So... yeah, happy Mid February everybody! Sorry about the delay, the end of 2009 was pretty crazy with family, a new job for Risa, and yeah... Anyhew, Christmas was pretty neat as Risa's mom was in town for a couple of days and we got to spend some time with her Christmas Day, Michael's family Christmas Eve, and Risa's extended family from Colorado the day after Christmas. We got to go ice-skating up in Midway a-la Risa's amazing grandparents, and we helped our niece Kristianna (3) go ice skating for the first time. We kinda forgot to take many pictures at Christmas, so we'll have to make do with lots of pictures from New Years, or at least New Years Day as we had a rockin' sledding party up at Michael's parents' house. It was a blast! Risa's sister and her family came up, Michael's brother and sister and their families were there, his best friend Darin was there (they've been friends since they were 11 or so), and some of Michael's extended family came too. Here's a bit about what we did:
We went sledding down the enormous hill in Michael's parents' back yard, this is us with our niece Sarah (1.5) after we landed at the bottom, she was a little frozded but she Loved the snow. When she first got out there she would literally fall flat on her face and just eat the snow while lying there face down, it was hilarious.
Risa got to build a snowman with our niece Kristianna (the most adorable creature in the whole world), in honor of building them with her aunt Mary and aunt Carolyn when she was young. She doesn't really remember building them back then, but she remembers looking at the pictures of them like this and thinking that was cool. Kristianna just plopped on the snow in front of the snowman for the picture, she just wanted some more Sprite from her pappa and was a bit worn out from sledding.
We got to take out the four-wheelers and zoom around in the snow, well, at least Michael and lots of the other adults did, Risa was a bit chicken. He even took our first born, Bosa, for a short ride. Bosa likes to bark at and chase the four-wheelers, he sure loves grandma's house! We also took him down with us on the sled a couple of times, he seemed to enjoy it but one can never tell...
We had a crazy awesome time with the annual Christmas tree burn. Michael's dad and brother gathered up tons of Christmas trees from the side of the road (people had put them out to be collected and tossed, we had better ideas for them), so we had quite the spectacle as they set them alight one by one. It was nice and warm on that snowy day for a few minutes :)
Here's another picture of our niece Kristianna and her mom, Risa's sister Tabitha. They were SO cute walking up the hill and coming down, Kristianna would get a huge grin on her face and say "let's go again!" Playing with nieces and nephews was one of the biggest highlights of the whole day, here are some more pictures Risa likes:
Michael and our nephew Rand (5) making faces for the camera.
Our niece Jezzy (1) and Eli (10 months at the time), actually sharing magnets at the fridge, they were so cute!
The most awesome Uncle Michael taking Rand, Riley (3), and Sarah up the hill to go down on the sled.
The best husband in the world taking Kristianna up for one last (maybe turned into a few last) trips down the hill before it was time to go in. (Can you tell Risa dropped the camera in the snow? At least the effect is cool, almost makes it more awesome). You can see more at our second online photo album :)
We went sledding down the enormous hill in Michael's parents' back yard, this is us with our niece Sarah (1.5) after we landed at the bottom, she was a little frozded but she Loved the snow. When she first got out there she would literally fall flat on her face and just eat the snow while lying there face down, it was hilarious. 
Risa got to build a snowman with our niece Kristianna (the most adorable creature in the whole world), in honor of building them with her aunt Mary and aunt Carolyn when she was young. She doesn't really remember building them back then, but she remembers looking at the pictures of them like this and thinking that was cool. Kristianna just plopped on the snow in front of the snowman for the picture, she just wanted some more Sprite from her pappa and was a bit worn out from sledding. 
We got to take out the four-wheelers and zoom around in the snow, well, at least Michael and lots of the other adults did, Risa was a bit chicken. He even took our first born, Bosa, for a short ride. Bosa likes to bark at and chase the four-wheelers, he sure loves grandma's house! We also took him down with us on the sled a couple of times, he seemed to enjoy it but one can never tell...
We had a crazy awesome time with the annual Christmas tree burn. Michael's dad and brother gathered up tons of Christmas trees from the side of the road (people had put them out to be collected and tossed, we had better ideas for them), so we had quite the spectacle as they set them alight one by one. It was nice and warm on that snowy day for a few minutes :) 
Here's another picture of our niece Kristianna and her mom, Risa's sister Tabitha. They were SO cute walking up the hill and coming down, Kristianna would get a huge grin on her face and say "let's go again!" Playing with nieces and nephews was one of the biggest highlights of the whole day, here are some more pictures Risa likes:
Michael and our nephew Rand (5) making faces for the camera.
Our niece Jezzy (1) and Eli (10 months at the time), actually sharing magnets at the fridge, they were so cute! 
The most awesome Uncle Michael taking Rand, Riley (3), and Sarah up the hill to go down on the sled. 
The best husband in the world taking Kristianna up for one last (maybe turned into a few last) trips down the hill before it was time to go in. (Can you tell Risa dropped the camera in the snow? At least the effect is cool, almost makes it more awesome). You can see more at our second online photo album :)
