Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Grand Daddy Herbert...

 He found some really great books for the kids (and football gloves for Edison which were a huge hit).

We woke up to a White Christmas! What a thrill!

 The kids were - all in all - more good than not this year and Santa stopped by with gifts in the stockings and Legos under the tree.

 Nana has been teaching the kids piano. They gave a lovely recital on Christmas!

Walking the neighborhood to make room for dessert...

Relaxing at the Cabin

We had Eben's college roommate, Dave, and his kids over to the cabin for a couple days before Christmas. Reed and Edison were sharing the queen. Looks like we could have gotten away with a twin for them.... We went skiing and got in our first few days on the mountain for the season. After a run of being crazy, Reed remembered how to ski and it was all downhill from there.

 Then Heidi, Max and Maggie came out to visit. We went up to Beaver Pass for a beautiful showshoe and look out over Plain Valley.

 Reed was in a backpack last year - pretty awesome he is doing so well this year on his own showshoes!

 

Heidi!

 Ever the trooper, Edison pressed on past one set of broken showshoes to another set and then a broken buckle, to just hiking in snow boots. Now that is persistence.

 Though Reed did hit a wall after a point.

 Charlotte loved the whole endeavor and raced up and back, always wanting to be in the front.

 First sledding of the season on the cabin's hill.

DECEMBER - Getting Ready for Christmas!

Charlotte and Edison helped decorate the tree.

 We went with Nana to "Mr. Popper's Penguins" at the Seattle Children's Theater and viewed the model train village afterwards.

 A beautiful, sunny afternoon in Seattle for goofing off by the fountain.

 

Playdate for us with Keira and her family: Trent, Rachelle and Kylee. Watching the Seahawks win a great game while the kids played - double win.

 The Social Studies Winter Gathering.... all the kids got presents from the secret Social Studies Santa. 12 kids now (Josie was taking a little break at this point...)

 Reed and Eevi hitting up the Curious George while grown ups did their White Elephant Gift Exchange.

 Maija, Lisa & Beth.

 Another Christmas tradition - making lefse with Auntie Kirstie. Reed was such a great helper this year!

Nutcracker Ballet with Nana!

I can remember going to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker Ballet with Nana when I was in elementary school. It was so wonderful to return to the Nutcracker with Nana again - and now with my own children. What a lovely way to kick off the holiday season and to share the joy and excitement of such a stunning production visually as well as the iconic music of the symphony!

 Edison's favorite part was the battle between the mice and the toy soldiers.

 Charlotte liked the Sugar Plum fairy the best as her dancing was ethereal and magical. I think Reed liked his cupcake at intermission the best! (But he did do a fantastic job of watching the show and not getting restless!)

Cabin Time with the Adams Family

The best way to spend Thanksgiving Break is outside in the company of great friends. We were so glad to head out to the cabin with Meg and Chris and their boys. We caught a break in the otherwise very wet weather and did some four-wheeling up the back of Dirtyface Mountain on Pole Ridge. Just being up on the ridge with the hush of the snow and the fresh air was invigorating. Bonus for seeing a large deer who snuck up on us!

 

We had snack at Meadow Creek campground on the Chiwawa River.

 On Saturday morning we drove up the White River Road to the end and did some exploring up there in the woods where we found this huge red cedar.

 And these noisy falls. Since we'd had so much rain, the volume of water was sizable.

 Stop for lunch at White River Falls campground. Eben and I had come up this way a couple of summers ago and spent a lazy afternoon playing in the creek while the kids floated tin foil boats. Not today - much higher water and lower temperatures! But it was still an enchanting spot and the Falls were roaring!

 Last stop: a look out clump of boulders a short ways up the Twin Lakes hike. Usually the view includes the entire White River Valley and surrounding peaks. Not so today. We were ecstatic when the clouds lifted a little bit and we could see the other side of the valley.

 Gingerbread house attempts - not such a great kit to work with this time = sad kids. But it was still an engaging activity....

 Meanwhile Eben and Chris got the seasonal burning done for the blow downs and branches cut off the dead trees he'd split earlier in the fall.