At the Cabin

We spent a long weekend up at the cabin. On Saturday, we drove up there and relaxed. The kids enjoyed peeking from the loft into the living area with Haley.



On Sunday, we drove in to Breckenridge. There were snow sculptures throughout town from a contest held earlier in the month.



View of Breckenridge and the Column of Rocks.



The kids enjoyed going down the snowy rock slide.













Another snow sculpture.



On the burro sculpture.



Silly boy.












On Monday, we took the snowmobiles out to sled down the mountain. It was a beautiful day and perfect for sledding.





Holly, Meredith and Mike.



Mommy and M.



M just wanted to snuggle after going down one time.



Holly and D.



Uncle Larry and D.



Papa and M.



Daddy, M and D.



Rob, Haley, D and Falcon.



Warming up around the fire after a hard day of sledding.



A tradition at the cabin is getting measured on the wall. All of the grandkids have been measured throughout the years.





Even the big grandkids/cousins got measured.





Another tradition, a picture of the grandkids on the stairs. We need the other 3 grandkids!

Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Day at Becky and Andy's. We had great food and a fun time with the gift exchange.







After dinner, Santa stopped by the house to deliver some presents for D, M, Falcon and Sydney.





Opening gifts.











Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve in Colorado

We went to the kids' service on Christmas Eve. This was the absolute most perfect church service for kids I have ever been to! It was under 30 minutes, the kids got to dress up (girls were angels, boys were shepherds) and go on stage to be a part of the story. The adults on stage told the Christmas stories and everyone sang songs throughout the service. D and M loved it and looked so cute dressed up. M went missing a couple of times on stage (he kept crawling up and down the stairs), but D kept a close eye on him.









Random picture of us with Jesus.



In the evening, we went to Rob's house to celebrate with his fiance Haley's family. Here is D modeling the ladybug outfit Rob and Haley gave to her.



M got a remote control dump truck from Rob and Haley. Talk about the perfect gift!

Colorado and the North Pole

Santa left lots of nice gifts for D and M this Christmas. Here they are playing with them the morning after he came (he came early since we are going to be in CO for Christmas).



We arrived in CO on Sunday and we all went to the dentist there on Monday. This was M's first real visit where he sat in the chair by himself and got his teeth cleaned by Aunt Becky. He did a really good job!





On Tuesday, we went to the North Pole. First stop--Santa! D has been asking every day if she can sit on Santa's lap, and she willingly did when we got there. Cat had her tongue, though, and she wouldn't talk to him or tell them all the things she said she was going to say. She just sat on his lap all happy and smiling. M, on the other hand, was having no part of Santa and had to sit on my lap next to him.





The North Pole is also an amusement park with lots of rides and some animals (reindeer and such) to see. D absolutely loved the rides. M's face was expressionless on all of them, but he was a good sport and went on them all.





D's in the shark-mobile, Daddy and M are behind her.



Papa and M on the firetruck ride.



Riding the Candy Cane 'Coaster.



In the first car!









Here are some videos from our time at the North Pole. Santa's visit first.



Our first ride was the Merry-Go-Round. D had to have Rudolph, and M looks like he's hanging on for dear life.



They had so much fun on this ride (especially D!).




We always make a trip to Fargo's for pizza when in Colorado Springs, and D and M entertained us all while enjoying the player piano.

Police Loppy Lop

What in the world is police loppy lop you ask? D's (mis)interpretation of "Feliz Navidad". She loves to sing along to songs on the radio, and when I heard her say this, I repeated the correct lyrics, but she insists that I have it wrong. I'm sure it's partially due to her hearing loss, but it was always very difficult for me to hear the correct lyrics, too. On a related side note, we found out today that she will need to have tubes in her ears--the procedure will be scheduled in January.

Here is a picture of M being swallowed up by his froggy toy bin. Here are some pictures of us celebrating Police Loppy Lop with my parents and sister's family last weekend as we will be in Colorado over the holidays this year.

The tree with tons-o-gifts. D in her Christmas dress. All the cousins together. M looks ready for bed. Playing with the A-Z zoo set from Grandma and Papa the next day. D's favorite, a sleepy bear cub, along with a new dress and watch from Grandma and Papa. D and I tried out her new Easy Bake Oven from Tia, Dan and her cousins. She had lots of fun making her first cake. The finished product--delicious!

Here is a preview of D's dance class recital performance. They will be dressed as Raggedy Ann's and will dance with the dolls. Today for fun they danced with their favorite stuffed animal. She chose the dolphin that the stranger at the State Fair gave her in September. She loves that animal and sleeps with it every night.