Grandma June brought us some sunshine!

Grandma June was so happy to be able to spend a few days at the house with the kids.

Yes, this was Gianna's outfit for a few days! She insisted she wear no shirt...we were all freezing, not her!

Loves for Grandma June

Uncle Dan and Auntie Jody gave Dom this outfit for Christmas and he wore it for 3 days straight...we finally got it off of him to wash it when we got home!

Watching a movie together on the bed

Santa Stopped By!

Our stockings are stuffed!

A hotwheels set-up!

"Just what I wanted" a new watch!

Santa brought me a scooter!

This was Gianna's face with each new thing she pulled out of her stocking! It was the cutest reaction!

Food for my new kitchen...( the kitchen is in Sequim waiting for me!)

How cute am I?

Talkin' on my new phone!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started out with the kids playing in the snow.

Snowball fight!

At Auntie Gail's...G sure loves her Auntie Toni!

Dom gave Mommy a nice surprise with a hug around the neck!

We couldn't get Dom and G away from the snack mix!

We love Uncle Jared, Auntie Toni and Kaden!

Gianna was enjoying a back rub from Auntie Toni...she kept getting lower and lower as she relaxed! Finally she just plopped down on Jared...livin' the life of a princess!

All the boys with Uncle Dan! Uncle Dan loves to tease the boys! They love Uncle Dan...Nick wants to go to WSU like Uncle Dan!

All of the cousins!

When we got home, Dominic raced to set up this little table with cookies and milk, in hopes that Santa would be stopping by this snowy night!

Getting off the lake road was a big adventure for us, as we traveled to Aberdeen for the Cousin's Christmas...10 of us piled into 2 Subaru Foresters...inbetween carseats, over presents, and under many layers of coats! Luckily we had 2 seasoned snow drivers so even when we were sliding down the lake roads, they had us feeling kind of ok about it all! Ok, Ok, I may have freaked out a little! We only got to celebrate for a couple of hours together on Christmas Eve, but at least we got that time! This Christmas season was different for sure!

Santa came early for Nick!

Nick was excited to see an Ipod Shuffle from Santa.

Go Ohio State Buckeyes!

Nick is a fanatic about soft blankets! He recently found our about soft, furry pillows too! Dominic and Gianna gave him this blanket!

He got a skateboard...but he had to do a little work first! It is one that he can put together himself!

Nick was with our family for Christmas Eve, and went to his mom's for Christmas Day this year, so Santa came a day early for him! Dom and G were a little confused about why Nick got to open all of these presents early, but for the most part they did a good job of being happy for him.

Opening Christmas Pajamas

The cousins are getting ready to open their Christmas pajamas!

Everyone is excited to put them on...

Our family in our new pajamas...so cozy!

The Path to Grandma and Grandpa's

So here is the little path that we walked up from the lake road to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house on December 23rd. Grandpa shoveled the driveway part of the way up, so we backed up halfway (you can't see where the van is, it is down around the corner) and trekked up from there. We had to chain up on the lake road just to get to this point! We almost did not come down, but Grandma and Grandpa would have been so sad not to see the kids...they say us too!

Vinny, Nick and Grandpa shoveled a lot more later on...only to be outdone by Mother Nature later that night...she dumped again, ignoring all of their hard work! Our van stayed parked for 5 days! Talk about housebound!

Sweet Gingerbread Houses!

The final houses, displayed on pedestals! (courtesty TBGB)

Nick wants you to notice the path he made leading up to the house.

Dom kept piling candy on the side of the house even after he was "done."

Gianna ate more candy than she put on the house...as you can see by the remnants of chocolate on her face!

Every year the kids make gingerbread houses. This was Gianna's first house and as you can see she is sooooo proud of it! The boys love planning out what they are going to design, and talking about each piece as they put it on. We were a little late making them this year...with all of the snow we had trouble getting to the store to get all of the pieces and ingredients! But the kids would be DEVASTATED if we did not make our homemade version. It's all about tradition! I tried to convince them to use a gingerbread house kit, but since that was not what we had always done in the past...no go!

Beautiful Snow!

Three snow boys...they had been sledding for several hours at our friend's house, the Glasser's and Langston's.

Everyone piles on...getting ready to go down the hill.

Payton, Joe, Arnold, and Nick...at the end of a good slide!

Dominic loved jumping in the deep snow with Hope and Pryce. After they jumped they would eat the snow. They loved to make the mustaches!

Two best buddies!

The beautiful landscape with the barn...home to barn parties, The Barn Girl's Boutique, and many other fun gatherings!

Today was so much fun! We went sledding all afternoon yesterday, spent the night at the Glasser's, and woke up to riding quads, sledding over jumps, and playing games of snow football! The evening was full of chatting with friends, the kids watching a Christmas movie, and cozy Christmas atmosphere. Gianna declared it was "cooool" and shivered for emphasis when I tried to convince her to go outside with me. All she wanted to do was play inside with Hopie's baby doll, while the boys couldn't get enough of the snow activities! How many people can you pile on an intertube to slide down a huge hill? Each run was different! Nick and his buddies enjoyed knocking each other off sleds and intertubes...while Dom loved sledding over a jump. At first he had to be convinced to go sledding down the rather large hill, but once he did it, he was hooked!

No School!

YEAH! We can't wait to get out in the snow!

Getting ready to sled!

OOH, this is soooo fun!

My little snow angel!

Daddy did not have to go to school today so we had so much fun all morning in the snow! We went for a long walk, pulling the kids on the sled, made snow angels, went sledding down hills in the neighborhood, and then had hot ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch! What a day! As we were walking Mommy hit a patch of ice and did the splits in the middle of the road! (While Daddy laughed!) Then Gianna fell off the back of the sled...us girls were not very graceful!