Christmas Prep

Merry Christmas! But, bear with me, pretend it's not Christmas yet on this blog because I've gotten woefully behind recording the lead up to today!

We got to continue our tradition of chopping down our Christmas tree up with Grandmom and Grandpa at their friend's property, followed by an outdoor picnic. It was a gorgeous day, the weather and kids cooperated, and we were all delighted to be together.















That night, we also made it to the zoo lights:





and the next morning, we got to work decorating the trees:









We also made it ice skating at the little rink in our downtown, and while we offered to pull Aspen in a sled, she was having none of it. She may not fit into ice skates yet, but she was determined to skate on the ice all by herself, thank you very much. No help, no sleds, just a big girl, willing her feet larger so that she can get into skates ASAP.



Mommy and daddy also made it to the company holiday party:



and we hosted our annual fondue dinner with friends!



This year, there were enough kids that we couldn't do a kids' table. It was one table, and the kids got round one, and then it was cleared and round two came on for the adults.





And everyone decided to just snuggle on in together for dessert.





We also made it up to Aunt Diane and Uncle Nat's house to have a "little" pre-Christmas celebration. The cousins must have all been very good this year, because they were as spoiled rotten with gifts, as ever!













We also squeezed in some four-wheeling, since there wasn't quite enough snow to sled.





Most of all, we were incredibly happy and grateful to get to be together...even if we're not all enthusiastic about posing for another picture, mom.

December!

We are in the full holiday spirit! December arrived, ushered in by Snowflake, our Elf on the Shelf! Everyone was very excited to see her reappear this year.



Followed closely by our hometown's Parade of Lights! We met up with some good friends for a pre-parade dinner this year, and dessert at the candy shop





to make sure everyone was properly fueled for the chilly parade.

We also checked out the live nativity scene





and Aspen, as Aspen is want to be, was happiest with the goats.



They flocked to her like the goat Pied Piper (Lollipop at exactly goat height was probably helpful) and took turns poking their heads out to get close to her.

Finally the parade started,



and it was really fun for almost all of us.



Aspen got a little overstimulated by all of the noise and lights, but she hung in there, and we all came home and slept well!

Gingerbread Tea Birthday

Aunt Dani's birthday present to Sabine this year was a trip to a fancy hotel in Boulder for their Gingerbread High Tea.



Aunt Dani invited Nana and mom to join her and Sabine,





and we all had a really fun time!

The high tea service was excellent (and beautiful),



with lots of good pastries, and even edible flowers, which I think might have been Sabine's favorite part!



The other highlight was a gingerbread man decorating station:











We lingered over our tea for a while, enjoyed the live music, and felt like we had officially ushered in the Christmas season! We came home in time to start getting out the Christmas decorations. Everyone was excited. More to come....

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration over at Aunt Dani and Nana's house this year. Aunt Dani prepared an incredible feast, and we all enjoyed a relaxing day together. The kids alternated between watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Purina Dog Show (mostly Sabine, who recognized a lot of the dogs from the Dog Breeds book that she likes to read) and playing together, giving the adults more time to relax, graze on yummy appetizers, and catch up.





Daddy got to carve the turkey this year,



and we all managed to fit together at the table! It was a delicious dinner.









We all missed Grandmom and Grandpa very much, but we are all looking forward to being together for next year's feast! We are so thankful to have so much of our family close to us.