Snowy Walk to the Upper Village

Today we got all the snow we had hoped for and decided to take a walk to the upper village, and it was a beautiful walk in the snow!


The view from the bridge over the creek was simply beautiful.


The lifts in green are open and the ones in red closed. When we walked by later they were all closed.


We saw a Russian ski team coach waiting in the lift line. I'm sure there are teams and coaches all over the village.


The Fairmont Chateau Whistler is the place to stay in the upper village. We've stayed there twice but it was the first time Taryn had been there and she was impressed.


Outside there was a man making candy on a frozen snow slab. He had a maple syrup boiled in pot that he would stream on the snow slab. Instantly you could roll it on a stick and enjoy. It was amazing and so fun to watch.


The three of us in the snowy upper village.

Girls in the Village

Taryn and I got to go explore the Village while Gary did some work at the hotel.


The 2010 Winter Olympics are just weeks away so everywhere around the village you see this symbol.


The Village was beautiful. It was warm out and we are hoping for some more snow while we are here.


The cow! Every year Taryn has her picture taken with the cow at Cows...and then we laugh at their t-shirts for a while.

But what does this mean???


The fourteen year old and I always have fun when we're together!


These are the Olympic mascots. You really need to look them up on-line and find out what they are. Completely random!


And then there was the random nun in Starbucks. Can nuns drink coffee??

Up To Whistler

Today we left for our anual New Years trip up to Whistler. The new road they just completed for the Olympics made for a nice drive. We made our tradition stop for lunch in Squamish at A & W and picked up our last groceries at the store there. Then off to the Westin!


Love staying here right at the top of the Village near the gondolas.


The view from our room over the village.


A randon Christmas tree was set up in our room. Never had that before!


Dinner out at Earls with our girl.

Well Look Who's Back!

Merry Christmas...Because of Jesus!

Joy to the world ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ the Lord is come ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Let earth receive her King ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Let every heart prepare Him room ♥ ♥ ♥ And Heaven and Nature sing ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ And Heaven and Nature sing ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing!♪♫•*¨*•..........¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

An Appetizing Evening

We started a new family tradition tonite. In the busyness of December we can almost miss seeing each others homes decorated for Christmas. We decided this year to make it our tradition to have an evening of progressive appetizers.

Elijah was not too excited about being in the car.

We started our evening at Britt & Shana's.

Our first round of appetizers.

This is our family nativity and it is very special to me. I grew up with this nativity and spent hours enjoying and studying it's intricate detail. My Mom bought it at the Lynden Book Shop in the 60's and they were actually quite common in the area.

After Gary and I were married I inherited the nativity and we have had it in our home every year since.

Then I became obsessed with finding one for each of my kids. My Mom actually found two at garage sales, and when my first three were young I found the exact nativity reproduced and for sale again at the Lynden Book Shop. I was beside myself happy and bought one for each of the kids, a spare for parts.

As the kids marry they are given their nativity, and it is pure joy for me to see it in their homes.

Next stop Brandon & Greta's

They also have a beautiful tree and the only "live" one in the fam this year. Nermal was waiting for us by the tree as if to serve as our tour guide. Looks like he has his headlights on too. How funny is that!

Ross got his first tour of their new home and we all had to try out their beautiful new sectional. After more delicious appetizers and some great fun we all ended our evening at our house where two sleepy boys could go to bed. We had more apps with dessert and coffee.

For whatever reason I stopped taking pictures at this point so have only three pictures at Brandon and Greta's...and none at ours. It was a lot of fun and we will do this again next year.

Assembly Required

Ross and Taya are on a get-a-way to Seattle for the weekend which means we get the joy of watching the boys for two whole days. Oh what fun for us! When they lived in Little Rock we never had the opportunity, so now we're enjoying every moment.

While Elijah took his nap Taryn & Isaiah assembled their gingerbread houses. In this first picture you will see the box for Taryn's house on the counter.
Isaiah was so excited. He really enjoyed watching Taryn place all the pieces together forming his very own house to decorate.

But as the decorating began the box became a problem for Isaiah. He so badly wanted to make his house exactly like the box. It was too funny.

I moved the box away from him, and finally moved it to another room, and instantly he began to enjoy free form, uninhibited gingerbread decorating.

An hour later we had two incredibly decorated gingerbread houses.

Isaiah was so proud of his, and once it was completed he wanted to know if we could eat it. We agreed to wait till after Christmas.

I only left the room for a short time but when I came back Taryn had come up with the innovative idea to use powdered sugar to create a snowy landscape on hers. Oh my, this added a wild card element to keeping the houses sitting out on the counter till Christmas. I have wiped up more powdered sugar over the last few days than I wanted to.

I may someday suggest her daughter try that...just to get back at her!

Not Sure Why I Deserved This...But Thanks Hon!

Builder of the Year

Last night Gary was awarded Builder of the Year by the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County . I'm so proud of him!

Decorating the Tree

Isaiah helped me decorate the tree today and we had such a good time together. He was a great helper!

These ornaments looked like carrots to Isaiah and he had to find a special branch for them, and they were so special all three had to be on the same branch!

After he woke up Elijah helped us with the red stars.

These took great precision

And now we have a fine line of stars all along the bottom of our tree!