{ Camping }

Last weekend we went camping. We really needed to get away and take a break after working long and hard on cleaning up since the trees came down at the beginning of July. Our plans changed several times, but we made it and over all we had a good time. It is always a challenge to camp with little kids, but they loved it and once they went to sleep, they slept well :) The first night my parents joined us and we enjoyed the lake.

The second day they went home and we headed into the Idaho mountains for some exploration. Tim had found couple of mountain lakes that we intended to hike in about 1/2 mile to find. After driving for a couple of hours and only making it about half as far as we needed to go, with a vehicle not really meant for the kind of road we were on, we decided to head back toward home. We found a nice creek that was very clean and shallow and we all had a great time getting wet and relaxing before heading home. We had thought we'd maybe spend another night, but by then we were just wanting showers! Not sure how much camping we will continue to do while our kids are this little, but I'm glad we did it, all things considered. In fact, this coming Monday we're planning to camp again, only this time on someone's property. We are going up there to pick up a load of firewood they are giving us. Looking forward to camping, but also having access to a house with amenities!

{ A Very Merry Christmas }

It seems a little odd to do a Christmas post at this point, but unless I had posted Christmas night, I guess I had to run into this problem! So, here goes one more look back at 2012!

Tim and I both agree that this Christmas season was the best we have ever spent in our lives thus far. That is a bold statement, I know, but it is true! It was truly very rich and fulfilling. I think what I loved most was that we stayed busy with Christmasy things. We were doing something every weekend up until the weekend before Christmas, but it didn't feel busy or hectic, just festive.  Another element that contributed a lot to the richness was having our two little children really beginning to appreciate all that Christmas includes.  There is something truly magical about children at Christmas!

{ this picture is a little fuzzy, but I love it because I think it captures that wonder }

The first weekend of December we spent getting our Christmas tree and decorating.  We also attended our first Christmas party. 

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The following weekend we spent a family Christmas day in the city {here}.

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Tim and I read "A Christmas Carol" together, the first time for both of us.

We watched lots of Christmas movies.

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The following weekend was Katy Grace's first birthday party and our annual Christmas party.  Tim and I were also thrilled to see Handel's Messiah live for the first time!  It was spectacular.  We attended a performance at an historic Catholic church.  It was the perfect setting for such an event.... other than the very hard, wooden benches we sat on for three hours!  We had dinner out together before picking up our littles.  A wonderful Christmas date!

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The Friday before Christmas we invited our long-time family friends over for an early Christmas dinner and presents.  Tim lived with this family for over 10 years in his bachelor days and is Uncle Tim to their kids.  Kurtis and Karli are pretty much the closest thing our kids have to cousins, so they're very special!  We also watched "A Christmas Story".  A must-watch Christmas movie for us.  I mean, we even own "the lamp"!

Then came Christmas!

December 23 will always be a very sweet memory for us.  We spent the evening as a family.  Fire blazing, listening to Bing Crosby on the Victrola, playing carols on my violin, snuggling on the couch, watching the kids play contentedly together.  It was a good old-fashioned feeling.  To top it all off, when we looked outside, it had begun to snow.  It was almost too good to be true!  We went to bed with it still falling and woke up on Christmas Eve to a white winter wonderland!  Truly storybook.

Christmas Eve day, my family came and spent the day with us, including my sister Bethany (Auntie B) who had flown in the night before.  I made brunch: baked omelet, cinnamon rolls, bacon, fresh pineapple and tangerines and of course coffee with plenty of egg nog.  

 Tim was happily able to use his new snow blower for the first time.

Yes, I dressed the kids up as elves on Christmas Eve... just because I could!  They loved it!

Then of course there was snowman building.

The guys started first, while sister watched eagerly from the window.  I love this picture of the little face in the window.  It looks just like last year when Oliver was watching from inside.

Before long, Katy Grace and I joined in the fun.  It was her first time to experience snow.  She thought it was pretty amazing.

{ Then there were naps and snuggles with Auntie B }

{ Snuggles with Daddy }

My family left in the early evening and we all went to our own churches for Christmas Eve Services and then spent Christmas morning at our own houses before joining up again Christmas day.

{ Christmas Eve, our neighbor's house all lit up }

{ Our house "

{ Christmas morning }

{ The day dawned beautifully with very cold but brilliant sunshine }

We drove down to my parent's house in the early afternoon.  We decided to take the long, scenic route.  Tim and I had driven it the very first Christmas we spent together.  That was five Christmases ago.  It hardly seems possible we have been together that long.  What a lot has happened since then!  That drive, five years ago, was when we had our "we are in a serious/exclusive relationship talk", when we knew that if everything kept going ahead, we were headed toward marriage.  That day was also brilliantly sunny.  Such a happy drive down memory lane and pretty special as we remembered it and kept looking in the backseat at our two little blessings with one on the way!  Wow!

{ Opening gifts at Grammie and Bapa's with Auntie B }

{ We finished the night off with a trip to the train park to see the lights }

{ Tim asked me to dance on the little platform there.  Again such sweet memories of our first time there together five years before when we danced and were falling in love. }

 A good end to a wonderful Christmas season!

Now on to 2013!

{ Happy Birthday America }

Family Time

Small Town America Parade

Little Miss America