I think one of the girls' favorite gifts was a dress from the movie "Frozen". It stars two sisters - one of them has red hair. Lily loves to play Elsa and Annie wears her Anna dress every day. I think she even looks a little like Anna in the movie. They always want to play "Frozen". We'll have to take them back to see the movie again with their dresses.
Tommy was such a good baby during this trip. After weeks of teething, sickness, constant waking at night, he gave me twelve nights in a row of sleeping eight hours straight, sometimes more. He ate constantly. And he was loved constantly. Probably the reason for his sleepiness - he was always being picked up, played with, and spoken to.
We brought our supplies for our tradition of Rice Krispy Christmas trains. We have done these for a couple of years now. So much easier than trying to construct a gingerbread house - and to be honest we like the taste of the rice krispies better too.
Lily's second favorite gift was her Merida bow. Based on the Merida character from the movie "Brave". Lily loves Merida's mess of red hair and adventurous spirit. She has been practicing shooting her new bow. She is determined to get a real bow for her sixth birthday in October. We'll see.
Puna and Papa treated us to breakfast at one of our favorite McCall restaurants - The Pancake House. It is a huge restaurant, great for family dining. The kids enjoyed the huckleberry syrup and shopping with Puna in the neighboring store, The Christmas House.
Puna offered to tend the girls and Tommy at the cabin so Mommy could get a turn on the snow mobiles. We had some trouble with one of the machines and had to leave it on the lake until we returned. I was terrified to ride on the frozen lake. I was certain that I would crash through the ice. Thankfully we were all safe and had a nice ride. I managed to get stuck twice while trying to follow Jeremy and Brady up some steep mountains. And Jeremy got stuck once going off the trail. I think the guys didn't like having to wait for me - I don't like to go above 40 mph on the trail. But our ride was still fun and we liked spending the day together.
I was most especially happy to return home safely to these cute little faces! That night we went to Gold Fork Hot Springs just a few miles away from the cabin. It was so crowded, but really neat to be there at night with only the light of the stars and a few torches. Tommy was especially happy to swim there. He splashed and smiled and played the whole time. We stayed nearly two hours because the water was so warm and inviting - not too hot for the kids, and just warm enough for the adults. Thanks Puna and Papa for that treat. the kids are still talking about how fun it was to swim outside in the winter time. After the hot springs we came home to eat pizza and watch "Wreck It Ralph". Annie loves that movie and wanted to share it with Papa. We don't think Puna and Papa were big fans of the movie, but they were good sports for Annie.
On our last day together we went ice skating in McCall - at Lily's request - and had burgers at Lardo's before saying goodbye. Lily was ready to skate this time. She wasn't afraid and tried really hard to get a feel for the ice. Annie's little skates were so tiny next to mine. Her little size six skates fit in my hand. They were too adorable! Tommy was a pretty good boy for Puna. They would give us big smiles and waves as we passed. Lily was happy to skate with Papa and show him that she was learning. Annie just wanted free rides around the ice again.
It was hard to leave the cabin after such a great week and a half. We feel so blessed to have a close family. Thank you Grammy and Grampy for providing a beautiful place for us to escape to. And thank you Puna and Papa and Brady for always making trips so fun.
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