Christmas Break

I used to dread Christmas break and the 2 1/2 weeks the kids would have off of school.  Now, it's not quite so bad.  We can do fun stuff together... and even bring some friends along.  We were able to get some skiing in before blackout, Anna had plenty of elf-shifts at the North Pole Express, and there was plenty of time to sleep in, eat breakfast late, and finish up Christmas shopping.  The only thing that was missing was SNOW.  I am not complaining about the furnace/ boot dryer not running so much, or not having to shovel, or scrape the car.  It's actually been very nice... I just don't want winter to forget about us this year.  Until it gets here though, let's soak up some low-angle solstice sun!

Hawkins Family Picture Time

I am so glad this happened!  They turned out so good!  A million thanks to Beverly for seeing the vision and pulling this off.  Sure, it was a little cold and windy, but EVERYONE was there.  I've learned the value in that lately.  Capture it while you have it.

December Part 1

Midway Creche: Every year, our town has an exhibit of creches (aka nativity scenes) from around the world.  Almost everything you can think of has been turned into a creche: legos, coconuts, ivory, straw, etc.  Last year their was a dog creche, so when the email came out for creche submissions, I brought the cat nativity.  Mom let me use her stable with the light.  I didn't realize how much of a hit it would be!  It was fun to see all the others too.  The dog nativity was NOT there this year.  

The Tree: Due to scheduling conflicts, we were unable to take the kids with us this year to get the Christmas tree.  It was better this way.  I had planned to go to the top of Wolf Creek Pass (I saw a bunch of possibilities passing through last month), but when we got to the top, it was a complete white-out!  I wasn't THAT brave, so we backtracked to our usual spot and found a perfect tree.  I'm not sure why I try to recreate the wheel.  This spot delivers.  Why even try anywhere else?  It was awfully heavy though and very hard to drag out.  Sadly, I did not get a picture of it decorated, but it was amazing!  Every year we have the discussion of switching to an artificial tree, but we are always glad we put in the time and sweat for a real one.  It's my favorite tradition.

The Kindergarten Christmas Program:  I mean, come on, what is cuter than this?!  I'm glad they brought it back, right in time for my last-born to participate.  He practiced very hard on his speaking part and totally nailed it.  They kept him on the top row so he had the projector lights in his eyes the whole time.  It was still so great to see them all singing songs from around the world.  Go Tommy!

Happy Anniversary:  It's been 17 years since I married this guy!  Wow, it's flown by.  It was pretty cold that day so luckily our warmest-December-15th-EVER-wedding day is still in the record books.  I booked an outdoor "Alpenglobe" at our local Midway restaurant for dinner.  These things are hard to get so we felt very special.  But in the end... meh.  The food is expensive for what you get, the service was slow, it felt like sitting in a fish bowl (like I had to wave to everyone that passed by) and it was a little boring.  But now we know!  It's all about the photo-ops anyway.

Drew Gets Baptized!

We sure love having another 8-year-old!  Drew was so excited to get baptized and actually helped plan his service.  Grandma Christy finally passed the torch of accompanying the songs to Anna, and she did great.  The cousins sang a primary song, I gave the talk, the Grandpas were witnesses, and Bevan did the ordinance.  It all went off perfectly.  Drew was surrounded and supported by so many family and friends.  I was touched how well the stake primary presidency organized everything and escorted us along.  We met back at our house for lunch and treats.  I'm sure Drew loved the attention and hopefully grasps how important this day was.  We sure love the gospel, our Savior, and the peace it gives us, especially on days like this.  Way to go, Drew!