Christmas Day (Yes, I know it's almost Valentine's Day!)

Santa certainly found the Petersens!

The traditional 'top-of-the-stairs' photo.
This year they didn't all fit sitting on the same step.

ANTICIPATION!!!

Trent loved his digital camera.

Nicole is the new Scrapbook Queen of the house.

Kyle said all he wanted for Christmas was music.

Spencer FINALLY got a cell phone!

This may be the only White Christmas we ever enjoy in Washington. It was beautiful and nostalgic. What a treat!

We had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed a relaxed morning of opening gifts and eating Sticky Buns. The rest of the day we played and played with new toys. What a joyful day. Later that night we had the Golden family over for dinner. That topped off a great Christmas!

Christmas FHE Pageant

Kaighan, Anslee, Trent, Nicole and Bridger

King Herod sent out a decree. (Kyle was a very good sport!)

Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem. Mary rode the donkey.

The Bridger Inn Keeper said 'There is no room for you at the Inn."

Jesus was born and laid in the manger.

The Anslee Angel appeared to the Kaighan Shepherdess and said "Fear Not!"

Mary and Joseph as Jesus grew older. We had to get McKay involved!

The Wise Men brought gifts.

On the Monday before Christmas we invited the Callahan Family over for Family Home Evening. With lots of children in the house, we decided to act out the Christmas Story. Originally I thought it would be a quiet, meaningful lesson, but reality set in and I soon realized that it was to be a funny, but very memorable, Christmas story. It was simply too cute and too fun!!! We laughed and laughed and hope you all understand that in the moment, that is all we could do. I am sure Heavenly Father has a sense of humor and will not hold this against us. We had a great evening with the Callahan Family and hope they will come again. However, with all of these fun and adorable children, I will not guarantee that I can keep my laughter in control.

Snowball Fight!

What is in the snow?Who is in the snow?
Snow in the face... brrr

The Snow Bunny Incoming! Kyle and Spencer

Lookout Below!

Trent in a snow shower

Shannon and Nicole

Brotherly love? I don't think so. More like sibling rivalry.

Bring it on!

Big T

VanHorn's Snow Dog

Our friends, the VanHorn's called this morning as we were enjoying pancakes on our second Snow Day, and invited us to a snowball fight. Invitation accepted. We all dressed in snow gear, well as much as we had that would fit, and headed to VanHorn's, a short 1/2 mile down the road. I didn't capture a lot of the actual snowball action on camera because I was making and throwing snowballs as fast as I could. Tracy and I found that the snow on top of the hot tub cover was the best for making snowballs (it is very powdery snow and hard to compact.) But the hot tub is up against a wall and we found that snowballs coming too fast and furious. It soon turned into the two of us against everyone else. We were under seige with no end in sight. Todd came and helped us for a bit until the snow on the hot tub was gone. We waved our white flag and moved the fight out into the yard. We had a great time. The VanHorn's taught our kids how to climb the tree and when the enemy was right below, jump on the branches to shake snow on them. A great snowball fighting tactic! Mark just had to egg on the Bishop a time or two, and it as all fun. We had a great time. Thanks to the VanHorns for the snow party.

We're Dreaming of a White Christmas

Nicole, the red-head snow angelTrent, the tongue-out snow angel
Spencer, the cool-hat snow angel

I told you it was a lot of snow!
And it is still snowing!

It has snowed off and on this whole week. The roads have been icey and the kids had 2 hour late start for school on Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday morning we had about 5 inches of snow and an official SNOW DAY! The kids were out of school and they played in the snow for hours while Todd and I took the truck and did some shopping. Last night the weather took another stormy turn and this morning we woke up to about 12 inches of snow. Another SNOW DAY!!! This is record snow for the Petersens in Washington. It feels quite nostalgic and homey. As the kids were getting dressed in their snow gear, everyone took another giant step forward on their right of passage. Spencer had to wear my boots and snow pants, and Kyle is wearing Todd's. Nicole and Trent are wearing whatever fits from previous years of snow play. All of my children aged a whole year or two in a matter of minutes. But or course, I did not get any older at all.