a very merry christmas

i have so SO much blogging to catch up on. every time i think about sitting down to do it, i realize i will miss out on another adventure. then i start to feel guilty, like i shouldn't stop living my life just cause the blog isn't up to date. slowly but surely i will get it all on here. i promise. 

we all had a wonderful christmas in truckee. coen was so fun and really had the christmas spirit. i just love this kid, and all of his precious cuteness. i also love that every year seems to exceed the last. i hope it just stays that way, always getting sweeter. 

heading up to see what santa brought. 

after all that gift opening we headed out to the frozen lake for some ice skating. coen really couldn't leave his new trike behind, so we took it with us. uncle bubs pulled him around on the ice and it was pretty much the most fun you could have on a frozen lake with a trike. 

i think frozen lakes are scary, but also so cool. and a lot of fun.

the night before christmas

i love christmas eve so much. after all the work is done we go to sleep knowing how magical it will be for coen when he wakes up. i love it. 

before coen went to bed we set out some snacks for santa and his reindeer. he was very concerned that we didn't have any grass for the reindeer, but i assured him that celery would be a treat. he was skeptical. but he did think it was important to leave santa a reminder that he wanted a really big airplane. 

good thing santa was on top of it. 

once he was nestled all snug in his bed, preparations began...

um...clearly this is a to be continued. 

merry birthday

christmas eve is not just the eve of jesus' birth, but also my super cool cousin nikki's birthday. to celebrate i took her down to reno to test our luck on the slots. we actually did this on the eve of her birthday, and it was really pretty fun. 

also, we both won big. 

on her real birthday wes and i made bananas foster and it was pretty stinking delicious. and there may or may not have been some tequila shots going down. but you didn't hear it from me.

joy to the world!

uncle bubs & aunty shelley

we were so lucky to get to head out to the ranch and visit uncle bubs & aunty shelley. coen loved everything on the ranch; cows, dogs, horses, tractors and even a cat. but mostly he loved him some aunty shelley. we wish we lived closer so we could do this more often. coen is so blessed to have such cool people in his life. 

ice sledding

what happens when it is 12ish degrees at night, but not snowing? the lakes freeze over! fun, right? it really is super cool and a little scary...but mostly beautiful. this lake is just down the road from the house and we hopped over there a couple days ago for yet another frozen adventure. 

we didn't think coen was quite ready for ice skates, but he loved being pulled around on this sled. pompa (wes' mom's dad) made this sled in his wood shop class in grade school. we are guessing it is at least 70 years old. it was the perfect ride for gliding around on the frozen lake. 

 

the ice is 10-12 inches thick and constantly settling and cracking. i was a bit nervous at first, but quickly got over that because it was just so stinking cool. the sound of the cracking ice bouncing around the lake  is so cool and totally impossible to describe. so i won't try. 

 pompa himself pulling the little adventurer around.

and the best for last, pop pop showed off his ice skating skills. the dogs helped.