Gretchen under the parachute in the toddler room at the museum 

Parker & Grammer picking out streamer colors 

Dare & Gretchen making their streamers. 

Since we knew we'd be back in NC for Christmas, we wrote to Santa to ask if he could come early. He came one week early, and the kids were thrilled. I think Dallin liked bragging to everyone, that Santa had come to see him first. They all got great goodies. Dad said Santa bought big sized toys, that took lots of time to put together. Oh well, if you can't spoil your own kids who will? Oh that's right. All the grandparents, and aunts and uncles that love to spoil them. They had a SUPER Christmas. Dallin's favorite gift is his CD walkman, Parker prefers the rescue hero center, and Gretchen loves them all. She bounces from one toy to the next. They are lucky to have a family that spoils them and thinks they are great. Thanks to all that made our first Christmas away wonderful. Richard and I agree, it was our BEST Christmas yet.

The Princess' castle 

YES! More video games, in case we did not have enough. 

Dallin reading the letter Santa wrote back to them, and Gretchy with the new toothbrush, Dora spin brush 

A true "vanity"-telling Gretchen how pretty her hair is, and how nice her pink nails look 

Rescue Hero command center & the "3" boys 

The beautiful house, now let's dig in! 

TA DA! Our first gingerbread house! 

Yuck, this candy is to messy! 

After giving some thought to new holiday traditions, and some pleading by Dallin, we decided to make a gingerbread house. The kids were so excited, probably because they used candy to decorate it. I mean what kid does not like candy. So I was the icing glue engineer, without knowing how sticky UI would get. Supposedly you were supposed to let the icing holding the sides together dry for a few hours before putting on the roof, and the let the roof icing dry before decorating, but with three kids waiting somewhat patiently,( and eating all the decorations as fast as they could), we skipped the drying process. Amazingly, the house stayed together. In the back of my head, all I could think was we were going to wake up the next morning to a house that looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Can you imagine the kids faces if they got up to find a house in shambles? Now that would have been funny! We decorated it, took pictures, and within minutes the kids were sneaking candy off the roof every chance they got. It was fun, and I am sure we will do it again next year. But this time we will let Dad do the icing.

Decorating the house. 

Since moving to TN, we have been so busy we have not had time to explore. Richard has found some great places to show the kids, but we have had little time. So finally a free Saturday came in early December, and off we went. After a gorgeous ride up through the mountains. We took the kids to Gatlinburg for the day. It was a warm day for Dec. so we ventured up to Ober Gatlinburg to ride the Skytram to the top of the mountain. The kids had a blast. They loved the view of all the mountains around us, they even loved how high up we were from the ground. After our 10 minute ride to the top, we watched the ice skaters, and rode the ski lift up the alpine slide. The ski lift, at first glance, looked to be harmless. But as Richard & I can testify, it is far from harmless with three little ones. Richard & Gretchen rode on one, while the boys & I rode on another. The boys were fascinated with looking over the edge seat. Dallin kept scooting towards the edge. He actually asked me if I thought he could jump out or was it too far to the ground. Meanwhile Parker is turning around to wave at dad and Gretchen. I thought riding with the boys would be easy. Richard of course has a death grip on Gretchen, who like the boys, insists on looking over the front. Then he makes the mistake of spitting over the edge, only to have her try to copy him. Oh My Gosh! My kids are daredevils. We finally made it to the top, and quickly jumped off. We all rode the alpine slides back down. They were fun, but cold. We completed the day by riding back down the sky tram. It was a fun day for the family and we look forward to more adventures in TN.

I am refusing to post Christmas pictures until I catch up on the blogging. So here is the family at Thanksgiving. We had a full Thanksgiving week, since both sides of the family came to TN. We ate on Thanksgiving Day with Richard's parents and grandparents, as well as Dale, Shalene and Rebekah. CJ had outdone herself with a yummy spread of food. We all enjoyed talking with Papa and CJ. We are lucky to have them in TN for a little while longer. The day after Thanksgiving my parents and Dare and Ryan came up to stay for a long weekend and eat some turkey. We all had a full bellies by bedtime. While everyone was here Richard & I showed the family some of our favorite places in TN. The girls were off to the mall, and the boys to the TN vs. KY game. Being NCSU or UNC fans does not stop them from being TN fans, especially since they are not in the ACC. They guys watched a great game, and us girls got some good deals. Thanksgiving was GREAT! Eating, watching movies, shopping and visiting. It just does not get any better.

A view of the alpine slide from the ski lift. 

Dad & Gretchen on the ski lift. 

Gretchen loved the wind blowing her hair on the tram. 

The view from the sky tram 

The skytram at Ober Gatlinburg 

A pose from the princess, who happens to be climbing the fence. 

The boys checking out the view at an overlook. 

Driving on the Parkway. 

Gretchy dances for the family in her new Minnie slippers from Grandma Hopfer 

The girls playing outside.  

The kids having fun at Shalene's expense. 

Our gang at Thanksgiving with Papa, CJ, and the carousel horse. 

As everyone knows Richard likes to "Atkins". So he snacks on what I think are weird foods. One of the favorites is terryaki beef jerkey. Well, there is a new low carb buddy, Little Gretchen. I personally do not think beef jerkey is a very lady-like food. Gnawing and chewing for 15 mins. on the same piece of petrified meat. I suppose she is getting ready for the wild west, or the oregon trail. So, I guess she got one thing from her dad. Her taste buds. The girl eats EVERYTHING. Just like daddy. Salsa, pork skins, bacon is a favorite, cottage cheese, cold from the fridge leftovers. I have one word for both of them........YUCK!

"Yummy!" says the little cowgirl! 

For those of you with weak stomachs, do not read this.

At our kitchen bar, Parker refuses to sit near Gretchen because she "touches" him. So Dallin sits in the middle. As most kids do, they all prefer different foods. So at the end of one of our normal lunchtimes while Gretchen and Parker were eating cottage cheese, and Dallin yogurt since cottage cheese grosses him out, we had an adventure in motherhood. Dallin was entertaining us with his stories, and haphazardly waving his spoon near Gretchen, who knocked it to the floor. Dallin proceeds to tease her, staring in her face saying, "I'm gonna get you girl!" When our innocent princess takes her messy cottage cheese covered hands and smears them down Dallin's face. For those of you who do not know, Dallin has the WORST gag reflex. And you can guess what happened next. I ran for a washcloth, quickly wiping his face, saying "breath, calm down, it's okay" Too late his lunch all over the worst place....himself. So he is still gagging. I am trying to get him to the bathroom. He is gagging while taking off his clothes. All the while Gretchen is rather loudly imitating his gagging noises. Which is only making it worse. So much for my appetitite. I cleaned the floor, his seat, and his clothes and skipped lunch. Got to love being a mom!