New Year's and Christmas Break Fun

We had a 2 1/2 week long Christmas break, which worried me a bit at first (what were we going to do?), but we ended up having a lot of fun.

We spent lots of time doing art projects (bald eagles were one of the favorite subjects, given our up-close encounter on Christmas Day) and thank you cards (that may have never been sent. I'm really bad at finding appropriate sized envelopes and getting them in the mail)...

We spent a pleasant afternoon with Grandpa and Grandma McClure and Aunt Kacie at our favorite Fort Collins park.  We had a picnic, went down the tunnel slide over and over and over, lost Joely for a terrifying few minutes, threw a football, and laughed at Grandpa taking a nap on the park bench looking like a homeless man.

Best buddies

Picnicking.  Is that a word?

Coming down!

I totally thought this was Joely until I looked at the shirt. She just looks short from this angle.

Two of our favorite ladies.

Right before Joely took off for her own adventures and left Grandma and me panicking!

Teeter-totter partners

Everyone except Grandpa, who was busy taking a nap on a bench.  He was recovering from surgery, so I guess we won't tease him too much!

Another highlight of the break was receiving Christmas presents from Grandpa and Grandma Jex in the mail.  Everyone was so excited and LOVED what they sent!  We spent the next while playing the games together. 

New Year's Eve was a lot of fun.  Our library (which is awesome) had a Noon Year's Eve party from 11:30 to 12:30.  We made it in time to make our shakers and New Years hats, watch the ball drop with balloons and confetti at noon, toast with our juice, and enjoy playing with the other kids.

Making noisy shakers.

Ready to welcome in 2014...

Whoever thought to put a giant claw foot bathtub in the library was brilliant.  The kids love hanging out in it.

We got out the raclette for a unique dining experience.  The kids  didn't really remember doing it before and got a kick out of it.  For Christmas, Uncle Brennan gave us a chocolate melter and some melting chocolates, so we did that for dessert.  That was definitely the highlight of the night.  I think we all decided that the fresh pineapple was our favorite thing to dip.  I couldn't stop eating it!

Let the dipping begin!

I think she liked it!

We finished up dessert quickly and headed over to Centerra in time to catch the fireworks at 8 o'clock.  It was crazy-busy, but we found a good spot really close (the firemen actually had to ask us to move back) and got a spectacular show.  Definitely something we'll do again.

Once we got home, we celebrated the new year with a few minor "fireworks" (they weren't big enough to count as fireworks, but that's what we called them) of our own.  And after showers we toasted with sparkling cider.

Happy 2014!!

Dave had New Years Day off, and we spent some time at the McClure's before heading over to Aunt Sjani's and Uncle Ryan's.  Uncle Ryan and Atti made homemade pasta and it was AMAZING!!!  I've never had better pasta in my life.  We ate, and ate, and ate.  It was the most memorable pasta dinner I've ever had.  Definitely a great way to start the new year!

All in all, we had a fantastic Christmas break!  But I was excited for school to start up again...

Christmas Day 2013

Christmas in our new house was fun!  Because of the layout, we had to get a bit creative with keeping the kids from seeing the tree early, but Dave used his skills and made it work great.

Looks like Santa came after all...

He is SO perfectly snuggly! Santa did a good job with him.

Getting ready to head up the stairs...

And they're off!

All that was left of Santa's cookies and the reindeer snack.  Those messy reindeer had the nerve to come into our house! :)

Super excited and a little bit dazed.

Santa got this little girl EXACTLY what she asked for...WOW!

It's a big teddy bear...but wait, what is he holding?

Sweet!

Emma's newest friend, Saige.

Santa brought Joely a princess hair set and a princess cell phone.  She was super excited to do hair!

Joely was glad to have a willing Aunt Kacie for her hair experiments.

We had a nice breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, got things cleaned up, and then the McClures arrived (including Uncle Brennan!) bearing more gifts!  Everyone visited for awhile and snacked on veggies, and then we decided to head over to the park and the lake to enjoy the beautiful, sunny weather.

For Christmas, Dave gave me a new lens for my camera.  I had fun trying it out as Mom and Kacie walked my direction.  I felt a bit like the paparazzi!

Sweet girls

Beautiful Kacie

One of the most memorable parts of Christmas Day was watching the bald eagles at the lake shredding a dead goose to bits.  I guess it was their Christmas goose... They were beautiful and magnificent, but it was a bit grisly to watch!

Our Christmas dinner was YUMMY and had all the trimmings.

It was a pleasant, laid back, awesome Christmas day.  I'm so glad my family lives close and that we could share the day with them. 

Christmas Eve Festivities 2013

We had planned on spending Christmas in Glenwood with the Jex clan, but plans changed and we spent Christmas in our new house.  Luckily, we were able to still do lots of fun things together and with the McClures.

We kicked off Christmas Eve with a gingerbread house-making party.  Dad was the architect and builder for the project (a fitting assignment).

Creating a masterpiece with great skill and concentration. :)

So many choices for decorating! I get a sugar rush just looking at it.

The kids did a great job decorating their houses.  I was surprised and impressed with their skills.  Plus, they were really good about not eating too much candy.  Just a little here and there (or else they've gotten better at snitching on the sly).

Joely and I were gingerbread house-making buddies.  She was a fantastic decorator!

Carson got all crazy and added a garage and a vehicle!

Joely's finished house.  I love the gingerbread man marshmallows.  They were so cute!

Emma's gingerbread men had a car to drive around in too.

Carson's even had the word CANDY on the roof.  That about sums it up!

After our gingerbread house-making session, we headed to Fort Collins to celebrate with the McClure's.  

There's a lot of red and green in this picture.

Reindeer!

Buddies...we love Uncle Riley!

New Pajamas for Christmas Eve

It isn't Christmas Eve with the McClure's unless we have the Nativity.  Emma was our beautiful heralding angel.  Joely was happy to be Mary.  She loves babies.  Carson was an unwilling Joseph (or shepherd, I'm not sure which he really was supposed to be).  And Dave jumped in to try and encourage Carson along.

If looks could kill... :)

Sweet Mary

Awww.....

Is that Santa Claus I hear?

Emma made the reindeer food at school and was very concerned that Santa would think it was for him.  So, she decided to clarify.  Apparently everyone understood, because when we woke up on Christmas morning, the milk and cookies were gone, and the reindeer had overturned the bowl and left nothing but crumbs.  Emma was delighted!