Christmas Eve 2012

I can't believe that another year has past already.  It seems like it goes faster and faster and that I just can't keep up with things any more.  With our children scattered across the United States, I certainly don't take for granted any time that we can spend with them.  Michael is in Salt Lake City, Stephen is near Tampa, Florida and Jenni is in North Bend, Washington.  Although North Bend is only an hour and 45 minutes away, it still takes a lot of planning to make time to get together.  So we planned ahead to spend the day of Christmas Eve together.

It was fun to see how excited Preston and Taylor were for Christmas this year......they are at just the age when everything is magical.  (I'm not sure that they understand the concept of giving a gift to someone else, but they knew that there were presents that they could open themselves.

Ron and I got to Jenni and Will's house around 10:30 in the morning.  It took a while to get everything packed and loaded into the truck.  Taylor LOVES riding in grandpa's truck.  He would run around the house yelling "gwandpa's tuck" over and over again.  He's usually trying to climb in the truck before we get his car seat belted in.
 

We drove from Jenni and Will's house, up to Snoqualmie Pass, which was only 20 minutes or less away.  There are several different ski resorts at the pass, but we turned off the exit to the Alpental Ski Resort.  Ron and I had never been there before, so we wanted to look around a bit before we got out to take family pictures for Jenni. 

Ron turned off onto a side road that was lined with cabins.  There was at least 10 feet of snow, but the road crews had carved out the road so it was easy to get through.  However, as we were nearing the top of a small hill, the truck starting spinning it's wheels......we were already in 4-wheel drive, so that got us a bit worried.  All of a sudden, we started sliding backwards down the hill, even though the tires were trying to go forward.  (I think that Jenni got a wee bit freaked out......"Dad, slow down, slow down, we're going to hit something" etc.)  Then to Jenni's dismay, Ron said, "I'm trying to slow down, but it's sheer ice and there's nothing that I can do so stop the truck!"  (Then Jenni got really freaked out........Taylor, however, had a grin on his face the whole time and was enjoying the backwards slid immensely.)

Finally, there was a driveway that came into view, and Ron was able to steer the sliding truck straight into the driveway which finally stopped our momemtem.  Breathing a sigh of relief that we didn't put a dent into the truck, we very slowly turned back down the hill, and gave up trying to go back up the hill to look at all the cabins.  Just then, about three cars came by.  We were really blessed......can you imagine that mess that would have been had one of those cars been coming up the hill as we were sliding backwards?

We pulled into the Alpental parking lot and were glad to see that only a couple of cars were there.  The ski resort was not open, so we didn't have to worry about a lot of people in the way, when we were trying to take pictures. 

There is a very picturesque covered bridge that goes from the parking lot, to the ski resort, and we decided that this was the perfect backdrop for pictures.

Jenni had gotten everyone similar outfits to wear.....the boys and Will in red and blue plaid, and Jenni in a red coat.  They looked pretty cute in their "mountain man" clothes.

Ron, the photographer, getting his photo taken.

We had to let Preston and Taylor run around inbetween poses.....just to run all their energy off....and the keep them warm.

Jenni was able to borrow a cute wooden sled from someone, to use as a prop....but the boys used it as more than a prop....they had fun getting pulled around in it.  I think that we need to buy a sled like that....it was so much fun.

FInally.....one of the first shots.  The old wooden skis were left at the home that Jenni and Will rented last year, and the owners told them that they could have them.  They added a lot to the picture as well.



I love this covered bridge.  It's for walkers only.

As we scouted out another location to take pictures, Preston discovered some little bronze statues of some black bears.  He decided to wipe all the snow from off of them.

Jenni, sitting on one of the little bear statues.

Preston has seen a real bear, so I'm sure he thought this was pretty cool that he was able to touch the statue.

Taylor soon joined him in wiping the snow off.

We had planned ahead and brought a picnic....chili, rolls, and cookies.  However, we forgot the matches to reheat the chili....so it was a good thing that it was boiling before we left home......it was still warm, and we needed something warm in our tummys by this time.

Here are some of the great photos that Ron got of the kids.

My favorite shot of the entire day has to be this one:

The boys thought that riding on the sled was the greatest!

We got a chuckle out of Taylor when we tried to look at the signs that were posted at the ski resort of all the trails.  They were SO TALL, and he was SO SHORT.

Preston was such a good big brother and pulled Taylor around on the sled for quite a while.  He had just as much fun pulling it as he did riding in it.

After our picnic, we loaded back into the truck and drove back down to Jenni and Will's house.  Taylor and grandpa took a nap....Jenni and I went shopping, and Preston and Will played a game on the computer.  Then, before dinner, we let the boys open their gifts that Ron and I had brought for them.

I love this photo of Preston looking at the package.....wondering if this present is for him....and what's in it?

All the boys, big and little gathered on the living room floor to play.



We got Taylor a little "Buzz Lightyear Car".

We got Preston a little Lego set.....grandpa showed him how to build it by following the diagram of instructions.



We had pizza for dinner, but Taylor and Preston were more interested in playing with their toys.  All in all, it was a very fun day.  Someday, I wish that we could rent a cabin somewhere, and have ALL the kids and their families come and spend Christmas together.  It will take some major planning, but anything is possible.  Merry Christmas!