January 12th

Let's just pretend that it is January 12th and I just got back from an awesome 3 week winter excursion and I wasted no time in posting about our adventures. Seriously, I just want to document our fun Christmas vacation and get caught up on my blogging/personal history. I don't expect anyone to be interested a month and a half later!

For Christmas and New Years we were able to travel up to Colorado to spend time with our families. Mike took a 1/2 day on the day we left so that we could break up the drive into two days. Annabelle is a great traveler, but we weren't sure how Asa would do in the car for such a long drive. What we learned is that he is great during the day - but hates being in his car seat at night. Lesson learned.

In true Mike fashion, Mike woke up before dawn the first day we were in town to take advantage of some new landscapes to photograph. Mike and his dad went down to Rainbow Falls, or Graffiti Falls down in Manitou Springs. I thought it sounded gross, but the pictures turned out strangely beautiful when you have the stark contrast between God's creation and man's. The picture below shows more of the bridge than the waterfall, but I liked the lines, and you get the idea.

One of my favorite things about being in Colorado this year was time with cousins. Jessi and her family were able to meet Asa for the first time and Annabelle really loved playing with Annica, Eli and Jeremiah. At the Sherwood house we prepared for Christmas by decorating sugar cookies, I think a couple made it to Santa. On Christmas eve the Sherwoods had the McKeans over and the cousins put on a great production of the Christmas story for us after our meal (yes I know we are spoiled). Annabelle and Annica both wanted to be Mary and the angel. So we compromised and they did the program twice! I guess I don't have pictures of that but it was pretty cute as they repeated the scriptures, sang 'Angels We Have Heard on High' and pretended that the adults of the family were the donkey, inn keeper, shepherds and so on.

With the McKeans we arrived to late to do the candy making, but we did our part to help clean up. We took the kiddies to the mall to meet Santa. Of course the boys had no idea what was going on but I think that Santa looked like the real deal! Doesn't Annabelle look excited?

Another great part of Christmas this year was getting to meet Clara, my brother's fiance. They weren't engaged until later in January but she was sweet enough to fly out to spend Christmas with us. We are excited for them to be married in April.

We had a white Christmas this year and there was plenty of snow left after Christmas that we were able to go out back and enjoy some sledding. These kids not only rode down the hill on sleds but were pulled around behind the tractor in a sled. Papa Zeke pulled them around and around for a long time while the kids dipped their mittens in the snow and ate the snow off. We crammed Asa into this little snowsuit and he enjoyed watching everyone for the first few minutes, then took a nap in the sunshine.

For New Years Eve Annabelle and my mom came up with having a "Number 10" party. We made ten layer dip, sundaes with ten toppings, we tried to play 10 different games. Annabelle kicked off the night with having us play 10 rounds of hide and seek. My brothers and Dad lit some fireworks, some exploded high in the sky and others we are lucky didn't catch anything on fire.

My brother Adam and his wife love sparklers, so while they were out with the sparklers and Mike was taking pictures, I enjoyed snuggling the babies until they fell asleep. I loved it.

Another highlight from the trip was a ski/snowboard trip with the McKeans. Annabelle took ski lessons and learned to do pizza and french fries. Pizza is snow plow and french fries is straight skis. She ended up having a great time, despite being apprehensive at first. Take a look at the last runs from the day:

It was a great time. I loved spending time with family, having a beautiful white Christmas, laughing with our families, watching the kids play together, eating yummy treats, sleeping in, schooling my brothers in Tetris, and watching Jake dress like a robot to go clear the drive way. Okay, that last one was just so I could work this ridiculous picture into my post.