Enjoying The Post-Christmas Lull

Christmas was fun!

Here Ryder is learning to colour in the lines with Uncle Grant.

Fun new PJs from Alabama friends and lots of loving from Pop & Mimi.

A fun new fishing game from a very special Auntie.

And so many new books to give some variety to the old ones 

that have been read over and over and over again.

And since we said goodbye to family, it's just been quiet and relaxing.

Enjoying a nice hot bath, catching up on laundry, dealing with all of our Christmas leftovers.

And then last night it snowed!

Hooray for our snow day and all of the fun we had playing in our quiet neighbourhood.

I made a snow angel that Ryder thought was hilarious.

And we even figured out how to use the Tonka Scraper to plow the snow into piles on the driveway. All those piles of snow made great snowballs, though I don't know if we every actually hit Braden.

Local Entertainment

There's not a lot of readily available entertainment out here in the Nevada desert
- unless you're into gambling. 

So what do we find to do for fun?

Well, this morning we drove out to the desert and went target shooting.

'Let's go shoot some guns' said Ryder.

 Then on our way home, we took a little detour through downtown to admire the Christmas pennants from my Etsy shop hanging in the display window of the local saddlery.

Life in a small town. <3

It's All Over

Well, 'Christmas' came and went at our house today.

Ryder was so excited to wake up and new that it was going to be fun, but wasn't 100% sure why.

It didn't take him long to figure everything out.

We began with stockings.

Then the Christmas story and some Bible reading.

Followed by some pretty fun gifts from his favourite people.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas

And in the Apperson house,

Two boys were clad in their Christmas PJs.

Freshly bathed and smelling sweet,

Time for bed after one more treat.

The Bible read, evening prayers said,

Just a quick brush of the teeth and then tucked into bed.

 We're celebrating Christmas just a few days early this year,

because we want to have all of the fun while Pop & Mimi are here!

Oh There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays!

We went on our second annual Lake Tahoe Christmas Tree Hunt!

Local friends, this is a tradition we love and tree permits are available at the USDA Forest Service Office for $10.

This year we had Pop & Mimi with us - plus a LOT of snow!

 We picked up a sled and gloves for Ryder in South Lake Tahoe.

They ended up being essential to our happy tree hunt.

 Plus, after the tree was loaded up, we had a fun time taking a few runs in the sled.

We love Lake Tahoe!

And our winter wonderland outing was followed by a fun sweater party with friends - 

who also helped us decorate our new tree.

Here we are - ugly sweaters and all.

 And every toddler needs a friend like Mrs Davis!

It's good to be home for the holidays - 

And, It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Home Sweet Home!

Well, we said goodbye to all of the fun toy stores -

rides - 

gourmet hotel room dinners - 

and local attractions.

 There's no place like home, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention a few milestones that happened during our 2 week stay in Las Vegas.

1. Lynden can now push himself up on all fours - though he hasn't yet crawled.

2. Lynden's first tooth finally popped through on the bottom. 

He's been a teething champ so far!

I just can't help myself, 

I've been taking so many pictures since we got home. 

Tree hunt and Christmas sweater party pictures coming soon!

The Hoover Dam

Today was a day of meltdowns.

We had a meltdown over getting dressed, driving in the van, 

and then again at the sweet little church we were visiting.

Can any of you Mamas out there relate?

In spite of it all, I had really wanted to see the Hoover Dam with Ryder.

We persevered -

And made it!

It was a beautiful day - perfect for a little walk down to the dam.

Ryder loved seeing all of the water and that awesome bridge.

I was remembering all of the dams we visited on my childhood holidays. 

It was a loooooong way down!

Once we were there, this little mister was all cheese.

Unfortunately, no children were allowed on the dam tour, so all we were able to do was walk and enjoy the sights that were visible from the bridge and walking area.

And the boys crossed the Arizona state line for the first time, 

so of course I had to get a picture of that!

After over a week and a half of living out of a suitcase, 

I think we're all vacationed out and ready to get back home and normal life. 

But first, we need to pick up Pop & Mimi!