Winter wanderings...

Xmas is closing in fast!! Here's just a collection of pics kind of mish-mashed together. Below is the new tree I got the girls this year. They wanted a white one that was bigger than the one they used to have.


After years of talking about getting one, I FINALLY did it. Timothy, our Elf on a Shelf, arrived and began hiding right away. Here he is hanging from the livingroom light.

And one of my personal favorite spots, on one of the golden reindeer on a shelf in our livingroom. His spot this morning was trickier...in the Xmas tree! The kids looked for a while before Sonja finally spotted him!

Mr. Cute himself, Darcy in a cute Xmas sweater. He hates wearing clothes, so it doesn't happen often!

Baby with her mesmerizing eyes!

And Monty posing.

This past Sunday, Julie invited the kids to her house for her annual Xmas cookie decorating party.

Cousin It...aka Luci!

Even Ben got in on the action!

Julie's grandson, Jackson. He preferred eating the frosting to actually decorating cookies!

All the kids with their finished, edible masterpieces! Back row, L to R: Luci, Drew, Sonja, McKenzie, Max. In front, Hannah, Jackson and Sarah.

Max liked Kenz and showed her by handing out the hugs!

Monday night, I took the girls out to a local campground/beach. Some businesses and individuals set up 30x30 light displays throughout the grounds. It was a decent effort for the first year, but it was so well publicized that I'll bet next year's project will be even bigger and better! I might just sign-up for a display for my own photography business! We'll see!

The girls decided to have a camp-out in their room, so we dug out their sleeping bags and plugged in this electric campfire.

Last night, Sonja and Max decided to spend the night and this morning they got bundled up and went outside to play in the snow. Snowangels!

Say, "CHEESE"!

Darcy LOVES being outdoors!

Dean hooked the sled up behind the 4-wheeler and they had a blast!

On the weight-loss front, I am now down 35 pounds from last summer! Yay me!! I meet Sue tonight at the gym and after our work-out we're getting 10 minute chair massages! Last week we had a 5 minute massage and it was heavenly!! Looking forward to the 10 minute one tonight!

Today's Quote:

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard of his chin was as white as the snow. ~Clement Clarke Moore

I love Christmas. I really do love Christmas. I love being with my family and I love snow. I love the music and the lights and all of it. ~Christina Applegate

Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood. ~Andy Goldsworthy