christmas in colorado

1. Working together

Preparing for an open house hosted by my amazing in-laws. Hanging out with family is wonderful, but working with the family seems to be so much more meaningful and enjoyable. It's nice to have goals to work towards, and family to help you get there!

{this is just a sampling - there was more food there than I can remember! Many, many more beautiful plates not captured by camera. }

2. Variable weather

Colorado Springs always has different weather - one day it'll snow and the next it's warm enough to only wear a sweater! So we took advantage of that and tried to get the kids outside. Garden of the Gods is BEAUTIFUL, and gave us all a nice walk together!

3. If One is good, Four is better!

There were times when it got crazy with so many kids close to the same age, but it was even a little bit easier at times. If you're doing a bath, throw 'em all in! If you're making dinner, feed 'em all! If you're changing a diaper, change 'em all!

4. Christmas Eve

Santa came! TM (baby cousin) didn't seem to have an opinion, SL was scared and cried, L sat cautiously (and occasionally said "ho, ho, ho"), and CJ kept announcing that it was Papa, not Santa. What a funny crowd!

Being parents has it's advantages - like setting up for Christmas morning! I've never been on that side of the line, and I LOVED it. It made me giddy! And it was even funnier watching the three adult brothers put together a marble tower - does the box really say for ages three and up?

5. The Broadmoor Hotel

We walked around this beautiful hotel, and it was a lot of fun being with family, drinking hot cocoa, and being all bundled up!

6. Snow Days

L cried every time ANYone rode the sleds. It was pretty traumatic! But we were all bundled up, and we were going to have fun, dang it!

7. Taking pictures!

This is a must every time we get together, and we try to make it work with all the kids! I think it was a success!! Love you guys!

8. Playing with cousins

We don't get to see family as much as we'd like, so we had to pack it all in over this vacation! It was fun to have play dates every day!

9. Helping in the kitchen

Nonnie was so kind to always let the grandkids help her in the kitchen! Definitely slows the progress down, but the kids love it and love playing with her!

10. Roasting Marshmallows

We had to test out the new roasting sticks we gave R's dad for Christmas. They were a success! L still does not like to eat plain chocolate, but he loved the graham!

"Smalls, do you wanna s'more?"

"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"

11. Play Gym

The kids LOVED it and so did we. Such a blast!

12. Taking a break

My favorite part of all was just being with Ry and L together. There were days apart, and I can safely say that the best time for me was when we were all together again!