Happy Holidays

Christmas was extra magical this year. For the first time Jake got into Christmas songs, Santa clause, and presents. (Well actually Jake liked to talk about Santa clause but not visit Santa clause. We waited in line 45 minutes so Jake could sit on Santa's lap, but when it was our turn Jake SCREAMED and yelled scary, scary!) Nonetheless Jake got what he wanted from Santa a big Thomas the train set. Although I am not sure who has more fun with it, Erich or Jake :) It's a great bonding thing for them.

We spent the holidays in Utah with Erich's family. Erich's one sister has five kids and they really helped get Jake pumped for Christmas. There is nothing like Christmas morning with lots of kids.

Since we had so much family gathered together we blessed McKinley. It's a good thing we had the blessing when we did because she has just about grown out of her dress!

Welcome Winter

I love winter--it means time for skiing and sledding and the years best holidays! To kick off the season Erich and I went to Park City for the ski swap. If you need gear this is the place to go--plus it is a whole new kind of shopping experience. The first night of the swap runs from 8pm to 1 am. People from all over come to this event. We showed up an hour early and the line was already several hundred yards long, people had been camped out in line for hours. It was hard to imagine there would be any gear left by the time we got in but there was plenty. We were quite the spectacle with a month old baby and 2 year old.
Anyhow both Erich and I bought new skate skis which we are really excited to try out--and I don't think we'll have to wait long as the snow has been coming. Last year we thought Twin Falls was just lots warmer than MT or Northern Idaho because we had no snow but we were wrong...we've had snow on the ground for a couple of weeks now and it just keeps on coming!
Anyhow last weekend we got the kids all bundled up and went outside to play. After what seemed like an hour of bundling kids up in snow gear we finally headed out on McKinley's first ski trip. She did great--fell right asleep in her little backpack. And Jake helped us look for a Christmas tree. It's a lot harder having two kids and we didn't make it terribly far but it was fun to get out and start the ski season. I think we will make it a tradition to ski back in the woods to find a tree. (Yes they do have trees in Twin Falls...if you drive far enough up into the hills!)
Anyhow hopefully there will be more winter fun posts coming.

Oh yeah, and one more little detail...our family got even bigger! We, or I should say Erich decided we needed a pointer (a special kind of hunting dog for those unfamiliar with hunting) so we bought a very cute little German Shorthair puppy we named Gauge. I was petrified at first but it has actually been lots of fun. Jake LOVES having a little puppy and puppy loves harassing Jake so it's lots of fun!