White Christmas 2009

Here are my little snow angels, enjoying their first white Christmas!

Each year we have an unwrapped gift under the tree, and this year we decided to send the kiddos on a treasure hunt to find the unwrapped gifts. Buzzy made up a sign to put on the Christmas tree that sent them to the fireplace, from the fireplace to the downstairs Christmas tree, from there to the oven, from the oven to the kids' bathroom mirror, and from there it sent them to find their gifts underneath their beds. Before going to bed on Christmas Eve, we told the kiddos that it would not be time to wake up until the first number on their clock was a 7. This did not, however, mean that they slept until 7. In fact they both woke up a couple of times during the night. Brayden woke up around 6 am and needed to use the restroom. During the bathroom visit, he read the sign on the mirror that let him know the gifts were under their beds. So of course he ran in to look under his bed and also woke up Malia to let her know her gift would be under her bed. By the time Buzzy realized what was happening and made it into Malia's room, he saw her on the floor, with her head under her bed. So he told them they both had to get back in bed, but there was not any sleeping going on until 7. In fact, Brayden said he just laid there watching the clock for that hour!

Christmas morning

About a week before Christmas we went out on separate dates, Buzzy took out Malia and I took out Brayden. During this date we decided we'd let the kids pick out a small gift for each other. We promptly learned that they still cannot keep secrets. But here they are after they'd opened each others' gift.

Don't I look so surprised? Speaking of not being able to keep a secret, Brayden was with Buzzy when he purchased this apple corer/slicer for me, and then he told me about it on our date.

After spending Christmas morning at our home and waiting for the ice to melt on the roads, we headed over to my parents' to celebrate with them and my brother and his family. Here are my precious twin nieces.

Roy and Keri made a memory quilt of our summer beach trip for my mom.

They also made a shirt for my dad that was in memory of his favorite song he enlightened us with during our stay at the beach. "I...don't want a pickle....I just wanna ride on my motor-cycle..."

Grandaddy reading the Christmas story from the Gospel according to Luke.

Before going to my parents' home that day, we did get to play in the snow some more. The kids are next to one of our big snow drifts here.

In the picture below, I'm standing in the street in front of our home, which was really more like an ice rink at that time.

Buzzy was attempting to make a snowman and his hands were getting cold. He had the brilliant idea to use the lid from the kids' toy tub. Well, actually, I guess the idea wasn't one of his best because the lid immediately cracked. The snow was so powdery, our attempts at a snowman were unsuccessful. And since neither Buzzy nor myself really care for cold temps, we were not going to stick around outside until we got it figured out. I was really built more for the ski lodge than for the ski slopes. I do think snow is beautiful and peaceful to watch, as long as I'm inside and cozy and warm!

Here's a close-up of the ice on the road!