More Christmas Morning

Yummy breakfast! Overnight Baked French Toast and

Breakfast Casserole. A lovely fruit plate including fresh

pineapple was created by Katie.

"I cannot live without books."

Thomas Jefferson, he knew how to put it in writing.

Opening gifts from Grandma.

It took Eric about 3 days to read the whole book. He loved it.

Three great women.

Christmas Morning!

The anticipation shows on everyone's face as they line

up youngest to oldest. The gift exchange is about to

begin!

Devin got some sturdy missionary luggage.

Eric got the Fifa soccer game for wii he was hoping for.

Santa left some pretty awesome double gage Nerf shotguns.

And Devin made everyone a sweet tie dye shirt.

They were a huge hit!

We had to laugh, Katie and Josh's gifts all seemed to come in large

square boxes!

Eric is testing out his new rocker chair with speakers.

Diane is happy to be getting a new cell phone.

And Dennis serenaded us the rest of the morning with

his new ukelele.

Thanks for the beautiful black pearl necklace Sweetheart!

It was fun to see that this year, the family was more excited

to give and see the looks on the faces of the recipients, than

to see what gifts they had been given.

Oh happy Christmas.

Christmas Eve

After dinner and a quick reading of the story of Christmas,

the pandamonium began! Presents being opened at a breakneck

pace, leaving trails of ribbons, tape and torn paper all over the room.

Each Christmas eve, Grandma Schenk gives pajama pants to the

grandkids, and each year, we make them put the pj's on and

trot them out in front of the tree for the traditional

"cousins in matching pajamas" pictures.

The boys tend to get a little sillier every year.

Hunter assured Grandma that his pj's fit just

fine, this is how they are being worn these days.

Bringing the new family members into the tradition.


Girls and their Grandma.

The guys just chillin.

Christmas Program

On Christmas Eve day we had our little family program.

Everyone participates with a stories or music. This is the

highlight of Christmas for me. The kids put a lot of effort

into finding just the right stories to share. And the music

of Christmas really sets the tone for the Christmas spirit.Devin sharing thoughts about the light of Christ and the lights

of Christmas.
Josh is our appointed piano player. It's wonderful to have
great music in our home!

Diane shares a touching story of a boy who sacrificed his

Christmas gift for a much more needy family.

We Three Kings! A Christmas classic. These guys can sing!

Mom joined us and shared the story of the Christmas Geese.

This was a powerful story illustrating the important mission of

Jesus Christ on the earth.

Eric started the day considering playing the saxophone for us,

but switched to guitar. Very nice!

Dennis shared a story of the kindness and generosity

that can be shared even by relative strangers to those

really in need.

A mixed quartet singing Silent Night.

Keith enjoying the warmth of family.

Katie and Josh started and finished the program with

two beautiful numbers sung acapella.

Thanks for your sharing your love and talents everyone!

Nothing says Christmastime like Snow!

We're on our way! Wednesday was the allotted day for

skiing and we really lucked out. The weather was

beautiful.

The mountain greets us with it's glorious views.

Me and my boys! They are so much fun to be with.

These guys love to ski together. They are both very accomplished

skiers, and challenge one another all day long. They had a great day.

Josh and Dennis hangin out on the slopes together.

Enjoying the Mountain

This was Dennis' second time skiing. The weather this day was

significantly better than his first day here at Mount Baker.

Last time it was snowing, very windy, and white out

conditions at the top. They shut down lifts early that time

the weather was so bad. But this day was beautiful,

clear, no wind, great visibility.

Josh and Katie enjoying the day. Josh was glad the chairlifts

were running. Last year they stopped a few times with us

just sitting there, unsure how long we'd be stuck. It was

usually around 10-20 minutes! Bummer!

One of the best reasons to ski is the beauty of the mountains

that you just can't see any other way then by actually

being on them.

There are so many mountains surrounding you, and the

view changes constantly throughout the day as the sun

and clouds change positions in the sky. It's truly amazing.

Picture of the day!