Pictures from December

Caroling with Friends and Family:

Christmas Day 2010

We enjoyed spending the day together as a family, relaxing, reading, crafting, talking..etc.  I didn't take many pictures, but I pulled a few of my favorites from the ones that were taken.

I hope all of you had a great Christmas, celebrating our Saviour's birth!

Connor thoroughly enjoyed setting up his toy soldiers and creating battles all day 

A yummy Christmas day tradition is Mom's cinnamon rolls!

Though Eli is about as tall as Rick and I now, he hasn't quite reached our wrestling level. :o)  At least he is cheerful even when he is on the bottom!

Nate enjoyed his "tool box". 

Anna is always happy to lend a hand when it comes to setting the table.

Yes, when you wake up at 5:30 in the morning, by mid-afternoon, you are ready to crash!

Molly and Liz had fun making a very colorful blanket for Molly.

I let Eli use my camera for a little bit, hence this picture.

Later in the evening, we enjoyed a fast paced game of Spoons.

Random Canon pic!  :o)

One of my sisters got me the amazing taste of IBC Root Beer, and we had some vanilla ice cream....what a perfect combination!

I am not normally a big Bishop's Chocolate Pie fan, but this particular pie that Emmy made was pretty much out of this world!  I am lucky to have such great cooks in my family.



When we woke up on Sunday morning, the trees were all coated with a soft sparkling layer of snow.

I messed around in Lightroom with some extreme lighting and color levels and I came up with a few interesting photos.

Before:

After: 

A Countryside Christmas!

Some friends of ours had a great idea to create a country themed Christmas experience, and this year, they opened the gates for their very first Countryside Christmas!

We traveled up to surprise them and lend a hand on their first day of operation and we all had a wonderful time riding the sleigh around, drinking hot beverages, playing games and generally having a blast!

Below are a few pictures that I got of the day:

 Even in the cold weather, these horses seemed to have no problem pulling the big sleigh.

 This chunky little cow seemed to be nice and snug with his winter coat on.

 "O what fun it is to ride in a two-horse open sleigh, Hey!"

 Caleb does a great job at controlling the horses and guiding them right where they need to go.

 Apparently Josh has no problem with heights!

 These horses were beautiful.  I am used to working around racing horses, which are much shorter and thinner, so it was fun seeing these big guys.

 We loaded the sleigh quite full for a test run.

Jim does a great imitation of Max from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas! :o)

 All smiles!

 Caleb was a brave soul when he offered to let other people try driving the sleigh, but I must admit, Lizzy did a pretty good job of it!

Sorry that you can't see how awesome this gingerbread house is due to the plastic, but let me assure you that the Christmas treats that they created are amazing in detail!

Taking a break in the Christmas treat shop.

 It was a great day for a hot chocolate!

 Can you tell that these girls are sisters? :o)

There were lots of neat little holiday decorations around the shop, and I couldn't resist getting a picture of this jolly snowman.

You can tell Josh really knows a lot about horses when he gets around them. (The cowboy hat helps too ;o) 

Little gingerbread boys in the making.

 Can you tell who was working on the cookies at the time?  It's difficult to tell! :o)

We all enjoyed listening to the musical people in our group sing favorite Christmas carols at the end of the day!

Guess who turned five years old today?

Connor is a joy to be around with his winning smile and funny lines that he comes up with.  It has been a blessing to have him in our family for these five years, and we look forward to many more in the future.

Business Seminar

Oak Brook, IL

Studying and Research

With our instructor, Mr Kimoto