Catching Up

Yikes - I guess I've been putting this off because there has been a lot to update, but I didn't realize I had put off updating my blog long enough for it to go into hibernation, or whatever cyber-friendly word they use when they ask you to re-enter all your pertinent information, just to make sure you're still alive and well and the one who should be accessing the blog. Lesson learned - I will update regularly enough to ensure that doesn't happen again! Anyway, here's the update.

Christmas came and went, and once again I did not send out Christmas cards. I have every intention of doing that, every year, and always thoroughly enjoy the cards I receive from friends and family, but for some reason it's not something I have time for in December. I have about 4 years worth of blank Christmas cards taking up room in a closet in my house, and I'm sure someday I'll use them, but for now, I will just feel guilt every time I read someone else's thoughtful and informative Christmas letter. I had someone tell me this year that I should send out a letter because lots of good things happened to me this year, and they are right - lots of great things happened (I guess it's last year now, but let's not be picky), but December tends to chew me up during the first week and spit me out sometime on Christmas Eve, and I don't actually remember much of what happens in the other times between. So I'll just say that we had a great year, and I've never been more grateful for supportive friends and family, or more grateful for three healthy children. And, we had a great Christmas season, as you will see from the pictures below.

Choir Christmas concert...and a huge success! I continue to love the musical things I'm involved in (of which there are always a few at Christmas time) and am so grateful for all the talented kids and adults I get to work with.

Tony P.'s first Christmas concert. He took it so seriously and knew all the words to his poem and the song they sang. He is still serenading us with "Away in a Manger" on a regular basis.

One of our only attempts at Christmas baking this year (and really the kids did most of the work). This was a year of buns to give away, as I'm afraid I lacked the wherewithal to do anything more ambitious. We did, however, benefit greatly from many ambitious souls who brought us all kinds of delicious treats. It was a good month for treats at our house!
The girls waiting to see what Santa brought on Christmas morning. They are trying to contain their excitement here. Either that, or they're still pretty tired.

PWL & his miniature clone on Christmas morning. This transformer was such a hit that even though everyone else was opening other presents, Tony P. would not rest until it had been transformed into a car...only to request that he be transformed back into a "guy" again. Oh, and I officially hate transformers now.

Every year I forget to take a picture of the kids in their Christmas outfits on the Sunday before Christmas, mostly because they're so excited to get home and take them off. I was happy that this year we had two Sundays in a row to wear them, as we went to G&GL's church the next Sunday. This is them, trying very hard to be excited that I'm making them dress up again.

Skating at the greatest outdoor pond we know, with one of the greatest cousins we know. The kids were lucky enough to see a lot of their cousins over Christmas this year, and they loved every minute of it. We wish we could see them more often, but always love the time we do have.

This snow mound is actually about 14 feet high, and is right outside my parents' house in the mountains. The kids called it Mount Everest and spent a week crawling all over it. After I took this photo, Tony P. fell down and got a fat lip, and there was no more climbing that day, but it was still a big hit while we were there over Christmas. And man, was it cold!

I had to include this photo. Tony P. is really into eating whole apples, but for some reason only will eat once around the outside, and then discards them. One day he was apparently very hungry for apples, and when I walked into the kitchen at my parents', this is what I found.

The wicked snowstorm that kept us snowed in for two days after Christmas. A reminder of why we love summer so much.

Tony P. with a snazzy new haircut, and he already needs another one.

Tony P's 4th birthday party. (Another entry about his birthday party, and about him turning 4 will be coming soon, I hope).

This is the other reason I haven't posted for so long....Oh, Mexico. My Christmas present from PWL and possibly the best week ever, made possible by some great friends and family who watched our kids so we could have a week away. We had the greatest time, snorkeling, swimming, sleeping, and sunning. It was truly a week in paradise, and every time I walk outside now in -30 weather (which is happening more than I would like this winter), I think of the week drinking pina coladas and sleeping in the sun, and it somehow gets me through.

So that's the last couple of months, in an abbreviated format. I will hopefully get more pictures of Mexico up here at some point, and for sure more about Tony P.'s birthday, but for now at least I feel like I've done something! And now, we're caught up.