Idaho Christmas

Oops, I hope 3 weeks between posts isn't the new normal for us! I've sat down many times and tried to post these pictures but there's so little time in the day....

Anyways, we had a wonderful time in Stanley celebrating Christmas with the O'Malleys. The day after Christmas, we packed up, rented a car and drove 16 hours between California and Idaho and the boys did SO well- they are the best little travelers we could ask for! Driving saves us tons of money, so I'm glad the trip isn't a miserable one. On the contrary, we actually enjoy the long drive together, it's fun family bonding time ;-)

Here are some pictures of our time in Stanley:

Family photo

The boys absolutely LOVED all the snow, which was a nice change from last year when they weren't too sure about it. They wanted to play in the snow all day this year!

They talked for weeks beforehand about the "snowmens" they were going to build at Grandma and Papa's house.

Jack and Cullen were given several new trains including James which was the highlight of the night for them! They also got lots of Matchbox cars which have already gotten hours upon hours of playtime. And they were spoiled with many other gifts, and were so excited opening each one!

Lightning McQueen pillowcases, also a hit!

Sledding! The boys loved it of course and wanted to go over and over again!

This is a bit blurry, but you can see the expression of pure joy on Cullen's face :-)

Playing with their cousins and new toys!

Decorating (and eating) gingerbread cookies

This is incredibly sappy of me but I took this picture of them as they were going to bed on December 29th, the last time I saw them as 2 year olds :-(

Here are my big 3 year olds decorating their own birthday cakes!

Enjoying Auntie Ashlee's Mickey Mouse pancakes one morning :-)

Jack and Cullen loved the snowmobiles! I went up and down the driveway a couple times (very slowly) but after our ATV accident last summer I am much more wary of big, scary machines like these. Brandon went out with his dad a few times though, so he got to enjoy himself while I stayed warm inside. And he saw a wolf on one of his rides! I'm a little jealous of that part!

Brandon's parents watched the boys for us so that we could go on a date to Sun Valley for the whole day! We sat in the ski lodge and talked, went to Starbucks and talked, walked around town and talked, and ate dinner and talked. It was so nice to catch up with my husband during this busy season of life when we don't have a lot of time to spend together! We spent a long time planning out our year, talking about what we want to focus on as a family, talking about the boys and deciding what things we want to work on with them. It was the most time alone together we've had in months and we loved it! Thanks for the great date Gary and Sari!

Oh and last, but not least, here's a picture of the O'Malley's pet fox ;-) Just kidding- sort of. We fed it some meat a couple days before we left and it kept coming back for more. Jack and Cullen got so excited when Mr. Fox came for a visit! Gary and Sari said it's been back nearly every day since, haha.