Butternut

Emily and I went skiing at Butternut with Kara and Cameron (from Colorado). Butternut is a small ski area in Great Barrington Ma and it is where I grew up skiing and Kara and I taught there for 6 seasons. It was quite a surreal feeling to be back there, with Emily, after a 20 year absence. The weather was VERY cold and windy but the kids did not seem to be bothered by it and Emily loved it. She wanted to keep going but poor Grammy, who took all the photos, was almost frozen.

Thank you to Grammy for taking all the pictures

Do we look fast?

The first run on the magic carpet

And To All A Good Night....

Christmas Morning

After Emily walked into the living room on Christmas morning the only thing she said was "Where is the brown baby?" That is the only thing she wanted and she did not fully understand that the other gifts were for her as well!

Checking out the stuff....

Finally..the brown baby

The best present

Christmas Eve

We usually spend Christmas Eve with Ricky and Dougy and we go to the Homestead for dinner. This year Ricky is spending Christmas with Kendall's family so we decided to change it up a little. As many of you know, and some who don't, Doug has befriended many of the African refugee children in Manchester. He acts as a big brother of sorts to many children. He takes them to the Y, the library, helps with homework, etc. he spends a lot of time and money on these children and he loves every second of it!.
We decided to have 10 kids over for Christmas Eve! We made gingerbread houses, had pizza, and they all got several presents each! For almost all of the children, it will be the only Christmas they have.
It was a wonderful day. As the children opened one gift at a time, they would clap for each other and Emily would play the drum! The excitement the kids showed over their gifts was indescribable..... such joy you could not imagine, over football gloves, or a CD, or a diary. The kids were like bottomless pits while eating the pizza, they all at at least 5 pieces each!
Emily loved having them here and was in her glory all day!

making gingerbread houses

watching Junior open his football

Betty, one of my favorites

playing the drum as the kids open presents

Emily and the kids

Dougy and the kids

Marrying Veil

Emily and I have been reading a book titled Flower Girl. In the book the little girl tries on a veil so I took this as a sign, and photo opportunity, and broke out my "marrying veil". The look on Emily's face was priceless when I showed it to her. She told me she was going to wear it when she gets married!

No Dress Needed

Mothers of boys always say, "It does not matter if I don't buy them guns, they will make a gun out of anything." Well here is Emily in a Marrying Dress made out of a blanket. You mean she does not need and of those lovely princess dresses? She has spent a lot of time in this dress over the last few days!

Emily and Dougy's Kids

On Friday evening we went to see the movie The Princess and the Frog with 4 of , as Emily calls them, Dougy's brown kids. It was the first time Emily has been to a movie theater and she loved it! The movie was not my favorite Disney movie, but Emily loved it and did not find it too scary. After the movie the girls came over for pizza and Emily was tickled to have them at her house. Emily learned the fine art of braiding hair and we all had a great time!

A New House

While installing a new kitchen, photos to come upon completion, there are a lot of big boxes just hanging around. Today, Emily and I made a little house out of one box. Emily painted, put stickers on, and wrote her name, all over the outside of the house! Of course Lily was one of the first to go in the house with Emily!

Trimming the Tree

Emily was beyond excited to pick out and decorate our Christmas tree! This is the first year that she really "gets" Christmas. It is so fun to watch her in all of the holiday festivities. She is only asking Santa for two things, and does not understand that she could ask for several more. I have not offered this information either... I know it is only a matter of time before she wants many, many things. It is possible that I am more excited about Christmas morning than she is!

Helping Lily hang an ornament!

Shabbat Dinner

On Friday night we went to Emily's school for a Shabbat Potluck dinner. All the dishes had to be vegetarian, as it is a meat free facility. You can imagine how Rick felt about this but actually everything was quite delicious. Without a kitchen, photos to come upon completion, I could not cook (darn the luck) so I brought/bought dessert......and the blue frosted cupcakes, yes, I brought them too...whoops!

Emily and her two best buddies...Maggie and Evie!

David and Katie

In the above photo you will see Emily, David, and Katie. David and Katie are Emily's friends and they have been around for a month or two. They ride in the car when we take Emily to school, they dance, and here Emily is making their birthday cake. They come and go, but lately they have been around quite a bit. When they are not with Emily they are usually at their house with their Mom. It is unclear to me if they are actually related to each other or not. I love that Emily has these "friends", it shows great imagination.

This video is a little long, but worth it if you want to find out about David's shoe color....

Snow Day!

Friends

We spent some quality time with our favorite boy yesterday! Once Emily gets over her fear of Baby Cam's cat, all is well! Emily balanced on a toy that she did not remember being hers, danced around, and was so excited that Baby Cam is staring to talk!

Sharing...sort of...

so cute!

Breakfast With Santa

On Sunday morning the Y hosted Breakfast with Santa. It is an amazing event complete with Santa, at least 10 craft tables, tons of food, and a whole bunch of fun. This is the first year Emily really got into many of the crafts! She had a great time and so did we!

Emily is asking for a brown baby and a purple princess hat!

Making a snowman!!!!!!!!!!

Emily and Bitty

On Friday night we went to Midnight Merriment in Concord. Emily wanted to make sure Bitty would not be cold so she put her snowsuit on her. Bitty was not cold and we had a great time riding on a wagon drawn by horses, seeing Santa, and doing a little shopping!

Many Talents.....?

Not only can she dance, she can sing too.....her career path is forming.....

Grammy and Emily

We spent Thanksgiving at Uncle Dave's and Aunt Karin's. Emily took this opportunity to dance with Grammy, and thankfully Grammy obliged!

Sunset from David's house