Christmas Morn.

Isabella says it all...

Christmas Eve Traditions

For the last few years, Brayden has taken charge on our Christmas Eve Program.  I always look back...bummed, that I didn't capture the night sufficiently with pictures.  This year was no different... I'm bummed... didn't capture it. I'll learn.  I'll learn.  And that's also bad flash.

Brayden has not had violin lessons in over a year now, but practiced and performed a number especially for us... a treat for me.

McKenzie & Monson both played the piano...

And Alexandra, Isabella, & Viviana performed their 'Gift to You' number from kid karolers for Ama. 

kisses for Ama b

We all contributed... Curt told the story of the Christmas 

Orange... something we traditionally receive in our stockings year after year.  And we all did our Christmas Eve puppets as we read Luke 2 and sang lots of beautiful Christmas melodies.  Again, no photos.  But there's plenty of cute little Vivs fully enjoying our Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve I usually let the kids open their handmade gift from me...

and it usually ends up being their most treasured fave.  Just saying.... 

happiness is homemade

2010 was the year of the magnet boards... all personalized for the boys, and spiffed out to their personalities, for the girls.  These took HOURS.  Especially Brayden & Monson's.  The best part about them was the cost.  Taipan practically paid me to take these off their hands last spring.  

The boys is not only magnetic, but a chalkboard too... that made them even more giddy.

One day, I laid out a whole bunch of different fabrics and had the girls each choose their absolute fave.  That's what they got, so no bad guessing here.  I wanted to do a monogram of their initials on the wood... may still do it later.  Time was running out.

My boys each have like a gazillion teams.  They had no idea what I was doing... but I asked them to rank their teams so I could at least narrow it down to something do-able.  Did I say these took forever?  Cause they did.  

My mom hates cameras.  can you tell?  She'll rarely look at the lense.  But I take the photos anyway.  
I added detail to her corners... and it's polished and just so Ama..

and I couldn't resist making one for me... a bird's egg blue toile.  Lovey.

And another favorite tradition... Christmas Eve Jammies.
We have some pretty great family that watched out for us this year and even down to the PJ's...made that tradition still possible.F  Thank you dearly, you know who you are.  See.. yet again, a picture of all of them would have been nice.  Oh, ya... they were too giddy to even obey long enough to group together for a picture.  Except for these three cuties.

Our First 'Dam' Thanksgiving

 I probably caught your attention.  Let's back up...  It's kind of a funny story... 

at least it tickled our funny bones.  Maybe you had to be there. 

So Thanksgiving this year was an adventure.  The Laverty Family cabin is up in the Kern Mountains, above Lake Isabella... so about 4 hours away from us.   Tallie's fam was so generous and kind to let us use it since no one else had staked the claim of Thanksgiving week.  Tallie & Terra (Tal's sis) helped to coordinate... and we were on our way.  We were so grateful to have a much- needed get-a-way for just the cost of gas.  Truly a blessing.

First stop:  Lovely Bako (Bakersfield).  Actually it was lovely.  Just really flat, but that's no revelation.  We visited with Terra & Kathy (their sil) and the three cute neices... Lorea, Mikela, and Saioa.  Wish we lived closer because when we see them, the kids have always just meshed.  Said our goodbyes, got the key, and headed up the mountain.  

You drive through beautiful Sequoia National Forest and pass a big 'ole dam to get there.  It was a long day of driving and sitting in LA traffic.  We were so giddy and tired, we started telling the kids, "look at all that dam water over there!  Oh, and see over there?  A dam bathroom!"  We went on and on, cracking ourselves up.  We had to calm down because the roads get pretty raunchy with sharp turns and steep cliffs.  Then we rolled into Lake Isabella to find  Dam Tacos and Another Dam Korner.  So obviously, we weren't the only ones taking liberties and thinking we were so funny.  Oh, the small town crack-ups.  It was amusing at the time.

This is Thanksgiving in about 50 pictures.  Because it tells our Thanksgiving story.

We rolled in after dark... after everything had iced over from the last big snow.  What an adventure it was to unload six kids and all stuff that goes with six kids... and make our own path with snow up to our knees, and hop the fence since the gate was frozen in place.  It was the same thing with the front door-- had to pry it open since it was frozen in place with a wall of snow.  Good times.  Especially when we couldn't find our mittens and gloves.  

But it was absolutely LOVELY.  And another adventure awaiting inside...

The biggest treat was to walk in and meet the blaze king, ie wood burning stove... only to find there was no dry wood!  The last people to stay hadn't filled up the chest... so we'd have to go in search at dawn... since we couldn't see a thing in the pitch dark and were kinda snowed in.  Needless to say,  we froze our tail ends off that first night and were grateful to have brought a dozen blankets with us to bundle up with.

It truly was a pub... and the girls kept busy calling out orders while playing 'restaurant'

So much character like this 3rd floor loft to shove a couple kids.

 View from the top of the loft to the landing below, and the family room below that.

Master Bedroom off 2nd floor loft w/ deck

Cozy guest bedroom

family room... the only real thing it was missing was seating.  Over the last couple years, they've rearranged things and taken out furniture they needed elsewhere.  So when we can afford to replace our sofas, we're going to see if they want our leather sofas for the cabin.  Perfect fit.  Because we plan on going back if they'll have us.

Of course, the big thing we were warned about over and over... was that the blaze king was in the middle of the room... so to watch the kids and warn them, threaten them, etc. about safety.  You go anywhere near there and you'll burn yourself.  BADLY.  Guess who was the one to burn himself?  Curt.  Not thinking... he put his hand down on the surface to brace himself, and got a nice burned surprise in return.  Poor guy. Good thing there was plenty of snow and ice outside to sooth the pain.

OH, how lovely was the morning (and afternoon)

Just about every 5 minutes, one of the kids looked just like this:

frost-bitten hands because mittens just won't do... and lovely snot frozen into place.  They'd come in, thaw off.. strip down... only to re-suit up and head outdoors 15 mins. later.  annoying.  But they had loads of fun.

snowball fights from the main deck

Serious snow-pack

We were not prepared for all the fun to be had... and the cool sled hill right outside the front door.  We needed snow toys-- so we went down the mountain into town for some real gloves and sleds.  This is only a couple miles from Alta Sierra ski resort-- something we'd love to check out when we have extra $ to spend.  For now, sledding and hot cocoa is the main attraction.

Alexandra making snow angels

 McKenzie catching air?

oops... it snapped when she raced into the tree.  

But that made a third sled!  They used it anyway, until it snapped into three!

Our simple Thanksgiving Dinner.  Simple is good... especially when it comes from Mimi's Cafe!  Yes, still continued our tradition and splurged a little.  I brought homemade rolls with us, and a couple bottles of Martinelli's...  a Thanksgiving tradition continues even in the mountains.

We played lots of games by the light of the oil lamp, and taught kids to play scrabble-- their new favorite game next to chess.  There were three TV's in this cabin, so we could tune into the Macey's parade and the boys could watch football 'til their hearts were content.

We drove into town to see Kernville... great small town charm.  Fishing would be a blast here on Lake Isabella when it thaws out, and next time we'd be better prepared and bring our friends with us that weren't able to make it this last time.

 We want to return again soon... 
we Love  the little A-framed cabin in the forest...