Christmas Fun Continued

I was hoping for a better picture than this, but here we are decked out in our Christmas finest on Christmas Eve. Both Kevin and I played at our Christmas Eve service, and the girls helped carry the nativity set figurines to the front during the message.

Kayleigh outgrew her violin last summer and I very patiently waited until Christmas to get her the next size. It was so hard for me (as a teacher) to let her play on a violin that I knew was too small for her, when there was a better one sitting in our closet! She sounds so much better on this bigger one. The smaller the violin, the harder it is to produce a good tone.

Kevin and the girls found these thistle pods on a hike a couple weeks ago and he helped the girls make hedgehog ornaments for me. They are quite fragile....I'm hoping I can pack them up carefully so they make it until next year.

Sydney wanted to make a surprise for Daddy and her idea was to make a stuffed animal. I tried explaining that a paper stuffed animal would not hold up well, but she was determined. So here is a dog made out of card stock with cotton balls glued inside.

Both Sydney and Kayleigh teamed up to make me this special gift. The bird came out of a coloring book, but Sydney drew the rest and Kayleigh colored them. They both cut them out and laid them out in this box. I should have taken a picture of the wrapped box because that was also a special surprise. Sydney drew pictures and used nativity stickers to create a beautiful Christmas scene.

Today after church we headed up Mt. Hood to escape the rain. It was snowing like crazy up there. We went to a snow park - it's a big area where you can sled, cross country ski and/or snow shoe. We took our sleds and then Kevin used his new avalanche shovel to build a snow cave.