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| Maybe next year those stockings will have names sewn on instead of masking tape...maybe |
We spent the day together as a family the day before Christmas. THE WHOLE DAY! We decided we were going to go play in the snow on Pine Valley. We found as many snow clothes as we could and then started our trek toward Pine Valley...after making a quick stop at ACE for some snow gloves for the boys and myself. When we got on the mountain and all got out to put our clothes on we discovered Porter hadn't brought his coat. Minor detail. I guess mom failed in the area of checking to make sure everyone really prepared themselves the way they needed to.
Luckily I had grabbed two coats for Julia so we bundled Porter up on one of Julia's pink coats (which he DID NOT want to put on because it was PINK!). We put it under one of my jackets that I parted with so he could stay warm. We saw plenty of people playing in the snow that day but wanted to find somewhere that we didn't have to be with all of them so we drove toward the reservoir. The road was blocked so our thoughts of sledding down the dam were off. We could see some hills that weren't too far away in the distance and decided we could haul our stuff through the unknown to spend some time in a secluded area.
Todd plowed the way for our trail with his ice fishing sled filled with Julia and Porter. This was Jess's first time in the snow and she was fine with it unless she fell over and her hands got cold.
The kids had fun playing for a little while. Julia was having fun until I took her down one of the hills and sprayed her with snow almost the whole way down while I was trying to prevent us from tipping over. After that she was done and ready to go back to the truck. Todd was a good sport and took the girls back to the truck while the boys and I played a little longer. We made a snowman and then they had a snowball fight with another family that had made their way over to us.
It took some convincing that it was time to go back and see what dad and the girls were doing because they were having so much fun. We all piled in the truck and drank hot chocolate and ate goldfish crackers. Then we drove back toward home.
We stopped on our way so we could build a snowman together as a family. We got all three parts on and then a huge storm blew in and chased us back to the truck again. It was crazy how fast it came in and how hard we were getting pelted with ice and snow. It all made for memories at least.
That night we had dinner at home--steak and eggs--and then had a FHE where Payton played Silent Night on the piano and we read stories about the true meaning of Christmas. Then PJ Elf stopped and the kids all put on their new PJ's before we jumped in the van and drove around looking at Christmas lights. Why would I think they might, MIGHT fall asleep while we were driving? Lesson learned.
It didn't take long for them to fall asleep but they did come in a few times in the early morning asking if they could go see what Santa had brought and were disappointed when they were sent back to bed each time. What would Christmas be without kids? Not as much magic, that's for sure.
