One Happy Little Elf!

Kelsey's First Christmas

Isn't she lovely?!

Merry Christmas!

Here we are...nothing says "Military Christmas" like Christmas over the video call! How thankful we are for modern technology! Dustin was able to join us for all of the gift opening festivities this morning. It was nice to have him there to watch the kids open their gifts but it sure would have been nice to have him home. Last night, as he "helped" me wrap gifts over the Live Messanger we talked about how it used to be that we'd only have letters to help us stay connected and now we have this video chat. It's pretty amazing. How truly blessed we are!

The Children Were Nestled, All Snug in Their Beds...

They may hate me later, but I love taking pics of my sleeping little ones on Christmas Eve. I've decided, however, that 8 years old is gonna be my limit. That means just one more year for my Henry! And, yes, it's weird but Kelsey sleeps in her carseat. She'll sleep longer there than anywhere else. Go figure!

New Jammies!

Here's the gang all cleaned up and in their new Christmas PJs!

The Only Kind of "Icy" I Like is Spelled Icee!

Everything here is Great Falls is covered in ice! I don't think I've ever seen it this yucky before. We ventured out yesterday because Henry had a dentist appointment. It was crazy. On the roads in Base Housing I had very little control over my van. I would turn the wheel and straight we would go. Once we got out of Base Housing and onto more travelled roads we were good to go. Then, we tried to come home. Yeah, we got stuck! I couldn't get my van to make it up my slightly slanted driveway and into the garage. We could make it part-way up but then, even with the brake pushed to the floor, we would slide back. Finally I gave up and just left the van where it was and got the kids out. I was not happy. Lacie came over and saved the day with a bag of lovely scented kitty litter and we made a path for the tires and finally got it put away. It's still icy outside and there is no hope in the forecast either. In fact, there's a 100% chance of snow today. That'll be a nice addition to the thick sheet of ice outside. The 10 day forecast has nothing over 25F so I think it's going to be here for a while. Is it gonna be Spring soon? The first day of Winter was just yesterday, you say? Heaven help us!

Sledding!

So we braved the cold yesterday and headed out to Neihart, Montana for some super fun sledding with our friends the Clarks. Actually, it was pretty warm, 46F when I looked in the van, but snow is inherently cold and therefore courage was needed and taxed on this lovely sledding adventure. I have decided that sledding trips won't truly be "fun" until all my kids are at least 6 years old. You see, to those younger than that the cold simply makes it a yucky experience whereas the older kids can say, "Yeah, it's cold, but sledding it totally worth it!" Even Jeff had his moments of "this stinks"! The little ones only lasted so long and Lacie had to take them back to the van to thaw out. The big kids had a blast, especially Henry who just went flying down the hill everytime. Just watching him was so much fun. He'd catch air in the middle and then totally wipe out at the bottom. I was actually surprised at how fast he was going! Sledding really is super fun and I can't wait till we can all go and not have any tears! We finished up with yummy cocoa and donuts (thanks Lacie!). The kids really want to go again but I think I may leave Jenna with a sitter next time just like we did with Princess Kelsey this time.

I Betcha You Didn't Know...

...that there was no room in the inn because Strawberry Shortcake and her friend Lemon Meringue were vacationing in Bethlehem. Jenna is so cute. She's had these characters in the nativity all week! I think it's kinda funny that in the picture the girls are both waving from upstairs...totally not planned by me!

Kelsey Anne

Here is another cute picture of our little princess!

She is growing up so fast. Last night she even slept for 8 hours in a row! Wow! I certainly needed that. :)

A New Place to Play

There's a new place to play at Malmstrom Air Force Base. Oh, how I wish they had thought of this sooner! My friend Liz told me about it last week and we went to check it out on Friday. What they have done is convert one of the old gyms into an indoor playground for families. There is soccer and badminton on indoor grass carpeting. There is an inflatable obsticle course, a bounce house, giant chess, 3 dino climb on toys, a giant connect four game, and plenty of room for running, running, and more running around! And boy do we need room to run. With it being so darn stinkin' cold outside my boys want to run around my living room. This is an awesome alternative. We were there for an hour and a half and we all had a really great time. I think we'll be spending a lot of time here.

What a Great Big Brother

Henry is such a great big brother. Here he is reading to his little sister. He was the one who got her all comfy with a blanket and pillow, too! It's sooooooo nice when they help me.