keeping christmas

this is what's happening right now at our house. kids are eating breakfast, drinking smoothies and putting together legos.  well, really just avery is doing that last one.  i am finally sitting down with a camera full of pictures from the last week of christmas crazy.  this is literally the first morning in over a week where we haven't had somewhere to be by 10 am.  :)  deep breath. 

the thursday before christmas we put kids to bed and then pulled them out of bed 20 minutes later to go see christmas lights.

ian was already asleep. 

the next night we had a little christmas party at dave's office.  my dad came as santa claus for the 4th year in a row.  this was the first time that avery knew that santa was actually her grandpa.  

the next night we went down town with both of our parents to find a live nativity scene. 

after the nativity we walked a couple blocks to acacia park to watch the ice skaters.

i love being bundled up and walking in the cold. 

after watching for a bit, grandpa couldn't stand himself any longer and rented the kids skates and sent us out there. 

avery was in heaven. she LOVED it and got pretty quick by the end. 

i hadn't been ice skating in YEARS and was completely surprised with how fun it actually was.  the lights, loud christmas music, it was lightly snowing and my kids were having a ball.  there was a permanent smile plastered on my face the whole time we were on the ice.  such a sweet night. 

after a fun night downtown, we headed up to ed and nancy's to spend a couple of nights with them. 

it was our year to be with dave's family and it was hard to not have don, erin and the kids with us.  we consoled ourselves with thomas puzzles.

and books by the fire.

and gingerbread houses. 

nancy has an awesome recipe for cement icing.  it hardens really well and actually holds the crackers together. 

avery had some last minute finger knitting to do. 

on the monday before christmas our grandma's treated us to the nutcracker. 

there were several girls in it we knew! 

ms. anastasha!  their ballet teacher!
i've know and taught this sweet girl since she was 5 years old. :) 

our little mini dancers. 

it was a special weekend leading up to christmas eve.  we are so blessed with our generous grandparents who make it part of their mission to create memories with their kids and grandkids.  

legacy is beautiful.