Christmas Day

 Santa brought Kaiden his Army man camp and Connor a Mythology book.  Piper somehow can tell which presents are hers?!?  I bought her 2 stuffed animals this year and even left them sealed in their plastic bags and wrapped and she could tell which were hers.  She's very careful when she unwraps them too. She also got a bag of mint dog bones.  Kaiden got a light up skate board, helmet, Nerf guns, slippers (which he's obsessed with), Spiderman fleece snuggie, practice drum pad with sticks (we were going to get him a full drum set, but he decided he didn't want it and only wanted the practice pad), light up swords (Connor got one too), light up light saber chop sticks, belt, Star Wars Uno game, PS5 Hogwarts video game, etc.  Connor got a guitar with amp, robe, Mythology book (which we actually later returned and he found 4 new books instead), ankle weights, ski helmet and goggles, 3 PS5 video games (Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Star Wars Fallen Order and God of War Ragnarok), etc.  Jason got some kitchen gadgets, puzzle games and a wireless meat thermometer.  I got some Harry Potter board games and a Harry Potter Lego Mandrake. Can you tell I love Harry Potter?  We had a very relaxing and fun family Christmas and everyone is happy with their presents.  Since I had to return Connor's mythology book we (Connor and I) went to Barnes and Noble for him to find a different book.  I've been trying to get him to check out Barnes and Noble for a year now, but until recently he hated to go shopping.  OMG he loved that store!  We were there for 4 hours! He finally narrowed it down to 4 books that he wanted.  2 are mythology books (the kid loves mythology) and 2 are just books he wants to read.  I have a feeling we will be visiting this store several times in the future. For Christmas dinner we had steak, shrimp with noodles, crab cakes, crab salad and garlic cheese biscuits.  I met some of my 6S RN friends for lunch at Pho Van.  Kim, Sarah, Biljana and Lindsey.  I sure miss working with these ladies!

Christmas Eve

 The fire department brings Santa on his sleigh through the neighborhoods handing out candy canes before Christmas.  This is always a favorite and Kaiden and Alex were lucky enough to catch them as they went by.  Alex's family (the Giles) invited us over for their annual Christmas Eve party for snacks, drinks, games and great company.  Kaiden left his plate of cookies, carrots and popcorn for Santa.

Cookies

 I bought Kaiden a cookie coloring kit.  It comes with sugar cookies and food coloring markers that you color the cookies with.  Kaiden and Alex had fun coloring them.  Connor decided to make cookies for some of his friends this year.  He made chocolate no bake cookies, chocolate chip cookies and a brownie fudge cookie with a chocolate mint frosting.  Can you tell he loves chocolate cookies?  I bought cute decorative boxes to fill with his cookies for each friend.  He gave them out to Mason- he also got Mason some fleece Shrek pants and silky Shrek undies.  Mason loves Shrek. He got Xavier a box of his cookies and 2 pairs of Star Wars socks.  Gerald a box of his cookies and 2 pairs of Star Wars socks.  They both love Star Wars. Britain a box of cookies (he couldn't find a gift for Britain). Rachel and her sisters (Victoria and Alejandra) each a box of his cookies and each a Japanese silky fan.  They all love Japanese movies and attire. He also bought Rachel a decorative bible case. 

Saturday skiing

 We woke up to some fresh powder on the ground and spent the day skiing Saturday too.  The top was a little foggy again, but the skies where clear and blue towards the bottom, so we stuck with the Happy Trails and Enchanted Forest runs again today.  Beautiful skiing! We all had a blast and really didn't want to leave.  On the way home we stopped at Texas Road House for some steak and shrimp for dinner.  Sooo good!  I didn't get as many pictures today.  Connor is so fast it's hard to keep up with him.  And now that Kaiden is more confident in his skiing he's really fast too!!  Both boys had a blast and have asked to go skiing more this year now!

Schweitzer Ski Resort

 We booked 2 nights at their new hotel, Humbird with 2 days of skiing. This year Jason and I both bought new ski's and boots.  Connor got Jason's old ski's and boots (which the boots were pretty old so after this trip we ended up buying Connor some new boots too).  Kaiden has his boots and ski's from last year.  He'll probably be ready for a new set next year too. I really wasn't sure how much the boys would want to ski, since we haven't done much skiing in the last few years.  But we figured the hotel is right in the middle of the ski village so even if they only wanted to ski for 1-2 hours and go back to the hotel they could. We got there Thursday evening and checked out the village. The staff was all having a holiday party so everything was closed early except Pucci's Pub, so we stopped in there for dinner. I had a BBQ pulled pork, Kaiden had pizza, Connor had a chicken sandwich, Jason had a Gyro. To our surprise everything was amazing! Really good food!! Nice atmosphere too. The boys played games. Connor did complain that it was a bit "too noisy and obnoxious" since it was packed with people laughing and having fun. He's our little old man. Our hotel had 2 queen size beds, but Connor hates to sleep with Kaiden since he moves around. And Kaiden was excited about our huge (and wide) couch/bench seat in front of the window so, Kaiden decided to made a bed on the couch/bench and sleep there instead.  Friday we hit the mountain for some skiing. We found out Connor's helmet was too small for him this year so him and I had to switch helmets... yeah for me. He used my helmet and goggles while I used his old helmet and goggles.  The helmet was okay but the goggles were really too small for me too. After this trip we bought Connor a new helmet and goggles so I could get mine back. Skiing was good, but there was a wet snow/rain mix coming down all day.  Amazingly it wasn't cold at all though. We all stayed nice and warm. Both boys started off on the beginner hill with the magic carpet (conveyor belt). It took them a few runs to feel comfortable and then Connor was ready to tackle more hills.  He went to the top of the mountain and skied down with Jason. Unfortunately it started getting foggy at the top and a little icy so then he stuck with the Happy Trails and Enchanted Forest green/blue runs instead at the bottom of the mountain where it wasn't foggy or icy. Kaiden took a little longer to build his confidence. He was doing amazing but I had to talk him into going down the Happy Trails run.  But as soon as I did he realized he was way too advanced for the beginner hill and he loved it.  He really enjoyed this run.  It's a nice smooth, really wide, groomed, long run. We were so amazed the boys had so much fun. Neither of them wanted to stop skiing. Nobody got cold. For the most part everything fit well and was comfortable. Jason and I bought his/her same boots and skies. He hates it when we get matching stuff... but oddly enough we didn't actually plan this. We both tried on several boots/ski's and we both just migrated to the same boot and ski's. Since I was in the women's section and him in the men's section we didn't even know what the other was trying on until we met up at the end and realized we had picked the exact same things. LOL  Anyway, we're both really happy with our choices.  They are so comfortable and warm!!  After a long day of skiing everyone voted for Powder Hound Pizza for dinner.  Another amazing dinner too!!  This was probably the best pizza I've ever had! Followed by games in the Glass room at the hotel, swimming in the heated outdoor pool, relaxing in the hot tubs- both by the heated outdoor pool and in the new roof top hot tub.  And then Christmas movies in bed with popcorn. Best Friday the 13th EVER!