Christmas is all the rage at our house. The girls are at fabulously fun ages for the holiday. They are excited to buy gifts for everyone and they are certainly excited for Santa’s visit. 

While B took Annabelle to dance class, Gwyneth and I made a count-down chain for the big day. The girls each got their own and each morning they rip off a chain. Once the chains are gone Christmas will be here. The girls can hardly wait. That’s a lot of chains for little girls! 

One pose before heading off to dance class

We celebrated this lucky anniversary by going to dinner at the Wine & Cheese Bar. We indulged in a little bit of both and had a wonderful time. It really is hard to believe we’ve been married for 13 years. 

I really am lucky and look forward to another year of adventures with this guy. 

The girls created their very own slide outside Poppy and Melissa’s condo. They flew down (not coming anywhere near that tree – though I was terrified every time) and went over and over. Snow angels, snow balls,  and even faces full of snow. No tears, just laughter. Such fun in their creative little imaginations. 

I have mountain girls. There is absolutely no question. B keeps saying he thinks Annabelle will be a California girl but I can’t see her anywhere but here…..perhaps that’s just wishful thinking, but a momma can always hope. 

Annabelle and Gwyneth had their very first ski lesson. At the ages of 3 and 4. Unbelievable. B grew up in Colorado and didn’t go until he was ten and I didn’t ski until I was in high school. I would definitely say these girls have an unfair advantage on us. 

The combination of my fear for their safety, and of heights, and just being a bit of an irrationally overprotective mother made a ski lesson the obvious choice. Someday we hope to all ski as a family but probably best to get them started with someone who won’t FREAK OUT every time they tip over. 

The girls both did great. Annabelle is a bit more cautious and is no fan of the cold. More precisely, she hates the wind. This can be a bit of a problem while standing on the side of a mountain….but she survived! Gwyneth is our thrill seeker and caught on quite quickly. She was cruising down thehill in no time. Unfortunately she has much less interest in slowing down or learning to stop — she wants to go fast. This will be trouble in the future and I can already imagine madly trying to keep up with her and she flies down the mountain! She asks daily when we are heading back up to ski and is a self-proclaimed “Ski Bum”. Oh my!

Gwyneth goes a little gangsta after her lesson…

We spent the weekend in Breckenridge with my dad, Melissa, Becky, Darnell and Madison. The girls were thrilled to be up in Breckenridge…especially with the promise of a ski day. We had a wonderfully relaxing day. We hung out at the condo and B watched football all day long. The girls and I napped together (love, love, love this!) and we had quite a feast. After three different varieties of pies, we were all stuffed! 

So very, very thankful for all the wonderful people in my life.

We squeezed in a little bit of family time before the rush of the holidays. It’s always nice to have time just the four us. I sure do like my little family. We had pizza, the girls ran around like the little monkeys they are, B and I had coffee and chatted and relaxed and played with our girls. I really couldn’t ask for a better evening…

YaYa and I took the girls to paint ornaments. They love painting pottery and we have a wonderful keepsake for the tree! 

YaYa, Chriss, Jen, Sarah and I met at the Movie Tavern to see the new edition of the Twilight series. Oh  my.

We all headed over to the Rewalt’s house to celebrate Nathan’s 14th birthday with the family. The girls are always thrilled to see their cousins and of course, eat a little birthday pie. 

My mom enjoys tormenting B and the easiest way to do that is to decorate for Christmas. B is a bit….let’s say finicky about our house. Everything has a place, he doesn’t like clutter, he loathes messes, and he most certainly can’t stand knick/knacks. (If you want a good laugh, get him started on my decorations in the family room….my, oh my.). So, my mom drags out all the Christmas decorations and sets everything up a week before Christmas and makes B squirm until New Years Day. I guarantee he is ready for everything to come down Christmas day….if he can even make it until Christmas. 

The girls each got their own tree this year for their rooms. They picked them out, along with a topper, and some ornaments. Annabelle of course got pink and Gwyneth picked out “grey” (it’s a silver tree, but she calls it her grey tree.)

For the 4th year in a row, Grandpa Bob and Yaya joined the girls for Grandparent’s lunch at their school. The girls made special turkeys out of paper plates and toilet paper rolls. Stinkin’ cute. The girls were so, so, so excited to have their family at school for this special day. 

The girls’ teacher asked me to set up a booth for my business. My first booth. Very exciting!

After lunch, the girls went back to class to rest and YaYa and I went shopping. 99% of my Christmas shopping is now complete. A week before Thanksgiving. Yeah, that’s good stuff!