All about Christmas time

Fun in the snow

Tanner hates snow powder in his face. If you could see his hands, you would notice that they are covering his face! He still loves sledding though.

When he gets to ride with someone else he goes down backwards and holds on for dear life.

Gracie was a tough girl! One of her first runs landed her in a puddle of melted snow at the bottom of the hill.

Braden soared down. This kid loves to fly.

And no mountain is too high for Braden to climb.

Our crazy bunch.

On Christmas Eve we take a ride through town to admire Christmas lights. Santa usually makes a quick delivery while we are out so we can have new matching jammies to wear to bed. This year was no different. Here's the tired crew.

And Christmas morning after a long winter's nap...

Christmas at the Compound 2009

This year our family visited the compound two weekends in a row! The first weekend was for extended, EXTENDED family and the most recent visit was with my family. Usually we do some extreme sledding but the weather didn't cooperate with our timing this year. When my Dad decided to take the kids down to the frozen lake we decided to improvise.

All of the grandkids ages 3 and up received these bouncy balls for Christmas. Us adults enjoyed them too.


Ryan kept trying to sneak away for a little winter's nap but the kids and I wouldn't have it. Instead we threw a party on Dad's bunk.

And stay tuned for more updates. Our internet has been down (more often then it has been up) lately so I'll have to see what I can post before the full Christmas festivities are underway.

Until then, here's a recap of our first weekend at the compound with more pictures:

Tanner playing ping pong with Grandpa Mark (my Uncle). They matched up with my cousin and his daughter Rylin.

Gracie got to shine in her violin performance of Joy to the World while I supervised Braden's video taking.

We also crafted. My kids came home with about 3 painted wooden treasure boxes each (thanks to my Aunt "Queen Becky").

And my Aunt received our homemade gift this year. Braden happily helped to hand out the gifts.

Small Town Thanksgiving and Christmas

This is my brother Tyson. Last year his wife Calley was given the responsibility of bringing games for the kids to play after Thanksgiving. Being the clever girl that she is, she picked up a plastic beak and some feathers and designed a game where her husband would have to run from the kids who were trying to take his feathers.

This game is entertaining and hillarious. It's everyone's favorite because it's a great outlet for little energetic bodies.

We made the kids close their eyes while Tyson the turkey found a hiding spot.

After running Tyson ragged, he conceded and they plucked him clean. My brother claims he is going to train for next year's game.

My parent's neighbors thought something crazy was going on. My family has lived in that community for 23 years now! Now the neighbors know a little bit more about how crazy we really are.

I am such a small town girl. I love the sense of community that is felt at small town functions. Tonight was the tree lighting ceremony at our town square gazebo. Santa came. It was freezing outside, so our stay lasted 30 minutes-tops!

We're off to "the compound" this weekend for my Dad's family Christmas party. Like many families, ours has A TON of holiday traditions, so let me outline the next few that we will be enjoying this weekend.

*St. Nicholas' Day is Dec. 5th. He leaves goodies in good girls and boys' shoes.

*Christmas at the Compound is the big (about 60 people) party with my Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and their families. We will have four generations at the church ranch this weekend. Everyone sleeps in the lodge and we visit and play games all weekend long. Traditionally we exchange homemade gifts. Here's what our family is bringing. Shhh. It's a secret.

Merry Christmas.