Christmas with the Finnestads

We got to hang out with the Finnestad family and have our Christmas celebration on Saturday. The kids were thrilled to get to perform for us. The most memorable this year is definitely Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Who knew you could do so much with a red checker. The kids got to watch Kung Fu Panda and of course immediately following the flick decided to remove their shirts and practice thier kung fu moves on each other. PRICELESS! The adults even got a little "adult" time and played a game of settlers. The snow was falling and we didn't know if we'd have to make it a slumber party or not. But we got home safely. Thanks to the Finnestads for another wonderful and memorable year. We love you all so much. Merry Christmas everyone.

Pretty Trees

I absolutely adore the view from our backyard this week. It is so beautiful to see the trees bathed in white. I love it!

So Much Snow!

Where do I begin? We have not had school for two days due to the ice and snow. Today we got a call by 4:00 p.m. letting us know that school is again cancelled tomorrow. Why you ask? Well, we have gotten at least about 5 inches of snow since 11:00 a.m. this morning. IT'S CRAZY! Greg even shut down his branch and headed home by 3:00 today. But we have had so much fun in it today. Our day started at 9:00 am as we met up with neighbors and headed out. Our kids haven't been sledding down a BIG hill ever. Today we got to sled down the hill at their school which is really really big. They had a blast. I even went down it myself so I could film and take pictures from the bottom. I screamed very loudly all the way. I'm sure none of you can picture that funny sight! Then this afternoon it was more cookie making with the neighbors, some crafts, some movies, and then some more playing in the snow and sledding down our driveway for another couple of hours. Finally about 5:30 we called it a night due to the exhausted and frozen children we call Earnhardts. Plus the snow was dumping on us. So all in all it was an AWESOME snow day! I wish I could share all the pictures and all the video clips with you. Here are some good ones. Turn up the volume on your speakers. The kids comments are hillarious sometimes! Can't wait to hit that sledding hill tomorrow.

I just love Christmas!!

"I just love Christmas". That's what my son said as we drove home tonight in the beautiful snow. He was so excited that we had snow on the ground at our house just like at Uncle Matt and Aunt Denise's.

What a day of celebrations. Mikayla and I got to take time out and attend the Christmas Tea at Faith. It was wonderful. She got to help pass out some chocolates and really felt special. She is definitely growing up fast.




Then there was the surprise. Greg surprised me a couple of weeks ago with an early Christmas present. He bought tickets for us to go and see Michael W. Smith's Christmas concert. He even arranged for the kids to be with their cousins for the day. It was fantastic. All I had to do was go. And it was AWESOME. I haven't seen Smitty in concert since 1997. He is still the BEST! Melinda Doolittle and George Huff (from American Idol) were with him and both brought down the house. It was so awesome. Michael has such a good time. He really worships in all that he does. His humility shines through and you find yourself lost in worship too. So awesome!! The orchestra was so good too. So much talent in one room. It blew Greg and I away. Then it was on to Bell Square to find our ornament (something we do every year) and then dinner at Red Robin next to Lake Washington. So special. We even got a glimpse of the walk out dock on Lake Washington all lit up with Christmas lights. That is where Greg proposed to me 12 1/2 years ago. It was perfect. Oh yeah, and did I mention the beautiful snow that fell just for me tonight. It was so romantic. The perfect touch to a perfect day.