Reagan's sixth birthday

Here are a few clips from Reagan's sixth birthday party.

Sledding

The kids (and parents!) wanted to go sledding over Christmas vacation. We decided to go to the school hill because it's just steep enough to get some good speed, but not so long of a walk up the hill that the kids would tire out easily. We had so much fun! I was anxious to see if Madelyn would like it, especially since there was a jump at the bottom of the hill. I managed to maneuver us around the jump, but couldn't do much about the speed other than drag my hands... I had nothing to worry about, she absolutely loved it!!! I looked down after our first run and her face was full of snow, her boot had fallen off, and her hands were ice-cubes (I forgot her gloves at home - bad mommy moment!) , but she had a smile from ear to ear! I took her down one more time than brought her back to the car to warm up while Daddy went sledding with the older two.

Christmas

Here are some pictures of Christmas morning... the kids were in seventh heaven with all their new clothes and toys!!! It was so fun watching their faces light up with excitement! Josiah is by far the most expressive! Every present he opened he said, "SWEET!!! (you can tell he has been around teenagers far too long!) and ran to each person gathered around the tree to show them what he got.

Reagan's Kindergarten class had a "direct line" to Santa Clause this year, so she had the privilege
of speaking with him on the phone and telling him what she wanted. Some girls in her class were asking for cupcake makers, so of course Reagan decided that she wanted one too. Unfortunately everybody we knew had already bought presents including us! She was so sure that Santa Clause was bringing her a cupcake maker that she promised everybody she met that as soon as she got her cupcake maker from Santa she would make them a cupcake. This called for an emergency trip to Costco a few days before Christmas ...(thankfully it was on sale!) And it worked out by saving one of her Christmas presents for her birthday at the end of January. It was well worth all the bustling around to see her face as she opened her present from Santa!

Madelyn was not a fan of opening presents. She was far too busy to sit still! So Mommy opened her presents and tried to entice her to come look at them... she loved them once they were opened and she could see them, but the boxes were of very little interest to her!

One of my favorite memories was watching Brad open a present from my mom. Now, you have to understand my mom is not a fan of gift cards. She feels like a present has a much more personal touch. But, she drew Brad's name this year, and Brad is extremely picky, and not fun, (even for me), to shop for. He gave my mom a list of three things he wanted for Christmas: a new car, a gun, or a gift card to American Eagle. Obviously she chose the third option, but she didn't want him to be able to guess it right away. So she grabbed a big shoe box and filled it with all kinds of nasty canned "goods" -- pickled beets, etc. Then, buried in the bottom she put the gift card. When it was Brad's turn to open his present, he picked up the 10 pound box and started shaking it to guess what it was. His facial expressions were priceless as he began unwrapping his "gifts" -- keep in mind, Brad is not a fan of ANY vegetable!!! --- I couldn't help laughing as I watched him struggle to be polite and properly "oooh and aahhhh" over his special treasures!

Another fun memory was having Reagan read the Christmas story to us this year (with the help of Grandma). Other than that, the rest of our vacation was spent playing pinochle, watching movies, and a whole lot of EATING!!!