December

One sign that December has arrived at our house is the kids rushing to the computer in the morning to check out the new display on the Jackie Lawson advent calendar.  If you have kids and haven't discovered these calendars yet, make a note to do it next year.  They are remarkable. 

A snowy morning made for a 2 hour hour delay in this neck of the woods.  It would have been laughable back in Indiana. 

Later that week we did get a substantial amount of snow and enjoyed the first snow day of the year.  After frolicking out in the yard, Sasha had the idea to make gingerbread cookies and luckily I had all the ingredients on hand.  She stuck with it from start to finish and Jack assisted for about half of them.

Another great idea of Sasha's.  Phil and I remark often these days how these two are such good buddies.  They rarely argue and are more content to be together than apart.  I used to marvel when other moms would say that it was easier to care for their 2 kids together than just one.  Now I get it. 

The first Saturday in December we had a "Christmas" day starting with a pancake breakfast with St. Nicholas at our church, going to pick out our tree, decorating it, having a family fondue dinner at home(oil, cheese, and chocolate--all of which was way to chaotic to capture with even a single photo), and lastly going to the Christmas Shop on the plaza where the kids pick out one new ornament each year.  It was a wonderful family day!

One of the stations in Sasha's kindergarten rooms is a "Create" area where there is a big bin of odds and ends that they can construct into something with using tape, glue, string, etc.  It is Sasha's favorite thing to do and every day she brings home her new lovely product.  Here she is using her "chocolate milk maker".

One of our favorite pictures from her Book About Me that came home at parent teacher conferences.

Mid-December we did an overnight trip to Durango, CO to ride the Polar Express narrow gauge railway.  We stayed in the Strater Hotel, an old Victorian establishment right on the quaint Main Street  and just down from the train station. 

We did some Christmas shopping before heading to the depot to await the arrival of the train. 

Just like in the book, we all wore our pajamas.  They had the music from the movie blasting from speakers as the train approached.  The kids were jumping up and down and squealing with excitement. 

We spent the whole weekend with our friends Joohee, Lee, Luke, and Jaden.

After the ride to the "North Pole" Santa Claus paid us a visit.  Jack requested an airplane for Christmas and Sasha a rainbow loom.

And it's off to the races again in our hallway.

Art in the basement.

Traditional oyster stew for Christmas Eve lunch.  Chicken and Stars for the kids, of course....

The kids got to open grandma and grandpa's gifts the day before Christmas.  They love their new towels, slippers, and storyteller dolls.

As if December wasn't busy enough, I played in the Christmas Eve and New Years Eve concerts with the Santa Fe Concert Association.  This is always one of my personal highlights of the year.  One of my lifetime dreams realized.....This year for the first time they had an open dress rehearsal right before the concert and Phil brought Sasha to it.  Apparently she fell asleep!

While I was playing in the concert, Phil took Sasha and Jack to the Farolito Walk on Canyon Road.

Sasha and Jack slept together in Jack's room the night before Christmas and actually watched the clock until it turned 6:30 am on Christmas morning before running to the living room. 

Sasha had picked out a lovely pair of earrings for me in Durango.

Christmas Day afternoon we drove down to Albuquerque for a delicious green chile stew meal with my Gingerich relatives at my mom's house.  I love getting together with this group because there are always so many good stories told, jokes (sometimes dirty) cracked, and amazing food.

The weekend after Christmas we set out to go tubing up on the mountain but were disappointed to find the tubing run closed so we continued up the mountain to the ski basin and went skiing instead for the first time this year.  Jack did awesome!  He skied down the whole bunny hill by himself several times and learned how to stop by himself.

Sasha mastered the bunny hill in little time and was getting on and off the magic carpet by herself, just having a great time.

Jack painting his first canvas to hang above the toilet in his bathroom.  He titled it "Our City".