Christmas in Leavenworth!

This year we did something that we have never done before. We left home on Christmas Eve morning and went to Leavenworth for Christmas with a bunch of family and had a ball! Mike and I were laughing at the irony of leaving our house that had about 8 or so inches of snow on the ground in order to go to the snow in Leavenworth. Of course that was not the only reason for going, but still it seemed funny to us to leave our paradise (Remember, we LOVE the snow!).

Besides just visiting with our family, we really enjoyed doing things together. The talent show on Christmas night was a lot of fun! There was a lot of singing and a lot of singing and a lot of humor. The kids were cute singing "Away in a Manger," dressed as Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.....

Apparently Jesus woke up! First he woke up and then danced to the rest of the song.

Mike and Dale did a juggling act. This was hard to photograph. Those oranges, apples and lemons were flying everywhere!

Paige and Katie played the piano. Forever. I don't think they knew how to end their song, but the song had a good sound to it, very sweet.

Most of us went on a sleigh ride too. It was fun, cold, but fun! You can't see me in this picture. I am behind Mike's big head. Jonah is the one in the bright pink mittens. Paige has a purple hood on. You can kind of see Jack. Over all, this is really a good picture of our family. haha

Well, I guess this is out of order, but because I am trying to get this post done before nap time ends, I will just keep on sharing out of order. Paige and Jonah were so excited for Christmas this year. Jonah couldn't wait for Santa to come. For days, Jonah would tell us that he would close his eyes and go right to sleep on Christmas Eve so that Santa could come.
Paige was so pleased with her Nutcracker from Santa! She told me that that was her favorite part of Christmas.

Jonah, our funny boy, got a skunk from Santa! He loves the skunk, but he also got a shirt with a skunk on it that says, "Nothing but trouble" that he HAD to put on right away.


Paige and Jonah slept on an aerobed together every night, each in their own sleeping bags, but apparently they liked to share pillows. They were so exhausted each night. Usually all the kids go to bed at 7:30, but because I did not want to keep them silent from 6:30 until 8:30 or so, I put the kids down late around 9:00. It worked pretty well. I think the earliest we got up was 7:30.

I guess that's all I want to share right now! We really had a wonderful time with all of our family. Paige adored Katie and played with her constantly. Jonah LOVED all of the adults there, but especially my cousin's husband, Jon, and Jack was Jack, pretty easy going and cute most of the time. He spent quite a bit of time begging like a puppy to go outside when we were in the lodge. Mike enjoyed goofing around with Jon and Dale and sliding off the roof (That boy is crazy!). I was happy visiting with my cousins and everyone else and loved playing games (Yes, Jeri, if you read this, Spite and Malice is almost exactly like Skipbo! In Skipbo you go up to 12 and skipbo is the free card. Other than that, it is played the same. Mike and I have been playing it every night since we've been home!).

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I was just informed yesterday that New Year's Eve is tonight! It just snuck up on me.... So, we have nothing planned. It's kind of scary. 2009. I can remember the party Mike and I went to in 1999 (Cuz tonight were gonna party like it's 1999....). Happy New Year!