Christmas Review Continued - Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is probably the most traditional day of the Waltner Family. I cannot say how it all began, but I do love and look forward to it each year. We set out early Christmas Eve morning, stop at all the local lodges to see their Christmas decorations, have hot chocolate, find a secluded spot for a family picnic, and travel on into Yosemite for an ice skating session beneath the majesty of Half Dome! Each year presents its changes in our schedule or route, but each year we manage to do all these things and our Christmas Eve always becomes a day to remember.

Adalie watching the train travel through a city made of gingerbread at the Tenaya Lodge.

The 4 Girl Cousins: Ashlyn, Piper, Josiah and Adalie.

The whole gang at Tenaya Lodge for hot chocolate (Waltners x3, Hurt, Stewarts, Worsters, Butler and Whitsons).

Josiah skating between Mommy and Daddy, like she did her First Christmas Eve.

Adalie perfected the art of balancing on ice and was able to scoot along on her own, much to her delight of course!

Adalie letting Mommy take her for a spin.



It was fun to have Poppa and his silliness join us for the 1st time this Christmas Eve.

Poppa and Grammy, Adalie and Josiah.

Poppa and Grammy showing us some of their moves.

Josiah catching the falling snow flakes on the ice.

Adalie following the path the Daddy made for her in the snow on the ice.

Uncle Taylor and Kamala showing us how it is done!

Josiah and Piper (5yrs).

Uncle Lorenzo, Aunt Julia and Grand baby-to-be #6.

Adalie and Ashlyn ice skating with Amma, Grandpa and Mommy.

A day to remember indeed! Family, Fun, Laughter, Majesty and Awe, Hot Chocolate and Ice Skates. Uncle Taylor, Piper, Uncle Lorenzo, Josiah, Mommy, Adalie, Amma, Ashlyn and Grandpa.

Lessons

This wonderful journey of parenting has never ceased to amaze and delight me! As soon as you think that you have something figured out, it never fails to change. And today was no different. Today, not just one of our girls, but both taught me a valuable lesson.
Let me tell you that Josiah is the single most generous person that I know! Each day she saves her after school treat from her teacher so that her sister can share a bite with her. Most of the time, the treasure chest surprises she receives for good behavior from school, she chooses with her sisters' tastes in mind. She works tirelessly on crafts, drawings, and writings only to immediately dedicate and gift them to someone else. Last year at AWANA, she spent every AWANA buck she had on gifts for someone else. This year at Santa's Secret shop, as I watched most the other children picking treats for themselves, Josiah chose a very thoughtful and amazingly appropriate gift for everyone in her family. She is, without a doubt, the most generous person I know. I must admit, although I encourage her actions, they come solely from her spirit, not mine. I am a great deal more selfish than she! Today she came to me in tears; tears that most likely came from fatigue, but tears nonetheless. And she ever so gently asked why when she always gives gifts to others, that rarely does someone give one to her? And it was then I knew that although I am so proud of her generous spirit and lavish her with praise and thanks, that I do not spend the same time, thought and effort in reciprocating her actions. She doesn't mean gifts of worth, she means gifts of value! She means something that I have poured my heart into, knowing that it is something she will love!
My little Adalie. She is often times a contradiction; wanting to be a big girl and do everything herself (including bombing down the ski slopes shouting "I can do it Mom" while I desperately chase her telling her to make some turns and slow it down!!) while still loving to be the baby, coddled by us all! She is fiercely independent and yet still very much my bosom baby. And today she clearly showed me, in her little Adalie way, a contradiction of my own. I love a clean house. I love it all picked up and perfect, counters wiped off and floors clean. And yet, it is not our clean and perfect house that I want my girls to remember, but the fun and laughter and love that they had while in it! But these things cannot exist simultaneously, or at least I have not figured out how they can exist simultaneously. But tonight at dinner, Adalie initiated a food fight with her orange wedges and the fun began. She carelessly tossed her orange wedge and then threw her head back in fits or laughter! We laughed until we cried and then some. Between giggles, when I looked and saw the delight in our daughters' eyes, I threw caution to the wind and joined them in their silliness. And I must say.... it was worth it!

I love that seeing the world through their eyes creates such an awesome perspective. May my eyes always be open to the things they have to teach me! Thank you God for giving us not just 1, but 2 little beings that teach me such great things......

Winter Fun

A picture collage of a day enjoying where we live. 3 Moms, 6 kids, 4 wheel drive, 2 sleds and a snowboard - a perfect recipe for fun! And yes we did get stuck, and of course, right in front of the snowmobilers, but we are women with shovels!!

Christmas Review - Let the Festivities Begin

Immediately coming home from Kauai, we wasted no time in diving into our Christmas Festivities.

The Lights....



The Cookie Making...... Seth is a cookie making fiend! Something in his wiring or perhaps his childhood conditioning triggers on December 1st and he goes into cookie making mode..... much to our girls' delight!



They definitely share his love for all things sweet! Because Josiah loves candy sweetness and Adalie loves chocolate, we end up with a great array of sweet treats!



Cookie Delivering....

Parade watching....



The North Fork Christmas Parade.

And this one (among others) goes into the "Only in North Fork" category.... the local preacher, decorated and riding his hog in the parade.

Santa is coming....

of course Santa. Notice Adalie keeping a very close eye on that Santa.

School Christmas Programs (Josiah and her BFF Kaia)...

The 2 cutest North Fork School Program spectators (Ashlyn and Adalie 3yrs)

I am a little Snow Flake!

Josiah and Cousin Piper (5yrs)

And the 1st snow....

Christmas Review - Our Tree

For the past few years, we have picked up the Waltner Family tradition of choosing our special Christmas Tree from the North Fork Boy Scouts. (Seth and his brothers were boy scouts once upon a time). The Boy Scouts cut trees from our own Sierra Nevada Forests and bring them into town, fresh and ready to be taken home, decorated and loved. Some would say they are Charlie Brown tress, and maybe they are, but we love them! And you have to agree, once decorated, they really are lovely!
At 16 feet, this tree is 2 feet shy of its predecessor, however, still an all time favorite! Donning 8 strands of twinkle lights, it is quite the sight to behold with all the lights out and a cup of hot cocoa in hand! My favorite part is climbing up into the loft to decorate the top third!

Our 2 cutsie Christmas girls, Josiah 5yrs, Adalie 3yrs.