We kicked off the holiday season with a stroll down Snowflake Lane. It is a place where every night, live toy soldiers come out and drum lining the streets of Bellevue Way. It is really cool. They play all sorts of Christmas music and they have characters dressed up as Rudolph, Frosty, Snow Queens, etc. Here is Liam and Jeb with a toy soldier on stilts. They pass out candy for the performance. Then for the finale they blow bubbles from the top of the buildings so that it "snows" every night. It was really fun and we were able to go twice this year. I would have taken pictures of River, but she slept in the stroller through both times we were there. Liam was afraid of the characters, he commented afterwards both times that he wished they would just dress up like people.
Speaking of snow, we were given a generous share of snow the week before Christmas. This was our first snow day where we went for a walk to a nearby restaurant. It is so quiet here when it snows. Everyone slows down and stays in. We had a great time staying home during a time when usually we are running errands frantically looking for the perfect gift. This year we just enjoyed sitting in our nice warm apartment with the glow of the Christmas lights going. Liam helped me make cookies and we ate a lot of family dinners at home. And Liam has really grown up from years past regarding snow. He discovered how much he loves it. We built a snow man, had snow ball fights, and we finally had to have him come in because his hands had turned to ice.
Here is our girl all bundled up for her walk in the snow. Don't you just want to reach out and squeeze her cheeks.

And during the snow, it was also a milestone event. Here is River before her last meal of exclusively drinking milk. It amazes me still that she has grown from a brand new 7 lb 5 oz, 19.25" girl to this....20 lbs and 27 " all on the food that God gave me to give to her. It is a pretty amazing thing that He made and so good for her to! Aren't they all so sweet!

This is our latest. Jeb had an all-nighter for the teens this past weekend and they kicked off the weekend with ice skating in downtown Bellevue. It used to be under a tent, but when all the snow came, the tent collapsed and so now it is so beautiful. You can skate with the white Christmas lights on the trees around you and the downtown skyline right behind you. Simply beautiful and fun. I didn't skate, but the kids and I bundled up to watch Jeb skate. Please excuse me for a moment where I have to boast in Jeb's ice-skating abilities. He is really agile on the ice...I guess all those years of roller blading as a kid have paid off! He makes it look so easy. I wish I could skate even half as good as he does! This photo does not do any justice to how pretty and magical it all was. This photo is facing the ice rink with the city behind in it. Such a fun time!