Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Snowy House

I thought you'd enjoy seeing our cozy new little house covered in snow. We had about a foot dumped on us a couple weeks ago and Maya had four days off of school. It was truly a winter wonderland.

Ice Skating in Idaho

We traveled across the state to Sandpoint, Idaho for Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend to see Aaron's family and enjoy the snow. Of course, there WAS NO SNOW in Idaho, so we had to settle for some fantastic ice skating on the lake. Maya and Sam both got ice skates for Christmas last year, and lo and behold. both pairs fit their owners. So it was a wonderful time to be together and learn some new ice skating skills.

Maya and Sam ready to head down to the lake.

Our first venture onto the ice.

With some practice, Maya nailed it!

A magazine pose. Tee-hee.

Sam spent a reasonable amount of time sitting DOWN.

I love being anywhere with this wonderful human being.

Maya and Mom enjoyed skating together.

A family pose on the ice.

Friends

Maya and Sam love hanging out with their friends. January was a busy month for spending time with our favorite people.

Our favorite Alaskan friend Elise celebrated her 4th birthday in Everett.

Maya was sick, but Sam and Mom got to go to Elise's party.

Lilli and Avery love to play dress up with Sam.

When Kolbi came for the evening, she had a pajama party with Maya and Sam.

Sam loves his buddy Kolbi. They'll start kindergarten together in 18 months!

Getting together with some other Eklunds

In late December, following Christmas, our immediate Eklund family traveled across to the Olympic Peninsula to visit another set of Eklunds, my uncle, aunt, and cousins. Some of our kids got to meet for the first time--it was a bunch of second cousin goodness.

Maya, Sam, and their second cousin Michelle.

My aunt, uncle, cousins Christine and Mark, and Christine's girls.

Annemarie and Christine's babies!

All the second cousins together (except Desi and Dekker, of course).

And the cousins. I still think we all look pretty good.

Cookie Baking

Every year, my side of the family gets together to bake cookies in anticipation of Christmas. It's become quite the tradition--I think we've done it for the past 7 or 8 years now. Last year in addition to the baking, we added an "adults only" holiday concert at the end of the evening. This year it was a choral concert in Seattle. It was such a wonderful day.

Maya and Sam hard at work baking.

Mom and I in our aprons! So Eklund.

Sam and Marmie roll out Swedish almond butter cookies.

The cousins, plus Parker.

The "old foagies" (oh, did I actually type that?)

And the women, who did most of the baking.