Christmas Aftermath

After Christmas we headed up North to enjoy some cooler weather.  Or so we thought.  It was actually quite warm while we were there and absolutely no snow.  We were a little bummed, but we had a lot of fun with family.  The day after we got there my brother surprised us and drove in from California.  We rarely see them so it was a real treat to spend the week with them and their 3 little ones!  It made for some full days and late nights and we came home exhausted; it was all worth it though.

There was a thin layer of snow on the basketball court so the girls made the most of it.  Here Natalie is prancing around in her slippers.

A snowball fight with cousins

Traditional nail painting by Elise!

My brother Dave that surprised us.  He's holding one of his boys, Dylan who is about 8 months older than Natalie

We went out to eat a few times and usually there was a 'kids table'  That sure made it nice for us and the kids had a blast.  In this picture Naomi and Cyrena are drawing on their placemats.  Naomi slept over with us a couple of nights and we had so much fun with her!

Going on a hike with the cousins behind grandma and grandpa's property.  That's Dylan (3), Andrew (6), Cyrena, Naomi (7), and Natalie.

Cyrena gets a little unsure about her footing on outings like this.  She especially did this day since there was a LOT of deer poop (or grapes as Natalie thought) so she clung to Dave's hand the entire time and he was an awesome, reassuring and patient uncle!

Oh yeah, Anna was there too! :)

Anna really loved Jacob's ipod touch.  If she was fussing he would whip that out and she'd be all smiles

Karaoke time! 

Toasting in the New Year (at 11 p.m.)

That Sunday, New Year's Day, was my nephew Eric's mission farewell.  It was an incredible meeting.  The spirit was present and we all commented afterward on how much we were edified.  Eric's talk was wonderful then Alec played the viola in a string quartet that was outstanding and then the concluding speaker was a sister who had undergone numerous trials in the past decade that are beyond my ability to comprehend.  The talks centered on The Book of Mormon and how all the answers we seek can be found within it's pages. 

Afterward there was a luncheon at Eric's home and it was fun to have some more family time before we headed out.  Lynn and Debbie were Anna's best friends.  They gave her sparkling cider and cheesecake--she's a happy girl!

Our family with Eric.  He's heading to the MTC in just 3 days, so exciting.  And yes, he just might run into David Archuleta in the cafeteria...:)