Party, Christmas, Party

For some reason, I didn't take as many pictures around Christmas time as I usually do. This is unfortunate because if I don't have a picture of something, it never happened! The Ackerson family Christmas party was a success, as always, the kids got plentiful ice-skating time, the brisket dinner was delicious, and everyone got to open a present from a cousin. Win!

I was fully prepared to not have Bevan home for Christmas this year. He's dodged working on Christmas for years and years now.  Working at a ski resort, you eventually have to take your turn.  But to our fortune / misfortune, he woke up super sick and couldn't go into work anyway! It got him to come downstairs while we opened presents, and then he spent the bulk of the day in bed.  Oh well!  The kids got to play with all their stuff, and I made some cheesy potatoes for dinner while watching the snow fall outside.  It was perfect.

The day-after-Christmas sledding party has been a thing since the mid 90s. Mom sure loved it, so we need to keep it going. I'm glad the rest of the family was on board.  Thankfully there was barely enough snow on the cabin sledding hill. We had gumbo for lunch, thanks to girlfriend-Ali and her authentic Louisiana upbringing. There were also plenty of snacks to keep us going until it got dark. Even then, it was hard to convince the boys to come inside from playing football in the powder.  Is this going to be a new thing?

Early December Mayhem

We sure do like to pack it all in the beginning of December, before school gets out for Christmas break! The kids had no stoppage of fun: North Pole Express train with cousins, tree lighting ceremony at town square (meh), going AS A FAMILY to cut down our Christmas tree (it was actually a positive experience), plenty of ice skating and sledding, and we can't forget the band and choir concerts. It's so fun to see these kiddos staying busy.  There won't be anything left to do for the rest of December.

Of course, as a parent, there's a lot of behind the scenes going on as well that can be equally stressful (um, Christmas?!). I'm also trying to wrap up landscaping season while finding time for my "more fun" winter job.  At least the weather has stayed okay.  It's tried to snow a couple times, but I'm not complaining.  Winter will eventually come.  I'm glad the trampoline can still get some use.