A Christmas Recap

Christmas this year was incredibly busy. We had something each night of the long weekend. Friday night, we had some friends over for dinner and game night. Saturday was my dad's side of the family's gathering - which included a white elephant gift exchange and a riot of a game of Pictionary. Sunday evening was spent at Eric's aunt's new house out by Lake Lowell. They moved into the new house this year. We spent the evening eating wonderful food and visiting. I think Eric's uncle talked him into helicopter school - quite the investment of both time and money, but a huge return of money if you can land the right job. It would mean quite a bit of time away, but the benefits of the job would really be worth it. Monday evening, we went to visit my grandma, who is currently in a transitional rehab facility after spending a week in the hospital with influenza and pneumonia. After our visit, we went to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas Eve. We were able to Skype with my brother, Veronica, and baby Easton. Finally got to see the little guy moving around! Christmas Day, we had Eric's mom, stepdad, brother-in-law, and sisters over to our house to celebrate Christmas Day. Whew! Needless to say, today was zombie day at work. Here are some pictures of our long holiday weekend.

 

A Visit with Santa

A few weeks back, we took the kids to a new Santa. We would usually take them to see the Santa at Monkey Bizness because they could play before and after. However, Monkey Bizness closed this year - lame! He was such a good Santa, too! So I asked friends for other Santa options. I wasn't about to spend hours in line at the mall, just to pay a ridiculous amount for pictures. Plus, Kendall is still very leary of Santa, so I knew the picture(s) wouldn't be that great anyway. So the majority of my friends recommended this guy who does a gathering at his house in east Boise. They had cookies, hot chocolate, cider, coffee, etc. It was so fun! I think we only waited in line for about 15 minutes and the guy was a stellar Santa! He had quite the story to share with Carter about his Elves.

 As you can see, Kendall is still NOT having Santa. She wouldn't sit there alone, or with Carter. So I had to hop in and keep the peace.

 (don't ask me why this picture won't load straight - I've tried to save and re-save......I give up)

The {T} Family

I met up with this family out on some open farmland they own near Lake Lowell. It was nice to be out in the "country" for a little bit, away from city life. And their son was absolutely adorable. Here are some samples from their shoot: