MeRrY cHrIsTmAs

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Much love from our family to yours.

Ski School

Our first family ski day! Alan will be skiing for a week in January with his dad, uncles (Glenn and Don), and family friend (Tom). Roger and Tom thought it would be good to test out their legs by skiing in Michigan before heading to Lake Tahoe. Enter us. Alan decided it would be good for him to go as well. I decided it would be fun for Thomas and I to tag along :)

We left early this morning for the 2.5 hour drive to Cadillac, Mi. We skiied at Caberfae Peaks. They, like us, haven't had much snow yet this season. They've been making snow at night and had about a third of their runs open. Getting ready to head down with Daddy. Thomas looks so grown up to me in this picture. I can hardly stand it. He is growing up too fast!

Whoa, buddy. Thomas loved going fast down the hills. He spent the majority of his time skiing between Alan's legs. I took him down a couple of times as well. It is HARD work skiing down in a snowplow with a kid between your legs. Our legs are going to be sore in the morning! Thomas skiied independently when we would get closer to the bottom of the runs. Surprisingly, he was pretty well balanced.

Trying another method - holding onto Dad's ski pole while skiing next to him. This method didn't work quite as well.

Carrying his skis.

A little ski school. Alan, Grandpa, and Tom all helped Thomas learn how to go down the hill. I think Roger and Tom had a good time working with a little one on the slopes again. They taught their kids how to ski when they were about T's size. Riding up the chair lift with mom.

Skiing was a fun family activity. It was so rewarding to see Thomas trying something new, even though he was nervous, and succeeding!

One Lucky Boy

Our Christmas celebrations started last weekend. Thomas is one lucky little boy. We had a short visit with Grandpa on Monday morning. Grandpa Dale and Grandma Pam bought Thomas some new Legos. He is a little Lego boy these days. He had a great time putting together some new trucks. (Sadly, we had to cancel our big Christmas on Monday because Alan was sick.)On Sunday, we had Christmas with Grammy, Uncle Mike, and Aunt Bri. Uncle Mike and Aunt Bri got Thomas these awesome new pajamas and cuddly robe. Grammy made T's day with the Slush Magic, games, and goodies.

We were all pretty skeptical about the Slush Magic. Surprisingly, it works! No blender, no mess....

Chores

Whenever we visit the grandparents, Thomas gets chores. Now, these chores are more fun than the ones at home. Yesterday, we arrived at my mom's house. Like usual, she had some chores for him. Here's his list: use the dustbuster, fill the fridge with juice boxes, pop, and bottled water, set out bowls of candy, nuts, and snacks. He took the fridge filling job very seriously. So seriously that we won't be able to fit any food in there. We thought is was hilarious that he sat down in the fridge to complete his work. In case you're wondering - chores at the grandparents = cash. Chores at home = room and board.

First Snow (finally!)

We have been disappointed in the snowfall amounts so far this year. We didn't even get measurable snow until December 9th. How is this winter loving family supposed to survive?!

In true Thomas fashion, he was eager to get out and play in this freshly fallen snow. Just like last year (and the year before), he had to cram all of his favorite snow activities into this first snow.

We have our fingers crossed for a snowy Christmas vacation. I'm sure we are in the minority here. We love the snow!

Fall Photo Shoot

We had some family pictures taken over Thanksgiving weekend.

I love this candid shot of us. All cheeses.

The whole Asiala clan.

Wowza

It has been over a month since my last post. Oops, sorry! Well, how about a bunch of catch up posts?