Snow has come but only after Christmas has come and gone. So much has happened I'm finding it hard to know where to begin blogging. I have more pictures than I know what to do with and more stories than I have time to tell! It's been a good vacation so far. We'll start with Christmas.....the festivities began early in December with Lee's family. This year we missed one due to bad weather and one because we were in Ohio. We went to school until Friday before Christmas. Friday night we got together with Lee's mom's side of the family. Thankfully one of the cousins is a Mental Health Therapist because I needed someone to process with after a HORRIBLE week. Saturday we got together with Lee's sisters and his stepbrothers and their families. To see some great shots of that Christmas go to the Zehr link and check out Megan's fancy slideshow. Here is my favorite shot of the evening. Lee with nephew Brayden.
Brayden with his da da Greg.
As I was looking through the photos I realized that it's a lot easier to get good shots of the immobile kid. Jarrett is so active and it makes for very brief opportunities for good photos.
We sure do get a kick out of our nephews. But I mean who wouldn't...just look at them!So then Sunday we spent the day taking down our Christmas tree and getting all our things around. Christmas eve morning was spent with Lee's siblings and folks. We got there early. Earlier than anyone expected!!! Then we had a great breakfast and opened up gifts. We got a chance to finally play Settlers with Aaron, Megan, and Greg. Mid afternoon we loaded up the Jeep and headed for Ohio.
We arrived late evening to the Wagner homestead and spent some time catching up with the family. A tip for any travelers....if you are on the road after 5:00pm on Christmas eve you may want to pack snacks and a diaper. We JUST made it to Walmart before it closed and I wet my pants. No food was to be found. It was a rough ride home. It came to the point we were so hungry we started eating left over dinner rolls from lunch. Yeah it was that bad.
In Ohio the men folk once again shot guns. This time they had sweet groundhog targets we got my dad for Christmas. Even ol' Miriam took some shots.
Note the large hole on the bottom right made by a shot gun with slugs in it. Lee and Dad were laughing REALLY hard when they were making those holes. It's good my dad has someone to do this kind of stuff with. Not that the girls don't participate....but Lee is much more enthusiastic!
My mom once again got us a one night stay at the rustic cabin by the ski lodge. This year we could actually see skiers on the hill from our window. It is such a great gift to have a romantic night away to relax and reconnect after the hustle and bustle of the end of school and holiday activities. A very thoughtful gift we got last year as a 6 month anniversary present and again this year as an "annual" trip. One of these years there is going to be enough snow that it will make it worth the expense of going skiing.
The Wagner family + Sniders at Christmas with the Ballmers.
We were able to spend a lot of quality time with both of our families over the holidays. I am so thankful that we both have such close families. Not only did we get to celebrate the birth of Christ and the joy of family....we got to give and receive some pretty amazing gifts. Our top gift was a 3rd generation green IPOD that plays videos (courtesy of the Wagner parentals). Lee listed his favs as : golf bag/putter, Columbia snow pants, and Spyder gloves. My favs included: the final pieces to my nativity, an Ohio State soft shell jacket, and something my dad made for me that has no official name....it looks like this: 
It's made out of walnut (his favorite) and has a cute handle. It looks like something a farrier would carry his tools in. Each of the pieces that my dad makes for me are SO special. They do tend to take him a long time to make.....but what an amazing gift.
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