Up on Santa's Mountain

Brad and I chose to take a family ski trip for our Christmas gift to each other this year. It was the best Christmas gift I have ever received! We had so much fun, the girls loved skiing! This was a relief to me as I was a little nervous about it. To my surprise they loved ski school, and by the end of the trip had graduated from the bunny slopes to the "big mountain" for several runs. Yes, we bought a harness for Jillian, but she was able to ski the big slopes and I was able to be in control of her. :) Mia was very cautious and I didn't worry about her tearing down the mountain. She knew her turns and as Brad says "Knees together, skis together." She was a natural!

 

This harness was fun for Jillian, however the one holding the harness must do a lot of snow plowing.

Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Frank came with us and I believe they enjoyed watching the girls ski!

Lunch in the lodge.

Keeping it real.....we might have to use the harness at home too.

I could not have been any prouder of these two!

 Trying something new and loving it!

 

The girls did ski school 2 days leaving Brad and I to ski together and with his parents.

Yes, Brad looks a little rough here. On our first run the second day we had a little crash. He didn't have his sunglasses on when we got of the lift. He was squinting and didn't see me turn and stop; I thought we were going left, apparently we were going right. Anyways, we crashed and my pole jabbed his eye. He denied a red wagon ride down the mountain and skied with one eye swollen almost shut. We spent a bit of time in the infirmary before being released with a bag of "ice" which was really snow. This picture looks GOOD! His eye was swollen and puffy and bloody and I thought I might get sick looking at it. I felt so bad for him, especially because I was the reason for the crash. He always seems to get hurt, probably because he is such a good sport. I would have called it a day, but he got right back on the lift.

An Evening of Carols

Feast of St. Nicholas/Buddy

I didn't get a picture of Buddy one day because his mischievous ways were so upsetting to Jillian. Tricky guy was sitting on top of a picture of the girls and he had used a dry erase marker to draw silly faces; mustache, antlers, eyebrows, etc. Mia thought it was hilarious, Jillian, not so much. She was so upset and crying and made me erase it. It was pretty sad.

The Nutcracker

Mia Kate and I enjoyed The Nutcracker with her friends and their mothers. We had a lovely time, it was a beautiful event! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter and be able to have these wonderful experiences!

hey buddy

The girls named our elf "Buddy." Not too original, but that is what they picked. Brad and I have this joke about the name Buddy because we always catch ourselves saying to our friends' or neighbors' little boys "Hey Buddy." Without a doubt it would be the nickname of any male child we would have, which we aren't, so here is our very own little boy. He fits in perfectly here at our house.

He likes to watch television, like Brad.

He likes to read, like Mia.

He likes to snack and can write his name, like Jillian.

He like to sleep, like me.

Ornament Exchange

Mia Kate and I had a wonderful evening at her school wide Girl Scouts Mother/Daughter ornament exchange. The girls exchanged ornaments, wrote letters to Santa, sang Christmas Carols, enjoyed Sheridan's sundaes, ran around with giggly little girl excitement, and even had a visit from the big guy himself.