Outdoor winter fun

 Once it began to warm up a bit after Christmas, we were all eager to get outside.  On our last full day up north, Daniel got to spend the morning working with his Grandpa.  They took the grater out plowing snow and had all sorts of adventures.

We returned home to mild temperatures on New Year's Eve, and decided that New Year's Day would be as good a day as any for Daniel to try out his new skates.  He was very excited to get all geared up with knee and elbow pads, and try skating for the first time on a nearby pond.  Sophie was also keen to be outside & went for someone else's hockey stick while I as trying to take pictures of the boys.

 Daniel is going to have one happy uncle, and two unhappy ones about the jersey in these pictures.

 First steps onto the ice:

 I started to take a video of Daniel's first skate, but Sophie was headed full speed for the ice herself, so I thought perhaps I should remove her from the vicinity.

A much better place for her for now:

 Our view from the swings:

A grand time was had by all.  It was wonderful to be out in the sunshine and fresh air after so much time spent either inside houses or the van.  Daniel enjoyed his first skate and is looking forward to the next time.

Christmas, Day 3

 On the 3rd day of Christmas, we headed north to spend time with my family.  We had near ideal driving conditions both in and out of the van.  Travelling is so much easier now that Sophie can eat and drink unassisted!

It wasn't long after we arrived that presents were pulled out and we set to unwrapping again.  Daniel was thrilled about playing with his cousin, Luke and new Cars cars, and he and  Luke (who had also received a lot of cars), played with all of their cars for the rest of the afternoon.  In the evening, once Grandpa was home, we opened a few more.  Daniel was very excited about his first pair of ice skates and wanted to try them on right away.  The pop-up fire engine & little house were also quite popular and saw a lot of action over the days we were there.

Christmas Day!

On Christmas morning, we woke to the sound of Daniel's running feet coming up the stairs and into our bedroom.  Once he was at our bedside, this is what we we treated to: 

Daniel: "Mom, Dad- It's time to wake up!  I sleeped and sleeped and sleeped until Glowy turned green, and then I heard a hoof on the roof and a jingle and I came upstairs and Santa was really here!  He brought us presents!  He brought me a big truck and jeep that was in Whitefish!  I forgot to ask him for that but he brought it for me and I love it!  It's time to get up Mom & Dad, come see!"

We did get up and go see.  Santa had very thoughtfully removed said truck and jeep from their packaging, allowing a little boy to get in some serious play time before his much-later-sleeping sister woke up.  It also gave his Mom time to shower and cook breakfast (Eggnog French Toast prepped the night before- delicious!) just in time for Sophie's awakening.  

 Once breakfast had been enjoyed, we got to work opening presents.  Sophie caught on to how to unwrap pretty quickly and was very excited to discover a talking Elmo.

 Daniel was thrilled to find this "Big Mack" which is both a toy and storage for his Cars cars.  Sophie had a long wait before her car was assembled, but once it was she took Elmo for quite a few joy rides around the house.

After present opening we quickly got ready & headed to the Christmas Day service at church.  At the end, Daniel & the other children were invited to help ring the big church bell for Christmas Day.  The goal was to "ring it until we quite get arrested" and the ringing did go on for quite awhile before it was time to head home and feast.

We spent a leisurely afternoon enjoying a large Christmas dinner, skyping and calling relatives, and playing with the kids.   Thibaut (one of our international students) came over and we were glad he could also celebrate with us.