The Stillness of Snowshoeing

The day before we headed back to city living, we went snowshoeing through the woods. There is nothing like the stillness of a winters day in the woods.

This is the first year Evan has done the whole trail. Last year he made it down the road before Jim had to carry him and the year before we had to pull him in the sled.




I think he really enjoyed our walk in the woods this year.

Owen is getting to be an old pro at this.

He and I cut trail since Jim hiked into our property yesterday from the road and was a little soar on our walk today. Occasionally Owen and I would stop and wait for the two stragglers to catch up.

I tried to get a better photo of these tree huggers, but I couldn't seem to get away from the sun.






I turned around to find this beautiful view.

Me & the boys enjoying a beautiful day.

Owen really wanted to walk through the marsh. This is where we had Evan's Welcoming Ceremony.





Jim and Owen took turns falling into the fluffy snow.

Owen posing in a birch while we wait one last time for Jim and Evan to catch up.

Evan made it all the way to the end. Just before we headed back to the road, Jim gave him a lift. Way to go Evan!

Ya-ya had hot chocolate and popcorn ready for the weary.









Later we all snuggled on the floor with blankets and watched my favorite Christmas movie: Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas.

An awesome end to our Christmas Vacation.

Merry Christmas - 2010

We drove up to Manitowish Waters on Christmas Eve. The trip took us much longer than expected. We were worried we wouldn't make it up there in time to get to sleep before Santa came. Thanks to a nap in the car, Evan was awake until about 1:30. Luckily, Santa stops Up North on his way back to the North Pole, so he gets there kind of late.

Owen was the first one up. He ripped open all of his stocking and one of Mia's gifts before I heard him stramp down the hall to show Evan the Wonder Woman he saw sticking out of Evan's stocking.

Evan was a little more enthused this year about his toys, but he was still most excited about the candy in his stocking.

Mia got the Sock Monkey she'd been wanting.

Though her favorite gift was the pear in the bottom on her stocking.
Christmas was a new concept to Mia this year. She liked all the packages, but wasn't exactly interested in opening them.

Soon something more exciting caught her eye at the window.

We actually had 5 deer visit Christmas day, too, but the boys were so excited they scared them away. Later we saw a coyote run across the lake. Both boys were able to see it with the binoculars.

There was just the right amount of gifts this year. The kids got just what they wanted and a few surprises. They enjoyed playing with each others' gifts and we enjoyed playing with them too. Especially Owen's gift from Ya-ya & Bumpa...
Wii!!!
We're not really video game playing people, but this is SO fun. We all played (except Mia) and we each found a different game we loved. Ya-ya was a whiz at bowling, Owen passed into the second level for flying a plane, Jim played doubles in tennis and was his own partner, and I enjoyed wake-boarding for the first time ever!

Great-Aunt Sarah joined us for lunch. She and Mia warmed up to each other right away.

Sarah gave us the most special gifts. Jim and I received a slate with a egret she painted.

She had a box made for Evan and she painted these adorable bikers with his name on it.

Before she went home, the boys & I put on a puppet show for all the adults with their new puppet theater and Goldilocks Puppets Evan got from Santa. It was a really wonderful day.

Jib Jab Day

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We spent the morning making videos. We just love playing with Jib Jab. Owen made this one.

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Created by Owen

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Created by Evan

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Owen did this one too.

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And Evan created this one.

Merry Christmas

The kids took so many wonderful photos this season, it was hard to choose just one. This one seemed to depict each of their personalities. Hope your holidays are full of love and laughter.

Letts Family Christmas 2010

Jen and Tom hosted the Letts Family Christmas this year. Grandma & Grandpa drove down with us. I don't know who was more excited about this: the boys or Grandma!

Lunch was on the road and consisted of snacks from Holiday (yes, the gas station) and M & M cookies for dessert. Hey. It's Christmas. Sometimes you have to improvise. Mia seemed to like it.

When we arrived, the big kids quickly disappeared downstairs. Mia wanted to go down and play, but she finds trouble. Instead she found trouble in the shape of a cat under Tom and Jen's bed. Luckily their kitty loves kids.

There was a lot of Christmas snuggling going on. Jim and I both got to spend some rare time with our nieces.













Most of all, the kids got to spend quality time with their cousins.
The big kids mostly played downstairs or in Ellie's room, but they made an occasional appearance to beg for cookies and what not.

Mia was so interested in Margaux. She followed her around, hugged her, even shared Grandma with her... but that was almost too much. Margaux liked Mia too, except when Mia helped herself to Margaux's ice cream.

Soon it was gift time.
Evan got a drill & design set.









Addie was the most excited for presents.









They all got excited when Gina opened her bag of Pez dispensers.






Neil and Connie liked the calendar from Tom's family and the photo book from ours.

In lieu of gifts, the adults in the family give money to charity and share information about it. Jim and I gave to The Listening House, which you may remember from our recent post on their fundraiser night. Neil and Connie gave to The Center for Victims of Torture whom Neil does a lot of volunteer work with. Tom and Jen gave to a group that helps families with children who have congenital heart disease. Jen and Tom's girls picked out gifts to give to a toy drive. Gina gave to an organization that helps elephants and their handlers. There is a lot more to this, so I'll have to get the link. And Adam gave to Project Kaisei which works to spread awareness, prevent and clean up marine debris. Owen and Evan decided they wanted to help cheetahs and cougars. They gave to African Wildlife Foundation in hopes to help large cats and the people who try to co-habitat with them.

The Santa Experience

We went to see Santa tonight. Mia not at all concerned since she's been a very good girl this year.

Owen, on the other hand, has been a bit of a stinker to his siblings lately, so he was on his best behavior during the visit. Santa likes to sit on the ground and chat with the kids for awhile, to find out how their year has been. While he was visiting with the boys, he gave Mia a musical snow globe to play with. It was a big hit.

Owen told Santa he wants a Bat Cave. Evan wants a Wonder Woman. Santa looked at us for verification and we nodded. Then they all jumped into Santa's chair to look at a book and get their photo taken with THE Santa Claus.

Santa gave each of them a toothbrush. Owen's was purple and yellow. I asked him how Santa could possibly forget that Owen is a Packer fan. Owen reminded me that Santa has a lot on his mind right now. "He" sure does.

Light in the Park

It's always fun to take a drive and look at Christmas lights during the holiday season, but sometimes finding a neighborhood with a lot of lights can be trying. We are so lucky that we don't have to leave our neighborhood to find great lights. Right down the street at Lake Phalen, there is a light show called Lights in the Park that raises money for charity. Ya-ya & Bumpa were visiting this weekend to help us with some stuff around the house, so Friday night we took a break and checked out the lights.

We all had our favorites. Owen liked this one.

Bumpa liked this train with moving wheels.

But in the end, we all agreed that this new display of a 3 story pirate ship with a guy blasting from a cannon was the best.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

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Snownami

Snownami. Snowmagedon. That's what they call it when you get 16 inches of snow in 12 hours. It snowed on Saturday and three days later. They still don't have all of the streets plowed in the cities and have had to cancel school the past two days. The Metrodome's roof collapsed! If stadiums are collapsing, I thought we should probably think about clearing off the deck. I was all ready to go out and do it, but Jim must have had this blog post in mind when he suddenly got up and got dressed to go outside.

I don't think he was real thrilled to be out there. He recovered the door mat and promptly chucked it over the deck.



Guess what he did with the plant.

Meanwhile Owen gathered measured the snow in many places using all sorts of stick like objects. Evan decided to stay inside.

You'd never guess it was a blizzard by Evan's attire. He will only wear a T-shirt lately, if that. After a warm lunch and some hot chocolate, the boys had fun making pattern necklaces for Owen's friends and teachers at school.



Later Owen made a picture with some stickers from his advent calendar.

None of the kids are feeling real well, but we decided to try and get a cuddly picture by the tree since we were all home.

Not bad. Stay warm everyone. It could be a loooong winter.