Family Alive

We have been enjoying the snowy Christmas season up here. First, we went with Papa Dale and Aunt Kat to a house nearby growing a few Christmas trees for sale. We had a great time until the kids realized that getting snow in ones boots and gloves is not much fun when the temperature is only 15 degrees. Aunt Kat rescued Analise by switching gloves with her, and all was good.

	Analise and Papa Dale with the "chosen tree"
	Josiah and Aunt Kat pose for a picture while Papa Dale cuts the tree
	Trekking down the hill to find a Christmas tree
	Josiah enjoying being pulled back up the hill

Our next adventure was sledding on the steep hill just down the street. Kristine was worn out from taking care of the kids all day, so I took them down and had them take turns going down the hill until our very last run which resulted in the Analise / Josiah collision you can see in the video at the top. They were OK and laughing about it … “We ran into each other” … Josiah stutters excitedly “We just, just… ran into… each other”

	Bundled up and hiking through the snow in our frontyard
	Happy and ready to be pulled down to the sledding hill
	Analise and Josiah hike back up the hill after their first run

Last night we went ahead and opened presents since Kat was leaving today to head back to Denver. Everybody had a great time, and the kids helped play “Santa” by stacking all the presents into a pile and then helping everybody open their presents.

	Analise and her new "twin" doll
	Josiah and his new legos, which we had already made into a plane
	A family picture this morning

Today while I was working at the coffee shop, Kristine and Grandma Sandy took the kids to Spooner to have lunch and possibly go ice skating. Unfortunately, the ice skating rink was being “watered” to thicken up the ice. So they went and played on a snowy playground instead. Josiah went sliding off the slide super fast and into a snow bank giving himself a “snow bath” he was happy to tell me when they got home.

	On a see-saw like thing
	Analise swinging with the bright sunshine reflecting off the snow
	Josiah and Analise on the swings

Finally, we are battering down for a winter storm tomorrow night. The wind has already picked up quite a bit, and they are calling for close to a foot of snow here. Check out the map below where I added our approximate location here in Shell Lake, Wisconsin: