver held up each child to the horse to pet it and then lifted them to sit on the horse.  Look at that face!  It just added to the magic of the day! 

These darling elves were so kind and welcoming to us!  Evie even had to run back to them to show them the candy cane she received from Santa.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Santa Claus was BUSY at our house!  We woke up to a trampoline in our living room!  15 whole feet of trampoline just took over our living space.  AMAZING!  Justin and I kept saying to each other: “We have a trampoline in our living room!”

It’s going down tomorrow (4 days after Christmas), and it’s been so fun.  Once spring arrives it will be a blessed addition to our back yard!

Evie received a “real camera” for Christmas.  It has a couple games on it and can take videos.  She loves it!  Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Christmas ornaments

We made cinnamon ornaments for our tree this year. 

I found the recipe from simply kierste and off we went!  Justin mixed the applesauce & cinnamon and evie cut the shapes with cookie cutters.  They turned out really fun!  Although, they are quite fragile, so don’t let a 4 year old even TOUCH them. at. all.  I thought they were protected, until I actually started putting them on the tree….then, she happened to gather a few and we lost  some points on the stars.  Ugh. 

Anyway, those that remain look darling!

This past Saturday, we went to breakfast with Santa at SLCC. They had Santa & Mrs. Claus there!  Evie loved it!  They took a picture for us, then we went into breakfast.  After breakfast they (the student officers for SLCC) had about 10 stations where Evie made a craft representing every winter holiday for about every religion.  It was wonderful!  They even had cookies to frost, pictures to color, a foam frame to make, a lantern for a Hindu holiday and so on!  It was wonderful.  The picture they took with Santa was ready for us when we went home. 

Here she is showing off her candy from Santa!

working on a craft…