Merry Christmas everyone.

This salutation comes a bit late, but it's been a good one.

Just some thoughts: The Christmas season has always been characterized for me by a remarkable pairing of obnoxious holiday cheer (busy songs, loud colors, etc.) with nostalgic peacefulness (cozy fireplaces with snow outside, classy table-settings with savory food, etc.). It has been fun, as our family gets older, to be able to focus more on the latter and less on the former. It is fun to see kids putting more thought into their presents as they get older. It is fun to be able to focus on relaxing family time instead of on the holiday hustle and bustle. The internet has been a huge time-saver when it comes to shopping. It is fun to just settle into a vacation, like sitting in a familiar old chair, rather than attacking it like a foe on the battlefield.

There isn't much more to say. Christmas morning was rather understated- nothing wild- just the way it should be. For the next week or so, Rachel and the kids will be in Las Vegas with Rachel's sister. I will be home...but not at home. I have to work a few of the days, but in the meantime I will be climbing, playing the guitar, and skiing. I head out today with some friends to BC where we'll ice climb over the weekend. It should be good.

Enjoy some pictures, and have a happy new year.

Rach and I went to see the tour of Broadway's "Waitress." Definitely a fun night out.

Evelyn and Rach went on an Eagle cruise on the lake. Every year, hundreds of Bald Eagles come to nest on these shores. It is pretty spectacular. You can almost always count on seeing many fish grabs. Evelyn has been "into" birds for a long time now, so this was a special treat for her.

Rachel rang the bell individually with each of the 4 oldest kids. This has become a tradition.

New PJs on Christmas eve. Thank you Dianna and Dave!

I had to put this somewhere, because I thought it was cute. On my amp: "You ROCK, Litterly. -Jack" (Sic)

We haven't had much snow lately, making for some excellent family walks. 

This family walk wasn't so excellent. On Christmas day, Lindsey fell and hit her chin on a rock, requiring a couple of stitches. Not the funnest way to spend Christmas afternoon, but she was a champ. And Santa even came to the hospital for a special visit.

Family ice skating day! I love the movement in the last picture. We had fun.

We went and walked around downtown. We started at the library where the kids explored the bookshelves for a long time. The ultimate destination, however, was a small park where our church was doing a "neigh-tivity"- basically a petting zoo with camels and sheep and stuff. There were lots of people there and we had a good time.

You'll have to forgive the obvious edit, but we didn't really stand out otherwise.

 My office went to a hockey game. I have never been to a hockey game before and I didn't know what to expect. I got more into the game than I thought I would and found myself cheering out of my seat during the exciting overtime finish. Also, it was the teddy bear toss night, and the coolest part was after the home team scored their first goal and people (including us) started throwing stuffed animals onto the ice- over 7,000 of them! It looked like stuffy rain! It was crazy! They will all be given to hospitals and charities.

We got our Christmas tree. It now stands proudly in our living room and is making our house smell wonderful.

As soon as all the kids were off to school on Monday, Rachel and I hit the slopes on our own. We also got almost all of our Christmas shopping done on the ride to and from the resort. Great day!

Have a good week!

The holiday season continues around here with lots of fun and traditions on the horizon. This week the big project was getting our Christmas lights up on the house, and we were none too soon as it started to snow just as I was plugging in the last strand. It was perfect- like the weather gods had been waiting patiently for me to get off the roof before pulling the levers that changed Fall into Winter.

Winter also means the ski resorts start to open, and we took our first family outing on Sunday after church. The kids haven't forgotten a thing, and we all had a good time.

Lindsey wins for whipeout of the day. That is why she is wearing my gloves. Hers are full of snow! 

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Also, we are pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 gingerbread competition. Team A won by a landslide! Both teams did great though. Good times.

Have a good week!

Note: Even if you don't read this blog, please vote on the gingerbread houses. The stakes are enormous! Pictures are at the BOTTOM of this post. Choose your favorite and leave a comment on here, on Facebook, or just tell us in person. 

Thank you!

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In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving we had a couple notable happenings including a "friendsgiving" at our house, school pictures, parent/teacher conferences, and some exciting developments at work that will come out at a later time. We also did some hiking, went to some movies, had fun on dates, watched a lot of football, and lived the good life up here in North Idaho. I didn't write about these things as they happened because I didn't really feel like it.

Here's school pictures:

(They are all a little bit grainy because they are proofs They did not offer the option for digital downloads and we really only use them for the blog and I could do a better job with my cell phone anyway. Just putting them up here for documentary purposes. It just seems like the expected thing to do.)

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Now that we got that stuff out of the way I can write about Thanksgiving. My parents and grandparents came up for the holiday and we had a great time hanging out with them. We had a wonderful time and made some great memories!  Here are some pictures to show off the highlights:

Thanksgiving dinner. I don't know why I look like a mentally challenged deer in the headlights, but it's the only photo we had. I guess I'll take one for the team here.

Hot chocolate at the Coeur d'Alene parade and holiday lighting ceremony at the resort. 

Hiking around in the newly formed Post Falls Community Forest

Bowling. Can I just say that Rachel is pretty awesome!

Milkshakes

Adult night out. We went to dinner and then watched the Ellen Travolta Christmas show at the resort. It was kinda like listening to a staged reading of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

*****

Gingerbread Houses!

Many people know that we always do an annual gingerbread house competition at our house. The winner is decided by votes. If you are reading this, then that means you, as well as the people who you are with at the time, as well as all of your friends who you are going to show this to. Right? Okay. So, choose your favorite, and let us know which one you like best by leaving a comment here, or on Facebook, or by just telling us in person or on the phone, or via IM, or in an email, or even in a letter that you put in a real mailbox.



Actually, don't do the letter thing. We only check our mail about once a month. But anything else is great- the more votes the better!



This year we have two structures to choose from:



Team A

A lighthouse by the sea. Please take special notice of the furniture inside, the ocean animals, and the "pretzel-work" around the lamp.

Team B

 A more traditional Christmas Cottage with Santa landing on the roof. The "guy" on the front is actually supposed to be a bird.

So...which one will it be? Let us know, and have a good week!

Happy Halloween!

We have lots of candy at our house. Kids were up late. Fun day. I've decided that Halloween should always be celebrated on weekends.

A "nice spider bride" who "shoots black widows out of her hands"

Lindsey at preschool. Check out Rachel's dress :)

Kids with Lou- their children's leader at church. She is moving to San Francisco later this month and our family will definitely miss her.