Gingerbread Houses with the Beemans and the NEVERending Snowfall!

We have an annual tradition of making gingerbread houses with our next door neighbors, the Beemans. The kids look forward to this every year. It seems like this Christmas season was shorter this year, so making this happen was a bit tricky. We're sure glad we did though. Here are some highlights from the evening.

The candy collection - for several years we were working off of hoards of OLD candy, but had to replenish our supplies this year. They used most of this too.

A little assistance is sometimes necessary in the initial stages of getting a roof on. Leslie is helping Bernadette do just that. Overall, the parents were enjoying not having to help out too much this year. We mostly sat back and watched the creations unfold. Some were quite elaborate.

Samantha had big plans for creating a horse stable this year. Quite ingenius if you ask me.

Carly's in the process of creating a "Hawaiian Hut" on the ocean. She's creating the ocean below. She made it look like waves with white caps and all. Very creative girl!

Kenzie adding a water feature to her gingerbread residence.

Aaron's goal was to have the BIGGEST abode of anyone else. There's a story behind it too. Below, he's creating a candy "trough." There ended up being three of these "troughs." Hhmmm, seems to me, the kid just wants EXTRA candy to consume when his mom's not looking!

Brianna's theme was, "Simplicity Rules ALL Things Worthwhile." She's had a head cold and wasn't feeling all too thrilled. Frankly, she's thought she was TOO big for this for a few years now. We told her to suck it up, that she wouldn't be here next year when we do this and she just needs to humor us! Moving on - that thought's making me sad...

What to do when you have red chiclet gum - Oh wait! We can glue them to our noses! Samantha, Bernadette, Carly and Kenzie doing just that.

A better look at Aaron's finished beast of a house! (notice the three troughs of candy I was talking about!) Mitchell created a basketball court on his. Pretty tricky, if you ask me.

Posing to show off their final projects. From left, Aaron, Mitchell, Carly, Samantha, Kenzie, Brianna and Bernadette:

Amy with her BEAUTIFUL "FAMILY" fold-out album that Leslie made for her (I get to add photos to it). Leslie with her book and DVD from Amy.

After the kids exchanged gifts. Brianna got earrings, Mitchell got a travel Disney Scene-it game, Aaron with his nerf gun (yeah thanks alot for that one!), Carly with her bouncy ball creation kit (it really works!), Samantha with her iCarly game, Bernadette with her jewelry collection, and Kenzie with her groovy green journal (just what she wanted!)

It was a very fun evening. We ended up not having school the next day, Wednesday, or today. Snow and ice are still around. Yesterday afternoon, it began snowing again, adding to the 6 inches we already had. Really didn't stop all night. Paul woke up this morning and decided to take the kids skiing on opening day at Stevens Pass. Took a while to get all their gear gathered and dried from previous days' ourdoor playing. But they're gone now and I'm enjoying a blissful day alone. The power's on, I'm warm, I'm blogging, I'm listening to Christmas music, I'm watching the snow fall and I'm gonna go wrap Christmas gifts when I'm done here. Could a day be better? Here are a few more snow pics - I know I gave you many last time, but these are even more special - I love it when the trees are so caked with snow that the limbs hang low. From right behind our house:

Off to the right of the above view:

Out the front, looking up the driveway. Tracks are evidence of Paul and the kids' departure to ski! Life is good!

A Blanket of White

Our first snowfall of the season started Friday night. Temperatures were hovering around freezing and we teetered between rain and snow most of the day on Saturday. But, by Saturday night, temperatures were well below freezing and the snow won out! We woke this Sunday morning to about 6 inches total and about 26 degrees! Since we have so many hills and all the off and on wet from yesterday turned to ice, church was cancelled. I know we're wimps up here! But, frankly, I'm enjoying my "trapped" day at home with my family. We had french toast, hash browns, bacon and hot chocolate for breakfast. And there's a never-ending game of RISK going on in the other room. Nothing says "Peaceful Sabbath Day" like world domination!

Here are the beautiful views around our house. (Credit for taking photos goes to Brianna. She went out for 20 minutes and came back with 245 shots! Yeah for digital!) This one's out our back deck:

This view is from our front porch looking up the driveway:
Just a downright beautiful picture! (Nice perspective, Brianna!):

From the top of the hill, by the road, looking down our sledding hill! Many good times are had on this hill - Sledding in the winter and slip-n-slide in the summer!:

From the top of the same hill, near the neighbor's property, looking back down at our house:

~BEAUTY~

From the back of our house, looking up towards the neighbor's house:

Zoomed in a bit from the top of the driveway (you like my ADT sign I have now?!?!?):

Hope your family is enjoying the season - we sure are!

Tolo - the BIG day!

Brianna has been preparing for the BIG girl ask guy dance for a couple months. She asked Kurtis, a friend from school. He's in Clearview Ward with many of her friends. They met at Hanna's house for parents to take pictures, then went to have professional pics taken. Then instead of going to the dance, they went on a Christmas Cruise on Lake Washington for a couple hours. Their group - 10 kids came back to our house by 11 pm and played games for a few hours. A great group of kids and a lot of fun. Here are a couple pics. She looks very pretty - if I do say so myself!

Ok, just hope you're noticing this makes two blogs in a week - but don't think this is a trend - just a fluke!

"We Wooped your Butts, Castanos" and "Oh Christmas Tree"

No matter what they say, "We WON" again this year, Castanos. We have a tradition of "racing" the Castanos, from our ward, to St. Nicks Tree Farm on the Friday after Thanksgiving to cut down our trees. The smack talk begins months prior, "we're gonna win", "uh,uh, we're gonna win." To the point that I don't get any sleep the night before because I'm having either a nightmare about losing or a fantasy about winning the race. Last year we beat. Here are a couple photos from LAST year as proof (they forget easily):

Above: I know not a flattering pic of me, but its all for proof I say. Below: Sad Castano children faces when they realize defeat lies in their laps this year.
So, the frenzy was on again this dreary, rainy, Friday morning (I'll take the crisp sunshine from last year, thank you!). And the Leavens' did it again! We even did it with Paul's parents and Tami and family in tow - 11 people all crossed the finish line BEFORE the 5 sad Castanos. Proof is here, in order from front, US, Tami and Co, and Castanos - LAST!:



In spite of Parker Castano trying to cheat (he's the person in the middle far in the back of the below picture) by running ahead of the line to physically cross the finish line. But "NO," the rules explicitly state that the entire "FAMILY" must cross the finish line "TOGETHER!"
And while it was VERY close, we will NOT concede to a tie as they tried to negotiate, but we will give you an ALMOST and GOOD LUCK NEXT YEAR!!So, once that was done, it was time to get down to the business of harvesting a Christmas Tree - in the RAIN this year! Aaron wanted to give it a whirl - he tried for a bit, but then turned the saw over to Paul to finish it off - give him a few more years and he'll be able to finish the job!

The Castanos chose another HUGE tree. Not quite as big as last year's, but gigantic nonetheless. It's Parker's job to do the dirty work for their family:

Standing around for moral support: Brianna, Brittany, Doris, Lefty, Taylor and Kenzie - It's all about looking good in the rain people!

Sunday, after the last of our company left, we began the job of lighting and decorating. I'm the lights putter onner - "why is this always my job?"
The kids get a new ornament each year. Here they are showing them off before finding the PERFECT spot on the tree. Brianna with her "I LOVE Blue" ornament:

Aaron with his Santa on skis:

Kenzie with her "It's very ME!" ornament

And Carly with her "Very Carly Pink Pig" ornament:

Then Paul tops it all off with the star...

...and we're DONE!

Let the Season BEGIN!

Thanksgiving Day at the Leavens'

Thanksgiving rolled around and we were found with the usual crowd gathered for the day. Paul's parents arrived Wednesday evening and Tami, Todd and TJ joined us midday on Thursday, before we ate. Here are some shots of what people were doing to help prepare for the big meal:

Aaron practiced his ping pong juggling skills, he was getting pretty good after a while...

Carly enjoyed one satsuma after another - the kid's addicted I believe.

Paul, Tami and Todd are on potato detail. Two big pots are what's needed for this crowd - you've got to have enough for leftovers! I don't peel potatoes if I can help it:

Me finishing up with the gravy after the turkey came out and Kenzie buttering her rolls.

My beautiful bird... Sure was yummy! (TJ's in the background washing glasses)

Everyone poised to dig in. From the left - Kenzie, Brianna, TJ, Aaron, Grandpa, Grandma, Carly, Todd, Tami and me (Paul's behind the lens of the camera.)

The aftermath -

But wait! There's still pie to eat. We started this round a few hours after the main feast. You've got to let the turkey settle sufficiently to truly appreciate all the pie eating goodness we had before our eyes! Favorites were Marionberry and Apple/Berry Crumb from the Snohomish Pie Company (I don't make pies!)

I'll throw these few pics in from the Thanksgiving weekend. A popular activity was playing ping pong. Here are a few from rounds with Grandpa:

Now on to Christmas Tree Cutting...