A Merry White Christmas Was Had By All

Well this year we had the whitest Christmas in history. The snow started on the night of the 13th. The kids made this snowman at 10:00 pm thinking this was "THE" chance to play in the snow for the year.

Little did we know that there would be more.....Lots more, in the weeks to follow. We had to laugh when school was cancelled the Wednesday before break because it was supposed to snow. But it did come soon enough and then school was closed for the rest of the week making for the longest winter break ever. We were pretty well snowed in most of the time but largely by choice.

My favorite snow picture. You can see Ainsley wasn't quite sure what to think. I think if she could talk she'd have said "What IS this stuff?"

Sledding down the driveway. That doesn't happen very often.

Nor does having enough snow to build an igloo. We found out Ainsley does NOT like Igloos. Although Daddy did something that made her stop crying for a second for this picture. Daddy says this may be the only igloo he ever builds.

Finally when it was obvious the snow wasn't going to melt we managed to get the kids downtown to Macy's to see Santa. We were the last people to get their picture taken for the night and as a result the kids all got these huge frosted Santa head cookies as our prize. Sometimes it pays to be late.

Please ignore the fact that my eyes are 90% closed. This year's photo was not the best but at least we did it. This was the 8th year. A little snow can't stop us.

Over the break Ainsley started pushing this little wooden car around the house. I love the sound of the wheels squeaking.

Ainsley is starting to get the concept of dolls. It's cool to see her start to put it together.

Ainsley standing with support from the couch and Daddy to catch just in case. Her legs are getting strong and her balance is improving. Wow are we proud!

Our neighbor gave us a gingerbread house kit. All we had to do was make the royal icing and decorate it. We all agreed it was the best one ever although it took some extra time and I must confess we actually didn't finish until after Christmas. We used candy necklaces for "Christmas Lights" and the door's white heart appropriately says "Wonder". This house even has a mouse and a patio made of candy Legos in the back. It's such a shame to eat it.

Opening her stocking. She got a spinning light up ball that she found quite mesmerizing. She loves it.

The kids opening gifts Christmas morning.

A tough dress to crawl in but she managed and she sure looked pretty.

Ainsley got her very own boxes of colored tissue from Auntie Sheryl (mommy's idea from seeing her play with it with Great Grandma Ruth). You can see it was a big hit.

Ainsley and Evie in their matching dresses at Grandpa David's.

Despite the excess of snow (by NW standards) we were able to get to families' houses as planned by driving our second car which has four wheel drive. This was the first time we drove it as a family with all three of the kids crammed in the back seat. It's really just for emergencies. I guess this counted. Christmas still happened, thanks to the ole' Grand Cheroke. Only Christmas Eve at our house was a problem. My mom and brother (who has muscular dystrophy) were unwilling to risk a fall in the snow and stayed home, which was smart but sad. It was a week of feasting. Good company. Good food. The kids, lucky as they are, got lots of wonderful gifts and had a lot of time to play together. It really was a great Christmas.