Christmas 2011, Installment 1, Prepping

Christmas, 2011. We made the trek to my hometown in SW Colorado. It's truly the best place to spend Christmas. Mountains, snow, a tree in the middle of main street, and eggnog. It took us 16 hours to get there (in one day, York to Harrisburg to Chicago to Albuquerque then driving to Silverton) but was completely worth it. We did so many fun things, and James took so many fantastic pictures, this will be done in installments. Here's the first...

Silverton, CO at night.


Silverton, CO at night

Audrey with her Gingerbread house

Our family loves books. We all do, from grandkids to grammie. There are always stacks or baskets of books, and someone is usually reading. This particular morning it was nearly 20 degrees below, so I sat by the fire with two kiddos in my lap. Sure kept me warm.

R
Reading with Finn and Audrey (maybe some tickling was involved...)

My mom, Grammie, bought everyone tickets on The Polar Express (see installment 2) for our gifts this year. We prepped Finn and Audrey by reading them the story and showing them the movie. Here they are pumped to watch the movie. Little did they know that in 24 hours they would be ON the Polar Express!

Excited, anyone?

The next day was gorgeous, perfect for a drive to Durango, home of The Polar Express. The children still didn't know what was in store for them, and the adults were pretty excited for it all. I couldn't wait to see Audrey's face when she realized that we were going to ride the very train she's been imagining for months....

The Needles