snowy mountain fun

The day after Christmas we loaded up and headed to the mountains for some snowy fun.  After last year's snowy winter I knew this would be a special treat for the kids - snow is a very rare occurrence here and never sticks....

After a few hours in the van we were parked and headed for the cable car.  The parking lot was snow-less, and the fog was incredibly thick.  I assume the mountains are beautiful, but we couldn't see much of anything!  We could only see the cable car as it got really close to the station!  

But the snow did not disappoint.  It was just enough to give the kids plenty of sledding and snow ball fighting material!

And the temperatures were nice too.  We played hard, ate some lunch then played some more.  

Our Sunday morning group (four families total) made the trip together and it was such fun.  Even Luke (who I was expecting to hit the wall and melt into a puddle of needy tears) managed to smile and enjoy himself all day long!  

The snowball battles raged - dads and kiddos! 

Luke thought it was so funny when he would pick up shovelfuls of snow and dump them on his Daddy!  

Our family and the snowman.  This is a trip we will do again!

[But maybe not the day after Christmas!  After hosting a big party Christmas Eve, then celebrating all day on Christmas..... well we crashed on Saturday!]

Christmas Day happiness

Christmas Day is worthy of more than just a few photos.  So here goes...

We thought single shot nerf pistols might be a bit of fun.... and while I was ordering 5 Matt decided 6 was a better number :)  These battles get pretty intense.  Usually the oldest three vie against Matt, the little two tend to be on Dad's team but are frequently lured into joining the big sibs too.  Split allegiances, those little guys :)

I love the Christmas morning experience - the whole day really!

These girls are gift-givers extraordinaire!  In Lydia's left hand is a cookbook Julianna wrote for her.  It's called "Cookbook for New Cooks" and it starts "Dear Lydia, The first thing is you have to know how to use measuring cups.  Like teaspoons, tablespoons and cups.  It is very easy.  After that you are pretty golden."

It's riddled with spelling and grammar errors, but the whole thing is just so Julianna... i love it.

Watching Luke was pure entertainment.  He had a great morning!

All pink and purple - new pajamas, new tennis shoes, new watch!!

Isaac is a lego lover.

Plenty of patience and hard work and ....

His little brother is becoming quite the little lego-er himself :)

When he needs help the big sisters are quick to jump in.

Actually, the whole family tends to Lego :)

though Luke is more successful with the duplos (which are still a favorite with all the boys).

New scooters for everyone!  So fun to see them enjoy these - such great fun for the kids and our complex is perfect scooter-territory.

Quite the little lady, and she got so many fun craft supplies!

A couch full of love!

A backpack is a sure-win for your favorite toddler/preschooler.  Luke has been using an old cast-off and is thrilled to have "his own".  Many happy hours of zipper-ing ahead for this little man!

And my favorite way to spend a Christmas Day afternoon.... nose in a book!

I jumped in and read a few of the kids' new titles too.  As a child I never doubted there would be a solid collection of new reading material under the tree - gonna teach my kiddos the same great lesson.

We hosted friends for dinner (oops, no pics) but they did help us take a family picture in front of the tree.

12 Christmases with this man as my husband.  They get better every year!

Much love and joy!  What a sweet day of celebrating!

Merry Christmas!

{Apparently we aren't the easiest crew to get a picture of.... ha!  I had better luck on the shots when I was behind the camera!}

She's NINE

Halfway to 18.  I can't even think about it.  Every minute of this little girl's life is a gift.  Not every minute is easy, but 9 years in I can confidently say that each one is a gift.  And I am thankful.

She started - and ended - her day with presents.  A morning playing with the siblings and helping in the kitchen, lunch date with her Daddy, Mexican dinner (she did most of the cooking, of course!) and cupcake dessert.

Lucky girl has all the help she ever wanted opening gifts :)  She's a pro at handling this.. at one point I saw her bend down and whisper to Luke, "no buddy, these aren't for you but wait just two more days and it'll be your turn!"

After dinner and cupcakes and gifts we took turns sharing things we especially enjoy or appreciate about Julianna.  John Paul said he liked her piggy back rides.  So of course, she had to give him one.

Julianna, you are a treasure.  We love you!

[I'm bummed I missed a picture of her and Matt heading out on their date - this is becoming such a special treat each kiddo looks forward to.  I told him today that I want him to take me out to lunch for MY birthday!]

our new "cool" mall

So a new mall opened up a few blocks from our house.  It's a nice addition to the other three malls within walking distance.  ha.

How many malls can one person really need?!?!?!  I can't believe they each manage to fill with people and stay open, but they do!  I guess that's one thing population density will do for ya.

So this one, the main difference between it and the others is that it they haven't turned the heat on yet!  Maybe because it's still fairly empty, or they are in a 'soft opening' season?  But it is COLD in there!

We walked down last weekend to check it out.  There is a digital ceiling that changes scenery - that blueish looking thing is actually one of several different scenes.  Lydia and John Paul look like they are outside but this picture is inside the mall - still in hats and gloves!

And then last night for date night Matt and I decided to change things up a bit and go ice skating.  We had noticed the ice rink at the new mall and although skating in August might be refreshing, skating in a mall that was probably 55 degrees felt just fine too!

We had a blast!  We used my phone to make slo-motion videos that are so hilarious!  I'm no ice skater but managed to stay on my feet, until Matt got me laughing too hard - then it was a slippery fall to the ice for me :)  There were only a few other people on the ice so that made it even more fun!  We will be doing this date again, and we promised to take the kids one day too :)

Today was Julianna's birthday and such a treat!  Photos coming!

the background scenery

It's something seemingly simple, but I don't really notice it until I see it in pictures.

I live in a sea of towering buildings.  This is an enormous city, an influential city, a fast growing city, home to millions.  And the millions live and work in high rises.  

This is Isaac's preschool class doing morning exercises.  It'll be tricky to find him, he has his jacket hood up covering his hair.  [navy jacket, white sleeve covers, brown pants partially obscured by a classmates flag]

I dropped him off a bit late one morning and he had to rush to catch his class.  I snapped a few pictures as I walked away and when I got home the one thing that stood out most was the brown high rises surrounding his school!   [You can see the rear wing of his school on the left side of the picture, it's a two story building with about 500 students ages 3 to 6.  They have lots of play areas, courtyards, green space and playground equipment.  We are very thankful!]

And then two days later, this one. 

I thought I was taking a picture of the apple truck.  

And there they are again, more brown high rises!  I'm used to it, they don't stand out every day.  But sometimes I can't believe my own picture-eyes!  How in the world did I ever get myself to this crazy massive city?!?!?  

[And the apple truck parked at the gate of our complex is kinda fun, huh?  One way to take care of the middle man in the supply chain.  This truck is from a few provinces away .... pick apples.  load truck.  hire driver.  cruise highway.  park.  sell.  When the truck is empty he will head back for another load.]

a milestone for my middle middle

I sometimes think of Isaac as my middle-middle.  It doesn't get more middle than #3 in a pack of 5.  And he handles the role so very very well.  I got quite the gift when God put Isaac in his middle middle spot.

And earlier this week my middle middle hit a big milestone.  Finished reading through the Beginners Bible.  In our family reading the entirety of this 500plus pager (aloud) is your ticket to a real Bible of your own!  I knew it was in Isaac's near future so I advanced ordered his Bible when we were in the U.S. and it's been waiting in my dresser drawer for this day :)

It took him several months, and in late November he got really motivated to finish before Christmas Day.  We sailed through the final chapters and then stopped at the very last one to wait for Daddy.  When I told Isaac we would wait and read the last one when Matt got home he asked "how many more hours will that be?"  The answer ("probably 2 or 3 hours, buddy") was a bit of a discouragement and by the time Matt walked in the door Isaac was pacing the living room waiting!  The family gathered on the couch, listened to him read the last few pages, and he tore open the wrapping paper.... victory!

This year was special to see the girls really choose to encourage Isaac in his quest!  They have identical Bibles, and really wanted Isaac to be part of the "club".  He's a blessed boy to have such big sisters!

And now we have another one who has his own copy of the WORD!  What a gift!  Oh that he would treasure it for a lifetime!

the banners

My big three with their tie-dye banners from the birthday party.  I wish I had gotten a picture of all the kids and their tie-dye but oh well... 

You can see that no one stuck too close to the tie-dye pattern but instead ventured out with their own "what will happen to this design when the colors start to bleed" ideas!

Isaac and Lydia (both top bunkers) hung theirs from the railing of their bed.

I have three remaining banner-napkins so these kiddos are looking forward to tie-dye round two, probably this weekend.  

And how fun is this?!?!  I was shocked by how well the cake turned out.  It came from a box, y'all!  The colors stayed so bright and the layers didn't smudge together.  We will definitely do one like this again!