ICE!

We headed up to Northern VA a few days after Christmas to finally check out what Hayley and Jerry have been raving about for a few years. They have made it a regular part of their Christmas break to go to the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor to see the ICE! exhibit. The rest of the family finally took them up on the offer to join them. And we were really glad that we did. 

Each year it has a different theme and this year's was... 

Bundled up before we stepped into the tent and braved the 9 degree temperature. I was thinking at the time how rare it is to experience temps that low and how I couldn't handle life in the north. Who knew that we would have those temps (or close to it) for multiple days in Virginia this winter?!

Every bit of the displays are made of ice. An amazing art...

We couldn't finished the tour without a ride on the ice slide.

Mom got a head start

Dad's strategy to keep his boots from getting wet gave us some extra entertainment!

A wonderful ending to focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas.

I made the mistake of taking off my gloves at the end to more easily take pictures and my hands started throbbing. I finally had to run out because I couldn't bear the pain. After only 20 or so minutes of the sub 10 degree temperatures, I realized how much I am not cut out for cold places AND how careful you have to be when the temps are below freezing. Even though it seemed like a relatively short tour, I was thankful to have thrown on an extra layer under my jeans and multiple layers up top. They were definitely needed!

We topped off our Northern VA adventures with a trip to Ikea the following day. I have only been once or twice before so I was like a kid in a candy store that day. I walked away with my major objective accomplished of buying a bedroom dresser and I found a couple other great finds as well. This was just the jump start I needed to making a few minor, but very useful, changes to my place. 

Christmas Day

As I have grown to appreciate with each passing year, my family had our normal, traditional Christmas Day. I know that traditions often evolve over the years for many families as the seasons of life change, but I am blessed to still enjoy the same Christmas I had growing up (at my parents' with my whole family). 

Hayley and Jerry (+Brody) came over first thing on Christmas morning to have breakfast and open presents. Ted joined us as well this year for the morning festivities before spending the day with his family.

A little buried.

 Then the 5 of us headed to Petersburg to spend the rest of the day with Dad's side of the family. With our 2 cousins living in Illinois and Texas, it's been more rare for all of us to see each other over the holidays. They both decided to come home at the very last minute, though, so it was nice to all be together.

A new outdoor rocking chair. Too cold to enjoy outside so it might as well come in the house.

Pre-Christmas Festivities

As soon as I finally sat down to catch up on my blog in January while things were naturally a little slower, blogger messed up and I could not upload photos. Grrrr. I finally figured out that the problem was actually the browser, but here another month has passed by. I really do not want to always have outdated posts, but that's just the name of the game right now.

Here's a post of highlights from my favorite Christmas-y things and some pre-Christmas events from December...

 Unpacking my ornaments really is one of the highlights of the Christmas season for me. They each tell a story, remind me of someone that I love, or bring back wonderful memories from my travels. Here are a few of my favorite new ones from 2013 (and my new(er) flash makes them look even better):

 

 

  

This is my tree which is absolutely, positively, and completely full of ornaments. With the other new ones I received this year, I will need to either buy a new fake tree next year, venture out and try to get a bigger real one, have a second tree, or use my ornaments as part of another decoration. 

Christmas tulips

Celebrating Christmas a few days early with the boys before they headed out of town.

 This next series of pictures cracks me up because the boys did exactly the same things at the same time (when trying on their new pjs)...completely unscripted. The rest of us were laughing so hard that it hurt...

Shoes...the favored gifts (who knew?!)

A few pictures from our Kenya Christmas dinner the following evening...

Trying to tap into the creative side of my brain which doesn't get used much these days. I had fun preparing for this dinner with our Kenya team + a few additional friends.

We typically have Christmas with Mom's family on Christmas Eve but we changed it up this year and had it on the Sunday before (a few days early). Hard to believe it was 80 degrees the second day of winter and everyone showed up (besides Mom, Hayley, and Grandma, of course) in shorts!