Winter Break

 I wasn't that great about taking pictures over Winter Break.  I took a few photos with my phone, but that was about it, unfortunately.  Winter Break was less than two weeks for the girls this year, so it seemed to go by quickly.  As always, we enjoy picking out a tree, decorating, and having the extra light in the house during the darker winter months.  We also enjoy catching some traditional Christmas movies, but the favorite, by far, is still National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation which is a must watch for us every year.

Christmas baking is also another big production each year.  I don't know if I'd qualify these two as "help" but they did make a pretty tasty batch of cookies (all of which unfortunately got eaten before it was time to actually put together the cookie plates I give).

Speaking of things that aren't exactly helpful at Christmas, there's this one.  At 10 1/2 years old, she'll still steal a gingerbread ornament off the tree and bite an arm off it means she'll get some attention.  As I'm sure you'd guess, she hardly ever gets attention in this family.  If you were to ask her she's starving - both for food and people to constantly pay attention to her.  

It's been a Christmas Eve tradition for as long as I can remember that we get together with Aunt Jeanette's family for a nice dinner and time together as a family.  It's not just lots of food and conversation, it's also seeing what creation Aunt Jeanette has come up with that year to give everyone a laugh.  It started with just her doing things, but it has branched out into a family affair (like it or not)!  This year we were all Jesus's sheep - some trying to be lost, and some feeling like they're going to the slaughter, but all being good sports about it...for the most part!  :) 

A tradition we've had going for a couple years is to hike Raven's Rock on New Year's Day.  Last year we got a very unseasonably warm day on 1/1, but this year it was a bit of the opposite. What was more cold rain when we left our house, turned into big, fluffy snowflakes when we got to the hike.  It was really beautiful!  The hike is a workout, so you stay warm even in the snow when you're hiking, so it was actually perfect for all of us and we all enjoyed how beautiful it was to be out in the woods and on the summit with big snowflakes falling all around us.  We had a great time hiking then stopped at our usual spot, Bear Chase Brewery, right down the street from the hike to get some tasty food and refreshments.  It's always such a fun way to spend the day and a great way to start off a new year!