Post Christmas

After Christmas we did some more fun stuff.  We saw a few movies, (Star Wars and Joy), played a lot of games, watched movies at home . . .

We went swimming at an indoor pool with all of the cousins and we went ice skating at the only outdoor ice skating rink in Portland.  It was small, but it was still fun.  They even had cute little skates to put on Wembley, and I just pulled her around.  She would go completely limp but giggled so apparently she liked it.

We also went up to Mount Hood to sled and ski.  My girls LOVED the snow.  On the drive, as we started to see snow, Wembley kept saying, "Wow" very enthusiastically.  She literally played in it all day, no nap.  My Mom and I took turns helping Briz ski.  

They had this cool tube carousel thing.  Wembley and some of her cousins spent a lot of time in this.  But Dubs only wanted to be in it alone.

It was cold but a beautiful clear day.  You could see the top of Mount Hood from the lodge.

Briz and I spent the first half of the day on the little toe rope hill.  She was nervous but did much better than I thought she would.  The trickiest part was grabbing onto the toe rope.

We took a break for a while, had some lunch and hot chocolate.  Wembley's hair is awesome.

Briz loves her hot chocolate this winter.  She did a dance and song about hot chocolate in her dance class, and ever since then she thinks its great to sit and drink hot chocolate.

I was able to take a few runs by myself.  It was so beautiful!

By the end of the day, I convinced Briz to go on the big mountain with me.  I was so proud of her.  She fell a few times and didn't cry or have any kind of meltdowns.  

  

The view from the top of the mountain.

New Years Eve Day was freezing!!!  But it was sunny, so we decided to take advantage and go to the park.  

That night, we had so much fun.  We played games with the kids, had pizza and treats, and then at "midnight" aka 9 p.m.  we lit fireworks, blew noisemakers, and had a silly putty war outside.  I loved being with these kids that night.  I love watching how excited they get.  I feel like a kid again, celebrating with them.

The adults then stayed up and played games until 2 a.m.  We played Cards Against Humanity and laughed so hard that we almost peed our pants and our cheeks hurt.

A few days later, we got snow!!!  Church was canceled, so we took a little walk around the neighborhood.  Briz was very imaginative in her ability to spot animal tracks.  She found deer, dogs, cats, racoons, and I think a few more.  Wembley had a few face plants but recovered quickly.

Our friends the Papworths were supposed to bless their baby that day in church, but since it got canceled they blessed him at their home, so we went over to there to join in.  I finally got to hold him!  And it made me baby hungry for about 10 minutes.  

Briz was in love.  She was almost in tears because she wants a baby brother very badly.

The next day, we had freezing rain so school was canceled.  More excuses for lazy mornings and fun days playing around.

We went over to the Papworths to bug them and break off all of the ice in their yard.

It's been a really fun Winter Break.  I get sad when its over cause I love just being home with my family.  Sad that we have to go back to work and school.