Sledding

A fun day of sledding with friends..... both with and without a motor.

Both got alot of smiles!

(Josiah 6yrs, Adalie 4yrs, Kaiya 4yrs, and Bladen 2yrs, Baesore Meadows)

Lady Bugs

Some of my very favorite days are those that are unplanned and spontaneous. In spontaneity there are no expectations, no disappointments, no schedules to keep.... just enjoying the moment.

And so a hike up the flume with cousins, on a chilly winter day sounded like just what we needed. And to our delight, we found "millions of ladybugs", enjoyed the rushing waters, hiked out just as dark was settling in, and warmed up by the fire at home with a yummy dinner!

Aaaahhhhhh!

Babies

We Love Love Love babies!!

How lucky are we??

(Cousin Sage 11mos,and Cousin Freney 10mos)

Surprise!!

A day after Christmas SURPRISE!!
After breakfast, the girls knew we were headed up the hill to do some snowmobiling........ but, what they didn't know........ was...... they were going to ride their very own sleds!!
Oh, how excited we ALL were!!
It was a day of learning, of Daddy's running along side the little sleds to make sure little ones knew what they were doing, of wrenching on new motors, of hiking with friends when your sled is not running, of just having some fun in the mountains!

Thanx to Turner and Case for the fun place to ride AND for keeping our sleds for us ready to ride all season long!!

Christmas Day

Wow!! what an incredibly fun day. Stockings in the morning. Love at first site with Rebecca and Julie. Breakfast and presents with Amma and Grandpa. Dressing our dolls with Amma. Time to play. Fellas competing for distance with their new planes from Santa. Dinner at our house. All topped off with a phone call from Santa himself that delighted both children and adults alike!! How on earth did he remember what he had gifted to each child?

How perfectly delightful!!

Hung with Care

The stockings were hung by the fire with care.... and of course, a note to Santa was included this year. I love all the notes. They are so sweet. They take so much time and care in creating them. And this time they worked together at their little wooden desk until they were just perfect! Notice Santa's rosy cheeks and the soot on his suit..... love it!! Then each was placed carefully in the stocking so that Santa was sure not to miss it!

I suppose the notes are a result of telling the girls that there were elf footprints in the snow on the roof leading to the skylight where the elves could peep in and watch. But who knew they would ask Santa if those really were his elves' footprints??

Chirstmas Eve

Christmas Eve has always been full of traditions. And being that I thrive on times when you know what to expect, it has always been one of my favorites. Even Adalie knew the routine this year. First we meet up at the Tenaya Lodge for hot chocolate and decoration admiring, then off to find a picnic spot in the valley and last, but far from least, ice skating in Curry Village surrounded by the awesomeness of Yosemite. Then home again to Gigi's house for a hot meal. It is incredible to spend the day before Christmas in such a grand place, to be humbled and amazed by its majesty. This day has yet to disappoint. And like so many years in the past, we had another wonderful Christmas Eve.

Josiah enjoyed scooting along the ice all on her own, Adalie liked to go as fast as anyone could push her. But the smiles on their faces were what I loved the most!

Family

Family is..... While trying to put into words what family is, I found myself completely befuddled but extremely grateful!! Grateful for the myriad of individuals, each with their own beliefs and priorities, quirks and routines, that we call family. So in my lacking for words I asked the experts... Josiah explained that "family is people who love each other," Isn't this so true? Haven't I found myself more than once receiving love despite myself?? And Adalie explained that "family is someone you play with and do things with." Perfectly put in the midst of a holiday where togetherness is such a privilege. Profound..... they are each so right!! I love the simplicity of life through your kids' eyes!

Then I came across this quote and found myself wishing that in years to come, as our girls look back on their family life, this would be true.....

"Families are the compass that guide us, they are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter."

(in order of birth: Josiah 6yrs, Piper 6yrs, Ashlyn 4yrs, Adalie 4yrs, Elias 2yrs, Sage 11mos, Freney 10mos)

23rd

Because who can refuse a beautiful, blue sky, powder ski day..... we all headed up to Badger Pass for a fun day in the snow. While some were learning to ski (Sage on skis for the 1st time @ 11mos, Elias making fresh powder tracks 2yrs), others took turns with the littles, and the lucky ones got private lessons from the professional (leap frog, box running and rock jumping included)!!

All in all.... a pretty incredible day!! So nice to have a sport in common that we all love and can enjoy together! Where the seasoned 6yr old can hold the hand of her 2yr old cousin, where moms can ride on the chair together, where uncles can laugh with their nieces and nephews, where cousins can find fresh tracks together (even those out of bounds)!

Baby Jesus

Every year our neighbors put out this light up nativity set and our girls absolutely adore it. If our neighbors only knew..... how it is our favorite light up nativity, how we drive by it ever so slowly each and every time we drive down our street, how we guess each and every evening whether they remembered to light it that night, how we must take our daily walks past it to admire it and beg to touch it, how we strain to see Baby Jesus each time we pass, .... maybe, just maybe, they would keep it up all year long!!

I love that our girls are enamored with the Christmas story. I am sure that in the very near future, we will no longer have nightly reinactments.... and I will miss them!

Cookies

One of our favorite Christmas traditions! Daddy, aka Cookie Monster or Sweet Tooth, is our baker extraordinaire. I gather the necessary ingredients then he and the girls do the rest. The result .... delicious cookies that are pretty to look at and fun to eat.

Again this year, in an effort to look beyond ourselves, 2 little elves delivered cookies all over the neighborhood. The response they received was delightful!

Nut Cracker

This year the girls of the Waltner Clan received a very special treat from their Amma.... tickets to a production of the Nut Cracker. We had a fabulous time both watching the dancers on stage and watching the enchantment they conjured in the girls. There were many times throughout the dancing that I just watched, smiled at and delighted in my girls' faces as they took in all they saw...... dancing, spinning, beautiful costumes, all things girlie! I have not ever seen 4 little girls be so taken, especially Adalie!

But my favorite part of the day was during intermission. The 4 girls climbed to the top of the stairs and put on their own rendition of a ballet. They twirled and pirouetted, they even lifted Adalie up high for their grand finale. I love how easily these girls are inspired, how they were able to appreciate all they saw.

Thank you Amma for always surprising us with fun girl time!

Disneyland 2009 (40 inches)

It's a magical place!! Filled with wonder and excitement!! We love Disneyland!! And this year was an exceptional trip. By lunch time we had ridden of all our favorite rides with little or no waiting. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and we were having an epic day!!

Our plan is to arrive the night before our big day in time to watch the fireworks from our hotel. Try our absolute best to sleep (which of course we never really do). Then, hit the front gates at opening and never stop until closing!! It has been our plan since Josiah was 1year old and never failed us yet...

Of course there was Mommy and Daddy's favorite rides... Dumbo and Mr. Toad's. And the timeless classics like the Carousel and It's a Small World.

But, this year was a year of 1st for Adalie. She was 40inches!! That is tall enough to ride the big girl rides!! And of course she smugly stood next to every measuring stick to prove her new prowess!! She rode Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Star Tours (that guys is a really bad driver, I hope we don't get him again!!), and Thunder Mountain (with no hands) multiple times..... and loved it!! It was soooo much fun!!

This year Papa and Grammy joined us for all the fun. And you know the bestest part of Grammy and Papa coming to Disneyland with us...... TEACUPS!! Only Papa who loves us soooo much would ride the Teacups HURRAY!! Funny thing was because some guy stood up in the middle of the ride, we actually got to ride twice!! Papa almost didn't make it on the second go around, but the girls had smile from ear to ear!!

Once again, a magical day from start to finish!!

1st Grade Christmas Program

Well, it is that time of year again. Time to get all gussied up. Time to get there early so that you have an aisle seat up front. Time to wait in anticipation. Time to enjoy seeing all the local families. It is time for the North Fork School Christmas Program!

We were excited to see our little star shine. Especially since she told us the night before the program that she had a "special part" in the program. A part she had to audition for. Our interests were peaked, but she is a great secret keeper!

Adalie and Ashlyn (both 4yrs) socialized while we waited for the curtain to rise. Then the program began. I studied the program guide in order to memorize my timing for Josiah's class. Because, I am indeed, one of those Moms that crouch down the aisle to the front in order to video tape her precious daughter singing "Oh Christmas Tree" (in English and German) and the "Turkey Woogie".

Oh..... and Josiah's special auditioned for part...... was that of a turkey woogier!! And boy can she woogie with the best of them!! Arms tucked under and knees a knocking... she was a sensation!!

Mrs. Lemmon's 1st grade class. We are again grateful this year to have such an amazing teacher!!

Let the fun begin...

Well after much anticipation, the Norway travellers were finally here and it was past time to dive into our Christmas fun. So we invited them to join us in making some ginger bread (graham cracker) houses. And who knows, maybe ridiculous amounts of sugar is good for your jet lag?? So while some were very serious creators/builders, others just ate all the candy. All in all, the houses turned out beautifully and it was a fun kick off to all our family holiday extravaganza!!

Josiah 6yrs, Adalie 4yrs, Elias 2yrs and Freney 10mos.

Grateful for Wednesdays

Adalie and I save every Wednesday to be our special day. On Wednesdays it is just her and I, no other distractions, no agenda, just special time of fun! And in the past few weeks I have savored her in our time together more deeply. I have paused to drink her in, to make eye contact with her, to listen to what she has to say, to remember how sweet she smells, to appreciate how funny she is and how I love her little voice. Because call me crazy, (and I already know that I am) but all too soon for my liking, she will be starting Kindergarten. And then I will have to share her too. I thought everyone said that it would be easier with the second, but through my recent tears, I can see that it will not be! And so I am grateful for Wednesdays and will continue to cherish them for as long as she is all mine!!

Anticipation

After visiting our cousins in Norway last spring, we have waited in great anticipation for their coming. And they will be here tonight!! We are so excited we can hardly stand it.... but because they will be coming in late and probably be very tired (we sure were when we last made that trek), we will have to wait yet another day. But the girls wanted them to know just how excited they were. So they created this welcoming sign to hang on their door.
I am so proud of these 2 girls!! They are kind and generous in spirit. I hope this labor of love warms the hearts of the travellers like it does mine!!

Let it Snow

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

We got our first snow of the season,

and somehow you forget from year to year how beautiful it is.

And so we ate our breakfast as fast as could be, threw on our snow clothes and out we went to rediscover our winter wonderland just outside our front door.

Even Wally the WatchBear joined in the fun!

Oh if they could stay this way forever. We spent hours stomping through the snow, building snow nests for the birdies, making snow balls, shovelling snow and more.....
I love their smiles of pure fun here!! (Josiah 6yrs and Adalie 4yrs)

12 years!!

Happy 12th Anniversary!!

12 years!! That is so exciting!! We have had a fantastic ride thus far.... so many incredible memories made in those 12 years!!

While our girlies spent the night with Amma and Grandpa, Seth and I slipped away to Shaver Lake. It snowed the entire time we were there which reminded us of our 1st Anniversary. It was really fun to sit in the hot tub and watch the world turn white! We had a wonderful time of rest and relaxation. We enjoyed our uninterrupted conversations. Reminiscing over our years together. Most of all, we are just grateful for one another and a chance to escape for a day. Grateful that the Lord joined us and has kept us. Grateful that our lives could have turned out so many different ways, but we love where we are. Grateful for the many blessing we have, lessons we have learned and roads we have been privileged to travel together.

Definitely looking forward to another 12 fun filled years!!