Santa's Helpers

Kyle had to rush Ben to the bathroom, so we walked around and snapped this cute picture of everyone in one of the sleds randomly placed around the square.

McKinney Square

We missed the lighting of this 30 foot tree on Monday when half the kids lost it (and then I lost it).  We decided dinner at Mellow Mushroom with Aunt Cassie would be a great beginning to a night on the square.

Library Run!

I love that the kids don't need an introduction and are right at home with their aunt-not something that's easy when you don't see each other very much!  We went to the library after school today and grabbed some books while Aunt Cassie picked up some used magazine to keep her entertained if there were every any down time at the house.

Made It!!

We haven't seen this lady in 10 months,-so we are all pretty excited she's here for 6 days!!!

Nativity Time

We got the giant fake tree up yesterday afternoon and after school the kids and I put the lights up before pooping out.

We managed to get the nativity up tonight and then had to call it quits again.  Our cabin trips really wear everyone out.  Not sleeping very well and playing hard is a recipe for disaster with our crew!

Another Day!

Last night Kyle and I were looking at road conditions and after getting the go ahead from people who were counting on us for help on Sunday, we post-poned our departure another day!

The extra day gave us a bunch of time to take car of staging at the cabin as well taking some pictures and getting rid of all the trash we had created with all our staging and getting rid of the old owners' out of date bedding, etc.

Another round of tubing was in order and we were able to get the earlier time block and eat dinner in Red River before heading back to the cabin for the night.  It was a great day, so glad we were able to stay!

Tubing

Today we made a last minute decision to do something other than cook and work on the house.  Red River had their mountain running and that included some sledding!  We took the 5-6pm slot and rented 4 tubes.  We had a blast!  Despite the 25 degree weather, the kids loved every minute we were out there!  Sledding down a mountain in the dark was a lot cooler than Kyle and I could have expected!

Snow Family

These guys were hard at work building an entire family of snow people.  I love how much outdoor time the kids get while we are here!

Well Hello!

On our way down the ski mountain this morning, we ran into a truck interacting extremely closely with a couple of deer.  As we drove up and the man drove away in his truck, the deer came up to our car as well.  I could have touched this deer it was so close to my window.  Instead of risking a bite, I rolled down the window and took a picture.  It was incredible to be so close to such a creature.  She never ran or anything.  We finally drove away and left her standing there with her family just up the hill from her.

Rocky Mt. Chocolate

We love chocolate, so we stopped in downtown Taos on one of our many runs to get stuff for the cabin, and walked around before grabbing some goodies for the trip back through the canyon.

Trying Hard!

I planned to take our Christmas card photo while we were here, but it sure hasn't been easy.  After scouring for poses for families of 6 and working with the clothes we already had on hand wasn't a walk in the park, luckily for me, though, I had about 10 hours to figure some of this out. 

Our first attempt was right after we got home from church.  I propped up the tripod on the driveway and snapped a shot of us in our church clothes right in front of the cabin.  Kyle and I look totally amazing, the kids are all struggling.  Unfortunately I wasn't aware of any of this until after everyone had changed.

After a morning of ski coat shopping, we started a drive to Toas and stopped at Toas Pines and snapped this photo.  Unfortunately, again, I was only able to adjust everyone but myself to avoid shadows before packing up the tripod and heading through the canyon.  None of these are horrible or great, but they will have to do!

Unrecognizable!

This little guy hasn't had a haircut this short since right before his 1st birthday when I buzzed him in preparation for a 3 month trip to Europe without haircuts!

His eyes looks so pronounced now!  You can also see the little scar on his forehead with this shorter cut and how extremely big his head it!  Overall, we couldn't be happier!