Christmas 2008 Part 3

We arrived at Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Shirley's house Christmas morning just in time for breakfast. Here's a picture of the girls chowing down at their very own special table.


After breakfast Izzie got the bright idea of sitting in a chair backwards. It was cute to watch her do it and then beam with pride at her achievement. It was also great to watch her realize that there wasn't any way out without someone helping her.


We hung out all day at the house watching movies, playing the Wii and eating. We didn't open presents in the morning because Chuck was out of town. Actually he was on his way into town, but Shirley didn't know that (it was a surprise). Once Grandpa Chuck arrived though it was time to shred wrapping paper off of the presents. Here's a shot of the pile of presents (there's a tree buried in there somewhere).


Here's Izzie unwrapping some of her presents. At this point in life she knew exactly what to do, and she wasn't afraid to do it.



And because I enjoyed the videos, I'm putting them on here for your viewing pleasure as well.





That stack of presents next to Lynnell, those are Izzie's. Well, about 3/4 of Izzie's because she's already opened some. We were certainly grateful for the gifts. Thanks everyone.


Here's one that Lynnell and I got Izzie. It's a barn (with barn animals of course). She played with it at one of our friends' house and loved it, so we did the obvious thing. We got her one.


After all of the presents were opened it was time for some family photos. Here's one of the cousins (on Lynnell's side... because their the only cousins Izzie has... right now). I know they aren't all looking, but short of Photoshopping the picture it wasn't going to happen. So I selfishly picked the one (out of the 20 that I took) where Izzie looked the cutest.


Then it was time for some new-toy fun.


Here's video of how much fun that little chair was for the girls. Izzie took the privilege of seating herself and not really wanting to share. Maybe it has something to do with her size or maybe it has something to do with her mad fighting skills that she learns from the Huschka boys. I would argue that it's a combination of both size and skill.



And that was Christmas day. We hung out, opened presents, ate dinner and then headed back to my dad's for some sleep to prepare for our sledding adventure the next day.

We headed back to the Longley's the next morning for breakfast and relaxation. Mid morning we started gathering everything up for our sledding adventure. Here's a picture of Izzie in her newly purchased boys snow suit. (They were out of girls') It was cute, and by cute I mean like Ralphy cute (from A Christmas Story) because she couldn't put her arms down very well.


Here's one of Izzie and cousin Irelynn getting pulled around in a sled.


It was kind of wet, so the kids didn't last very long. We were probably there for an hour, but it was still a lot of fun. Here's one of Izzie and I watching everyone else tear it up.


The boys wrecking:


Saturday the 27th we left all of the three baby girls with Grandma Shirley while the rest of us went skiing. It was a blast. Here's Lynnell and I on our romantically cold gondola ride to the top of Silver Mountain.


Devon and Austin snowboarded for the day. It was only their 3rd or 4th time doing it (I think), so I tried to hang out with them most of the time to help them out and boost their confidence. Here's a shot of us (and Jake my best friend) on the chair lift going back up for more punishment.


Here's the world greatest mommy showing off this years latest fashions.


Here's a picture of everyone coming down the run in a horde. Good stuff.


Here's one of Devon and Austin all wore out (from all the fun) at the end of the day.


And that was it. After we were sore, cold and tired we headed into the lodge for a beer. It was a good full day of skiing and family time.

The next day we got up packed, ate breakfast and then headed to my little sisters' school to watch them do a Sunday morning rendition of the songs they sang in their Christmas play. It was cute even though they didn't give it their all because they seemed too embarrassed that Lynnell, Izzie and I were there.


After that, we loaded up and hit the road for home. Here's Izzie watching her first movie in the car. She was wide awake, and we knew she wasn't going to go to sleep. So we put Horton Hears a Who on and enjoyed ourselves.


Vacations are good. I only wish we could do them more often.