After Christmas Traditions

Growing up, we would always celebrate Christmas day at home, but the day after we would head over to Eastern Washington to let the festivities continue with my extended family. This year we flew in from Alaska two days after Christmas, so it wasn't in the plans for me to make the trek this years. However, my parents offered to hold off their travel plans for another day so G and I could go over with them. Unfortunately Adam had to stay at home and work, but I was SO thankful for the opportunity to spend time with family.

The night we got home from AK I rushed through 4 loads of laundry, quickly re-packed my bags and got up early in the morning to meet my parents. On the way there I was able to make a quick stop to see one of my dearest friends who was in town from New York. It was a very short visit, but I felt so blessed to have been able to see her. She and her husband gave G the cutest outfit for Christmas/birthday. I'll post pictures of that soon!

We got up to the lake in time for lunch and began a week long stretch of relaxing and spending time with family.
We celebrated with my Mom's side of the family. My aunt is an amazing cook, so we ate a ton of great food. I was also introduced to Scrabble Flash. Such a fun game!
I tried to take a picture with G. This is the best one... He's really into sticking out his tongue these days.
Grayson was very gentle with the trees and ornaments this season. He is going through a phase of pretending to eat things. Imaginary things pulled off of books or the ground. He did this "pretend eating" with the Christmas trees as well. Hmmm...not sure what this funny phase is all about.

Another night we celebrated with Grandma Dorothy and Uncle Carl. we had dinner together and played at Grandma's house. Grayson had lots of fun playing with Uncle Carl!
There was a ton of snow at the lake, and I took full advantage of it on morning snowshoeing walks. This shadow blob is my dad and I out one morning. The sun was shining and it was beyond gorgeous outside.Bauer was my companion the next morning. He kept us going at a fast clip as he hunted in the snow for twigs he could attack.
Adam came on Friday! G and I were SO happy to have him there. We took Grayson out for a little sledding in the front yard. He adored the snow and was very curious about it. This was the first time he's reached out to touch it on his own.
Saturday morning Adam and I went over to Khaler Glen for more snowshoeing. We were adventurous and carved our own path in the snow. What a workout! It's tough work climbing through all that powder!

On New Years Eve we celebrated by banging pots and pans and running around outside in the snow, and then we watched as people all around the lake set off fireworks. Such a perfect night!
We took G out for one more sled ride. He just laid down at one point and stared at the trees as we pulled him along.

This trip was the perfect end to the year!