Over Christmas break we enjoyed doing some fun things as a family. We went to the movies and saw Tangled, and even got popcorn and drinks, which was a real treat since it costs over fifty dollars for our family to go to the movies, and that's before concessions! The other fun thing we did is go skiing (all of us except for Merinda). The picture above is a really far away picture of the closest ski resort to us, "Perfect North", which is in Indiana (about an hour's drive).
Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me, so I am posting what few pictures Aubrey took with her new camera. Since it was the first time skiing for most of us (Brad's second), I didn't want Aubrey taking her new camera on the slopes. I think that was a good idea since every time I saw Aubrey she was on the ground trying to get up (she did much better once she got on the slopes, it was just standing in place that seemed to be the most difficult for her). Here is a before picture of Brittney who is all ready to go.
Here is the after picture of Brittney. She looks a little more serious, or maybe that's the look of pure exhaustion and bone-chilling cold. Christina, the girls friend, also looks a bit worn-out.
We went skiing with several families from the ward in order to get the group discount. Skiing is almost as expensive as going to the movies! Here we all are getting into our skiing gear, or at least here are all the guys putting on their gear. Good thing Aubrey has her priorities straight when it comes to taking pictures!
Here is the whole gang enjoying an authentic Mexican feast, just outside of Cincinnati. The warmth and food never felt or tasted so good!
For New Year's Eve we had a great time bowling with friends at Cosmic Bowling alley (the lights go off in the evening and everything, including the balls, are glow-in-the-dark). Here is our friend Mark Allen getting ready to bowl a strike (incidently, Mark and Bridgette's team won our friendly competition due to their amazing bowling skills).
We had a fun time the rest of the night just visiting, playing games, and snacking on good food.
Brittney made two dessert pizzas for the occasion, which were almost too pretty to eat (so I had to take a picture). And they were oh so yummy! We rang in the new year with a toast of sparkling cider and a game of charades (guys against girls). Surprisingly, the guys held their own and even almost won. It was entertainment at its finest and the perfect way to start off the new year. We want to thank everyone who came and celebrated with us - it was a lot of fun!
I Christmas began with our traditional Christmas Eve candle-light dinner, and reading/singing of the Christmas Story.
Christmas morning we took the traditional picture top of the stairs, only this year there are a few more smiles since it was 9:00 am instead of 6:00 am!
Merinda enjoyed all her gifts which she meticulously placed for the picture.
Breck was thrilled about his purple tie. . .
But definitely his favorite gift was his new I-Touch (of which he already earned half the money for). But I guess seeing is believing.
Brittney too was pretty happy about her new I-Touch. I don't know what got into Santa this year, but I do think all the strings that are (and will be) attached to those i-touches might subdue some of the kid's giddiness, and make Santa feel a little better.
Aubrey just enjoyed taking pictures of herself and her friends with her new camera!
My favorite part of Christmas. . .not working a 12 hour shift on Christmas day (like last year). And just relaxing with nowhere to go in the cold and snow, or nothing pressing to do!
The last concert of the year was Merinda's Performing Morgan concert which almost didn't happen due to snow. All of Georgetown shuts down when it snows so the kids got an extra week of Christmas break this year!
Merinda was part of the exclusive Angel Choir (which did sound beautiful, I have to admit). The only tricky part was coming up with a halo at the last minuet. I always thought halo's were supposed to float above the head (and in Merind's case, way above the head!). At least these angels didn't require wings!
In addition to playing instruments and singing, the Performing Morgans also danced. All of this occurred over a period of about twenty minuets - it was the perfect kind of performance!
There is a house down the road from our church building that is plastered with Christmas lights.
This year I made Brad stop so the kids could get a better look, and I could take some cool pictures. Little did I know that the lights were also synchronized to Christmas music which played continuously.
Brad thought it was all a bit too much and it stressed him out to think about the power bill, or to imagine he was one of the neighbors who had to listen to the music 24/7 and witness the steady stream of spectators. I just enjoyed taking it all in, and appreciated the fact that the kids had just as much fun looking at the lights of this one house as they would have viewing the Horse Park light show (which has about the same number of lights but costs a ton of money). So thank you overdone Christmas lights house for the free light show!
We topped off our Christmas celebrations with a plate full of homemade goodies the kids baked and delivered to friends and neighbors. The treat that didn't make the picture were the kid's hand-dipped white and chocolate pretzels, about a million of them!
