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The Gouldrup family arrived today for some Tahoe fun. Emily and Lily immediately put on princess dresses and Ben the Dinosaur chased the princesses all around the house. What fun those kids have together. 
We had a fabulous time sledding too. 
Finish it all off with some popcorn and everybody's happy. 
Ava is making some forward crawling progress this week - that Christmas tree sure is motivating! Ben and Lily seem slightly concerned that she will be getting their toys... times are changing fast for sure.
We went to the Tahoe-Donner downhill sled hill today. Woohoo - what a blast! 
After we did took some runs, we built a huge snowman... well, actually he was already there - we tried to tip him over, but he was pretty solid.
Afterwards, we came home and Ben and Lily had their first ever Hot Cocoa - what a hit! (Notice Lily's shirt - did we plan that well or what? :)) 
Sledding in the back of the Christmas house was fun, but hard work for those pulling! 
After a while, we took a break for a good snowball fight. We finished by making some snow angels and a snowman. Ava and I supervised. 
We had a relaxing Christmas Day here in Tahoe. We are taking our time - didn't finish stockings until nearly noon and we still have many presents to unwrap. Ben and Lily were very excited about the treats Santa left for them. 
Now its off to play in the snow!
We've settled in here nicely at the "Christmas House" in the Tahoe-Donner area of Lake Tahoe, where we'll be through New Years. The house is new, beautiful and big - such a nice treat, since we usually live in pretty cramped quarters at home. Something I like a lot is the master bathroom - a walk-in double shower and a huge jacuzzi tub make this a place I will be indulging in EVERY single day we are here. Ahhh...Calgon take me away!
Nana Karin and Grandpa Steve have joined us here for the week and it is so nice to have some family here. We miss everyone else terribly though - especially Robin, Mark, Hannah and Sam, who are so far away in St. John's, Newfoundland and whom we haven't seen for quite some time. Love and hugs are sent from afar.
For Christmas Eve, we snacked on finger foods and the kids each opened one present - their Christmas PJs (snowmen theme this year). We watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and made sure to leave a plate of cookies and milk for Santa. Now its time to sunggle up and wait until Christmas morning... 
The start of our holiday plans found us headed to LA to visit Jeff's family. We got in to the hotel in the middle of the night, which the kids found really fun - Ben and Lily loved the "living room" (AKA: hotel lobby) with the "big tall Christmas tree." 
We only got to spend one day with Sandy, Dick, Laura, Melissa, Lincoln, Rick, Sonya, Aunt Ellen, and Grandma and Grandpa Harrison (who turned 90!), because everyone started dropping with the flu :( So we cut it short and drove back up North. We didn't go home, though - oh no! We continued our road trip to Lake Tahoe to spend Christmas and New Years in the snow. Since we packed up in such a rush, our DVD player was not charged (gasp!), so we had 10 hours in the car with 3 kiddos to keep occupied. We read books, looked at the scenery and, when we got bored with that, had Christmas in the car! It sure was handy to have all those presents from Grandma and Grandpa nearby (thanks!) - Ben loved his fold-up garage (perfect for the car actually) and Lily played with her new purse and hairties. What - we're here already? 
Yippee! Ava takes a dip in the bathtub with Ben and Lily for the first time. Crowded....but fun! 
Ben and Lily's preschool had a holiday party tonight that was so much fun. We brought our mittens so we could play in the "snow" - it was a pile of snow that was brought by Santa from the North Pole actually. Yes, that's right, Santa was there! Lily went first to go sit on Santa's lap - she said she wanted "a present" for Christmas. Ben was next and, after being promised a candy cane if he sat with Santa, said he'd like a "candy cane" for Christmas. Oh, the power of suggestion.
We feasted on cookies and cider while we looked at all the kids' surprise artwork. Lily did this amazing painting (mostly) by herself. Miss Morgan says she can just sit and paint all day if you let her. It is really beautiful. 
Oh, our little fake tree. Although we'd love to have a real tree, a really tall one that we went to the Santa Cruz mountains to select ourselves and chop down while we shared hot cocoa with friends, one that smells of fresh pine needles... well, practically, none of that was going to happen this year. For one thing, we are headed to LA and then to Tahoe for Christmas, so we wouldn't be able to enjoy it for more than a week or two. Also, there is the Ava on the verge of crawling phenomenon. She is crawling backwards and we are sure that a pretty Christmas tree will give her just the motivation she needs to make forward progress (as Ben did 2 years ago when he and Lily were at the same point)... and eat those pine needles and break those ornaments and pull down the whole thing. Anyway, I like this little tree! And Ben and Lily do too. Perfect. By the way, the first thing they did when we put it up was to dance around it, like we just did at the Santa Lucia party last night
. Hee hee!
And here is another small piece of decorating I did this year. My mom bought me these beautiful crystal glass stars from Pottery Barn for my birthday (thanks Mom!), I picked up the red PEACE & JOY signs (along with HOHOHO, LOVE & BELIEVE) from our favorite little boutique in downtown Campbell, Garafalo's, and, of course, the holiday photos of the kids.
