Ski Day

Today was our first day on the mountain this year. The kids were ECSTATIC. As in, Everly woke up earlier than she did on Christmas because she was too excited to sleep. We got in the car while it was still dark out and sipped our coffee and cocoa on the windy road up to the mountain. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride because after years of ski patrol, I told Jeremy this marked my first time driving that beautiful road in the daylight! And getting to leave after 4:30am! Good times.

It took Everly a few runs to get her skiing legs back. This is her third year of skiing, which is a fun little math game since she's still three years old. :) And somehow Parker managed to improve his skiing abilities over the past six months while not skiing. He jumped off the lift and headed straight for the trees. This is his fifth year of skiing and he'll be six in a week. Parker technically made his first run down the mountain zipped inside Jeremy's jacket at 11 days old. I think that's when the passion for skiing started.

Significance.

My dear friend Sandi has taken pictures of our little family since Parker was nearly 6 months old. Important pictures. Significant pictures. Pictures that tell a story and capture a heart in one little glance and a click of her camera. She has such a gift. And such a huge heart. And we have traded work and friendship and late nights over glasses of wine over the years. And then spring happened and the weight of her world was shattered into a million pieces and with it our little piece of it started cracking. My kids know Sandi means picking veggies out of her garden and boat rides in front of the cabin, snuggling on her lawn chairs outside her tiny house and swinging endlessly on her tire swing, hugs from her and high fives from her boy. Now that world is different and silent and we quietly grieve for her and with her.

Not a day has gone by that I don't look at the world differently. I hold my children closer. I let go of a lot more. I relish in their tiny moments of significance and I listen. I listen to them when they are excitedly trying to get the words out, when they're whispering their greatest fears and I listen when they are silent. I do all of this in honor of Sandi and her mothering.

When Sandi suggested she pick up her camera and take pictures of us, I couldn't stop the tears. The tears that felt so honored she would want to do that for us, the tears of not knowing if I could return to a place that had always meant happiness before all of this, and the tears of realizing that it might be a hard day for her and her strength and braveness has never ceased to amaze me.

The kids were overjoyed to see her. A few days before, Parker insisted on bringing a present to Sandi and unknowingly opened up his huge compassion to her with a little silver heart he chose all by himself. My tears flowed then too, for sadness, gratitude and hope.

The day we took pictures in a little park, all alone on a crisp day, we tumbled out of the car. The kids hugged Sandi, Parker proudly handed her his present and Everly wore her hat and scarf when she got cold. We all drifted back into a place we'd been before, but with a balance that shall forever be askew (just as it should be).

I am so honored that we got to share these pictures for Christmas with everyone we know and love. I am so honored she took her camera and captured these moments with our children and us. And we both agreed that these are perhaps our favorite photos out of the thousands she's taken over the years. And perhaps that's because we now know the weight of these moments. The weight to treasure, to capture, to be still in these moments. Thank you so, so much, Sandi. We love you.

Family Portrait

I finally figured out how to make the self timer work on the camera last weekend. Which brought on an onslaught of timed family photos. We got three with the kids before they were entirely too bored of it and had to go watch a movie instead.

Aaaaaand then the adults took one. One normal one, followed by 20 minutes of laughter and more photos. And boy, did we think we were funny. It's always a goal to make grandma wet her pants from laughter on Christmas. Nearly achieved. Maybe next year.

Family Christmas {two}

Jeremy and I agree that this was the best Christmas ever. With the kids getting older and being able to understand the true meaning of Christmas, this year outshines the rest in their giving, loving and thoughtfulness. We've also kept up quite the pace this season and methodically experienced special moments to help us savor the season and they adored and appreciated each one. There were no meltdowns, limited catching up on sleep, and a lot of patience this year. Which all added up to the most blissful and beautiful experience for everyone. And tonight, as I look at strewn wrapping paper and new toys that are already favored and crumbs on the counter from shared meals, I feel a little sad that it's over. This year is a Christmas that I could keep going and going. I feel so full of thankfulness and love that it spills over in the form of tears of gladness. I am so happy I got to experience this season through my children's eyes.

Parks and Everly followed ribbons tied to their doors down the hall, down the stairs and into the living room where the ribbons led to packages tied under the tree. Santa had filled their stockings and brought them copies of the their letters, but perhaps what they were most excited about was the note he left them. He told them what good children they had been this year and how happy he was they got to celebrate Jesus' birthday with presents given to them out of grace. And then he told them he brought our elf, Frisbee, back with him to the North Pole and then they cried.

 Everly was so excited about every gift she opened, she hardly knew what to do with herself.

 And in true Parker fashion, he had some immediate standouts. Mainly anything with wheels or wings. :)

 Santa delivers her beloved cake-toy.

 All of Parker and Everly's gifts are to share, even the ones picked especially for them because we live in a sharing household. They are beginning to see the merits of that (double the presents!) but some presents were written specifically for them. Such as, an amazing bowling lane that Santa scored on Craigslist.

 And this is what present unwrapping really looked like.

 And I made happy hubby's day with...a bottle opener...

that will be mounted to a wall in the kitchen. 

Be still, his heart.

 The aftermath.

 Everly impressed us by a, never stopping moving the entire day and excitedly running around and talking the entire time (despite what has to be a very tired girl), and b, her gymnastics skills. This girl has got some moves. She told Jeremy she could do a handstand on his shoulders. And she did.

Parker is almost six. So he's playing it pretty cool now. He did give Christmas a thumbs up and tonight he sleepily declared "Mom, I like you best out of anything in the whole world. But Christmas comes pretty close." Well, thank you. That's quite the compliment. :)

Family Christmas {one}

We spent the days leading up to Christmas with Jeremy's family down in Shelton at their cabin. We were cozied up with rain and snow falling outside and the inside decorated with lights everywhere and a little tree they brought down. Festive decorations adorned every surface and activities abounded.

The kids made ornament place holders for everyone 

that sweet Auntie Kari brought down.

It was a perfect weekend. The kids were SO excited to see each other. They played and had sleepovers in the basement and s'mores down at a chilly fire next to the lake.

Happy campers - four amazing, sweet and thoughtful cousins.

And this is more of the usual. :)

a very merry eve

Merry Christmas Eve! We celebrated today with a quiet morning and afternoon at home and then a lovely meal of appies, wine and cookies (my favorite combo!) atGrandma and Papa's.

And the yearly Eve tradition of jammies, slippers, a book and a stuffie makes for some happy and excited kids.

We followed up the evening by dropping off a couple of treats and milk for Santa, checking the Norad tracker to find his location and running up to bed and trying our best to sleep. The kids are so excited to celebrate tomorrow and wake up to packages under the tree. We are celebrating Jesus' birthday with presents for them (whether they've been naughty or nice) because we get to celebrate our Savior's birth through His Grace. Undeservedly or deservedly so.

Great Wolf

About 6 months ago, Jeremy called me at work and said he found a group deal for a night at the Great Wolf Lodge and we should use some of our vacation fund for it. We thought we'd bring the kids when they got older, but we had a hard time turning down a screaming deal and most of our friends have already made the big trip down there and said it was amazing. So, we jumped on it, waited six months and made it part of the kids' Christmas present on the way down to Shelton to spend the weekend with Jeremy's family.

We told the kids we were going shopping (it was the most boring thing we could think of) and that it would take 3 hours to get to the store. They didn't bat an eye (really? we thought this would ignite a lot more impatience). We pulled up to the lodge, parked the car and walked inside and the kids looked around with wonder and quiet excitement and knew something was up. We walked to the back of the lobby where there are 50 foot windows looking out to the indoor water park and knelt down in front of them and hugged them and told them "Merry Christmas! We get to stay here, spend the night, and explore this fun place!" They were over the moon.

We changed into our swimsuits and spend 4 hours in the water the first day. We followed it up with pizza for dinner and magic wands and hunting for secret treasures around the hotel. We watched movies in bed and threw out bedtime. We ate cupcakes for breakfast and played War, snuggled amongst the pillows. We changed into our swimsuits again and spent 7 hours in the water the second day. Parker and I lapped one of the waterslides 8 times when the line died down. We floated in the wave pool, ran around the sprinklers and snuggled in the hot tub. Everly got her courage up just before we left and went down one of the big slides by herself. The kids were happy, exhausted and content. Then we headed to the cabin to see cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. And the excitement began again.