Christmas and Leavenworth...

We had a wonderful Christmas here at our house. Everyone came over for presents in the morning and Christmas dinner around 1pm.









Daniel got a new taggy blanket from his Great-Gramma that she made for him. He grabbed it so fast and started smelling it. He took his old taggy in one hand and the new one in the other and went back and forth smelling them, it was too cute. Now he carries them both around. :)








One of Daisy's favorite presents! :)



I always buy Ruh and Daisy the next Guiness Book of World Records. They really like looking through it.

I bought Daisy this fabulously fun shirt. She loves random graphics t-shirts. This one actually made me laugh out loud when I saw it so I knew it was the one. :)


Oh Charlie! There is just no way to get enough of that little boy's squishable cuteness!













Daniel was so cute playing with all his new toys. He loves the little truck that you hammer the nails on the top. He loves his little police car and firetruck that have buttons all over that make the sounds. Grampa George taught him how to stack the giant leggos. Those giant leggos are actually George's (my father-in-law) Christmas present. I bought them for the kids he works with. He will keep them in his car for when he visits them at home.


I'm very glad my in-laws, George and Bonita, came over for Christmas dinner. I gave Bonita a gift card to Cabela's, her new favorite store. I can't wait to see what she buys with it.


I sure do love this little family! My brother Ben, Mai and little Charlie.

After we ate Christmas dinner Ruh, Daisy, Daniel and I headed over the Cascades to Wenatchee and Leavenworth. We stayed in Wenatchee since the hotels in Leavenworth are a lot more expensive. It is only about a 20 minute drive from Wenatchee to Leavenworth. There was snow everywhere and it was so beautiful. Sadly this is the only picture I got of our little trip. The next day when I went to take pictures my batteries were dead and my spare set were dead as well even though I had just charged them. Ruh and Daisy went inner-tubing at the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. There was a little lodge that sold food but no batteries. Bummer! The little ski area is so cute. There are a couple hills for people to ski and snowboard on and one little bunny slope. There are also a cross country skiing paths through the woods. There is no ski-lift just a rope pull that pulls you to the top. And then there is the tubing hill. They attach your tube to a rope pull and you sit in it while it pulls you to the top. The a guy at the top unhooks you and sends you down then tubing track. I had Daniel in the backpack and we watched Daddy and Sissy go down a couple times. I would have loved a pair of snowshoes right about then to go on a little hike.

We enjoyed Leavenworth and we ate lunch at Andreas Keller, an authentic German restaurant that is actually underneath the shops in Leavenworth. (I was able to find pictures on their website!) It is quaint and cozy full of beautiful wood work and German murals all over the walls. A little old man was playing an accordion. We sat in one of those cute little booths. I have never really liked sauerkraut but they brought us some with our bratwurst. This kind was called weinkraut and it was delicious! There was also potato salad with the meal and it was a lot different than American potato salad and it too was delicious. Daisy had the Bavarian Goulash and I am going to try and find a recipe for it. The little noodles are called spaetzle and are so cute. My favorite part of the whole trip was the mountains. I loved seeing the trees all covered in snow. We drove home on Highway 2 and for a while you drive through a narrow canyon next to the river. The rocks in the river were all covered with snow. We really had a wonderful Christmas and couple days after. I don't think I am ready for Christmas to be over! :)





A little wooden sign I saw in one of the shops said, "If you are blessed enough to be in the mountains...then you are blessed enough.". I agree. :)