Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful, but busy holiday this year. We were able to squeeze in a trip to see my family in Santa Fe and then Brian was able to ring in the New Year with his family in Minnesota. We always love our time in the mountains, but boy, that car ride just doesn't change. The kids did pretty well, but Henry is still not a fan of being confined for that long and neither one sleeps more than an hour or so.

Unfortunately, there was no snow on the ground this year. We had to drive up the mountain to play in the white stuff. Aubrey saved her pennies (literally) for a year in order to go skiing, so even though the snow was less than great, we weren't about to tell her no. Unfortunately, she got carsick on the way up to the ski area. Luckily, I had an extra shirt in the car and we managed to clean her up. She was not going to let that stop her. "I'm fine mommy, I promise... just go slow please on the turns daddy." Poor baby.

She walked right into ski school without hesitation. I was far more nervous than she was. Since only 20% of the mountain was open, Brian and I decided not to ski and just spent the day watching her and relaxing in the lodge. My parents came up with Henry for a little while, but as predicted, Henry still isn't a huge fan of the snow or cold. It was a LONG day. We dropped her off shortly after 8am and picked her up at 3:30pm. It was COLD that day and snowed almost the whole time. I never once heard her whine or complain about the cold. When we picked her up, she begged to go back the next day! I'm so glad her first experience was positive. She had a big class and I felt like she got lost in the shuffle for a while, but by the end of the day, she had some one on one instruction. I think she'll be able to ski with us next time!

Ready to hit the slopes

Is that even a hill?

The fog and snow rolled in... but she didn't seem to notice. Meanwhile, I was freezing!

Finally, she goes up the "big" hill

Here she comes...

and there she goes

Skier down

The next day was Christmas Eve and we made the annual trek to Canyon Road. Every year they close this gallery lined street to cars so you can walk, enjoy the christmas lights and farolitos, and warm up by a bonfire. This was the first time we've done this when there wasn't snow on the ground. We were all happy it was a little warmer, but we did miss the snow.

Ok, it's cold. Can we come in?

We headed back home and got the kids ready for bed and SANTA!!! The kids love reading with GiGi and Grandad.

Cookies for Santa

The kids went to bed pretty quickly, but Aubrey woke up around 2am to tell me that she couldn't hear Santa's sleigh bells over Daddy's snoring (tell me about it).

Christmas morning, the kids woke up happy and so excited to see if Santa had come for a visit. Aubrey's big Santa request this year was a pillow pet. He brought her a purple unicorn, which she has named Uni of course.

Santa brought Henry one too (a frog).

And what Christmas would be complete without a fairy dress-up box and a scooter?

On our last day, we took the kids up the mountain to go sledding. After one very short ride, this is what Henry thought of the idea... (no big shocker there).

Aubrey, on the other hand, loved every minute of it. I'm still questioning Brian's decision to sled with snow shoes on. Luckily, no one ended up with one lodged in their head.

After some hugs from mama, Henry at least warmed up to the idea of watching Aubrey and digging a snow tunnel with me, and throwing snow "base-a-balls."

Finally a big smile.
It was a great trip and a joyous Christmas!