Matthew and Lauren were such great helpers this year with putting up the tree and decorating the house. Matthew's favorite part was counting the presents under the tree.
The Wednesday before school let out we got another blanket of snow. It doesn't look like much but it kept falling all evening long and caused such a ruckus that they closed school the next day. Vegas's first SNOW day!!!
What a pretty site for the desert.
Our very good friends host a ginger bread house making party every year and we absolutely love attending. Lauren assembles her roof with care and even avoids any spills on her white sweater!
Lauren and her BFF Katie work the "treat" table and decorate their houses while nibbling on what they can.
Matthew fashions a tree peep in the front yard of his house.
Everyone had such a great time... we can't wait for next year!
More cheesy photos in front of the tree.
Here we are on Christmas Eve with Grandma and Kyle and Quin (cousins). We finished dinner and are just about to bust into the presents that we have so patiently been waiting to open!
Matthew gets a baseball pinball machine from Grandma...
Kyle and Quinn open some thought provoking books from Aunt Jenn and Cristy helps Lauren tear into her gift.
Lauren is setting up her famous tea party. Now we can eat and drink in style with her new tea set.
Dad tries to break through the impossible packaging of children's toys. It's a tank... maybe we can blast it free?!?!
Hours of fun...
Christmas morning Matthew and Lauren wake to quite the haul from Santa. Lauren with her princess tea set, a jewelry box and some new slippers. Matthew with some RC cars and a Wii! He kept repeating, "Santa didn't listen to you... he listened to me!!!" Mom and Dad had the "no video games until you're 10" rule, but Santa felt sorry for the fellow and gave him a Wii. Christmas break has been very quiet around here... Matthew has been glued to it! Santa sometimes knows best!
Assessing the goods...
Lauren got fancy jewelry for her jewelry box and Tia, Anthony and Leah got her a baby doll set equipt with stroller, car seat and bassinet. She loves to pretend she's mom.
The day after Christmas we headed up to Mt. Charleston for some snow fun. We went to the top and had a great lunch at the lodge and then worked our way down to find some sledding trails. There was quite a bit of snow and we Las Vegans are not all that prepared (clothes wise) for the cold. Lauren didn't make it very long, but Matthew did get a few runs in.
His legs were chilled, but he loved it.
This was the last time she stepped foot in the snow. She's a bit dainty (weeney is more like it) so we dried off and headed home. We had a very merry Christmas and are looking forward to a wonderful and exciting New Year!
