Christmas vacation.

I can't believe they're not terrified of 15 braying donkeys trying to steal one carrot. Look at that one above Liesel! Yikes!

The wild horses were a hit. 

Ridgecrest is one of the corral areas for wild horses. Did you know our tax dollars are used to round up wild horses and then feed them for the rest of their lives? They are. At least L & H got to enjoy feeding them!

Ski day at Mammoth!!

We didn't have a high chair until the last day. Hannah broke one plate, tried to crawl on the table every meal and ate every meal standing up in her captain's chair. 

Merry Christmas!

We met up with Ryan (my bro) and his awesome family north of LA. We almost snuck in a trip surfing at the beach in Santa Monica where they live, but they wanted to see the kids. . . our selfish plan was foiled! :)

 Ridgecrest, California is warm. I'm pretty sure we went to the park and played every day. And I mean we. Brian, Matt and I found his old baseball mitts and ball and played catch, basketball and frisbee almost every time. We had contests to see who could jump out of the swing farthest (it got a little crazy guys). We played hide and seek on a hill covered in boulders and tried to one-up B on the monkey bars (turns out he can hang by his toes ;) ). 

Playing with B at the park is yet another sign he I were made for each other. We really are so much alike.

Brian, Matt and I woke up one morning at 5:30 am and arrived at Mammoth mountain in time for the lifts to open. It was an entire day (we stopped for 25 minutes to eat lunch-- and that was it) of skiing-- my legs were on fire. I had driven by the Sierra's once, but totally forgot how massive and impressive they are. The bare rock and huge summits completely rival the Teton skyline. We have to back in summer and climb! Anyway-- skiing was a dream. I had no idea how good Brian was. He was rippin' down double blacks. Meanwhile I was slowly carving my way down the blues. Still, it was phenomenal. And thanks to a free one week pass at the new gym, I snuck in a few mile swims and lots of workouts. 

Christmas Eve was great-- we stuffed ourselves full of ham, rolls, salad and chocolate cake with ganache and blackberries-- then had a program we followed from the Friend, which turned out fantastic and sang a bunch of carols. After the kids went to bed we finished stockings and wrapping presents while watching It's a Wonderful Life. 

Morning was magical.

We got to Skype with Sarah in Denmark! The kids LOVED opening their gifts and I didn't regulate candy consumption one bit. Hannah was in heaven. Neither one of them like Vienna sausages, which was always the #1 highlight for my childhood Christmas mornings. Who doesn't like a combination of animal fat/strange meats in a tube, raw out of the can? Common! :)

And! We got to see Ryan, Kiyomi and the kids! It was so great to see them-- we ran around the park, played and laughed. And I shopped. A stressful 3 hrs at the mall without a cell phone and lots of confusion, but I spent every dime of my Christmas money in those three hours. 

What a wonderful Christmas!