Fun in the Snow

There's so much to do in McCall with the loads of snow that they get each year. Here are some pics of everyone sledding and snowmobiling.

Mountain Monet

My Dad and Dawn came to McCall for a day of skiing and to hang out. Unfortunately it was the day after Jalen was not feeling well, so we had to partake in some indoor activities. Mountain Monet is an adorable place in McCall where you can paint ceramics and take them home at a later date. Hanging out with an 18 month old in a place surrounded with breakables is not the most ideal scenario, but Jalen had a great time painting and making a mess!!

Christmas in McCall

We love spending Christmas at the cabin with all the snow, family, and fun! We attended the evening service at church and enjoyed a fabulous dinner with the Chandlers (Scott's aunt/uncle/cousins). The Pierce's have a tradition of opening up gifts Christmas Eve, but with the busy evening and all the excitement of kids running around everyone was way too tired to accomplish anything after dinner. Santa came and spoiled everyone the next morning. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy Christmas day in our PJs. However, the flu bug hit the cabin that night, which put 6 out of 9 people under the weather - not fun at all!!

Cousin Steph playing copy-cat with Jalen.

Aunt Lynette got Jalen a collapsible "digger," which he can't get enough of. Jalen and Ellie had a great time playing with it all week!!

Scott and Eric having a few laughs at dinner.

Auntie Annie helping Jalen and Ellie make cookies for Santa.

Christmas Morning - Devin, Ellie, Annie, and Abby

Jalen LOVES brushing his teeth - he was so excited to get an electric toothbrush from Santa!

Sweet little Abbigail playing with her new toy from Santa.

Jalen and Ellie playing with Jalen's new race car toy from Santa.

Ellie and Jalen in the "digger."

It was so fun to see Ellie and Jalen bond over the week in McCall. They don't get to see each other much, but as you can see they really love one another!

The cousins in their Christmas PJs.

Trip to Boise

On our way to Boise - Jalen has traveled quite a bit in his 18 months...he knows just what to do and wants to help like a big boy now:

We had a great time visiting family in Boise, unfortunately our trips are always WAY too short. In addition to some of the photos below, we visited GG (Katie's grandma), Grandma, Justie, Arianna, and Abbey, but somehow we left without getting any pictures from those visits. It was great visiting everyone!

Papa made Jalen the most beautiful wagon we have ever seen. The second Jalen saw it - he ran and shouted with excitement to get in. He loves it!!!

Testing out the wagon - walking to Auntie Aubrey's for dinner.

We had a wonderful dinner at Aubrey's to celebrate an early Christmas together:

We often call Jalen "Scott's Mini-Me." Here he is dressing up in daddy's Chargers hat and work gloves (and Chargers jersey that Aunt Linda got him last year).

"Christmas Morning" at home

We are heading back to Boise/McCall for Christmas, so once again, Santa made a special trip to our house a few days early. Jalen was given lots of wonderful gifts, but his favorites were his new car and of course the toothbrush.

Pre-Christmas fun!

Jalen helping decorate the Christmas tree. We left the whole bottom part to him with non-breakable ornaments and he had a great time! What beautiful work!!

Neenah sent us an Avent Calendar and lots of fun little goodies to pick out each day. Jalen looked forward to his "prize" each morning!

We attended a Christmas party with all babies we met when Jalen was first born. Boy how things have changed...last year we had all the babies lined up and no one moved. This year, the task was impossible as you can see.

X-mas Party 2010 (Kaden, Colton, Logan, Ava, Gina, Jalen, and Connor - Aspen is already off playing in this pic)

X-mas party 2009 (Connor, Aspen, Jalen, Kaden, Logan, Natalie, and Ava)

Hugs for Aspen.