Christmas

The Likes family had a very busy couple of days. We are very exhausted for sure! Yesterday we made a visit to Frost, since Santa has to have Frost Doughnuts to take with him. Then we came home to make our Gingerbread and have some homemade hot cocoa. We finished the night off with UP the movie. What a sweet little movie.

Playing around with my early delivery from Santa. I decided to shoot a few quick shots.

This is Buddy the Elf. He gets into mischief at night while we sleep. He went back home to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. But will be back next year. Hunter cried and I let her kiss him good bye.



Gracie is always more than happy to flash her cute little smile at me.







The girls taking a picture of me while I get a picture of them too!




With all the festivities, I wasn't able to get a complete picture of the gingerbread house, but here is what it looked like mid way through. It was a very yummy house I must say.



Molly being mama Molly and holding Juliette while we make the Gingerbread house.



Christmas morning came and the girls were good and waited till 7:30 to wake us up. We have a rule that it must be daylight before they wake us up, but it is very hard to follow that rule here when it is very dark in the winter time. Right now the sun comes up around 7:30-8 and goes down about 4pm.

The girls made out this year. Santa delivered Molly a club penguin club card, converse, and a MP3 player. Gracie got Playmobil Pony farm and an add on for it. Hunter received City and Castle Lego sets and Juliette got Blocks and a train table. We got the girls a few board games, movies, and PJs this year. The funny thing is that they still haven't played with any of the Wii games. They played with Legos most of the day and Gracie was occupied with a puzzle for about three hours!

While downloading my pics, I noticed that Buddy was playing with my camera before Santa picked him up. That little Elf is always causing trouble! Here are a few of his self portraits.







Leaving Frost Salted Carmel Doughnut, Peppermint Joe Joes, Milk, and carrots for the reindeer.



Girls in the morning while opening the presents.











We had a great day! It was kind of bittersweet knowing that Travis won't be here next year, but we are very glad to have him here while we can!

We are hoping to get the girls on skis soon. Look for an update on that one!

Leavenworth-SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

I always say I am going to keep up with this thing and never do. I have a feeling here in a few weeks that I will have a little more time on my hands in the evenings to dedicate to this blog though.

This past Saturday we took a trip to Leavenworth. We have been throwing around the idea to go for a while but since the pass was clear, we made the quick decision that Saturday was the day to go!

Leavenworth is a cute little town about two hours east of us. It is a Bavarian Heaven. If you are looking for a little town in the Alps you have found it. On the way there we stoped at Stevens Pass Ski Resort and let the girls see how deep the snow really can get. It was a couple feet above their heads. We didn't stay long though, we wanted to get going to see the Christmas lights at Leavenworth.

The girls were very excited to finally be at our destination. We quickly found some snow and began to make a snowman.

JuJu a little cautious at first.



Gracie and Hunter, very excited about all the snow!



Hunter and Gracie get started on a snowman.



JuJu starting to really like the snow.



Snow Angels.



Molly was already in Leavenworth for the weekend. She was staying with her friend Mia.



Gracie is gearing up for a snowball fight!



Travis and I pretending we are in the Alps on a vacation.



While planning out trip online, I ran across this gingerbread store. We got some of the best cookies ever and a super cool gingerbread house to make. Also scored an excellent place for the girls to make a HUGE snowman.



Waiting for the lights to come on. It was raining and cold!



The Christmas lights. The entire town lights up. It is really amazing and a beautiful place to visit. I can't wait to go back!

Sorry about the blurry pic. Hand held, while holding a baby, in the dark, is a hard thing to do.

It's the Great Pumpkin!

Saturday we were able to take the girls to Stocker Farm's Pumpkin Festival and Corn Maze. It was really a great place with a ton of activities to do. Next year we know to start much earlier in the day so we can fish all day long!!!

They had little play horses for the kids to ride. JuJu had a great time on her "hosie". I am pretty sure she would have rode that thing all day!



Then the girls all headed for the corn sand box things. I think they were digging corn out of their ears later!



Then for a cute picture with JuJu. They were so cute I had to put them both!




Then it was time for us to get our fish on! These girls really LOVE to fish. They take after their mama and their daddy. It was pretty neat there was this small pond filled with trout and they got to fish with cane poles. Juliette screamed when she finally saw what they caught.



After we had our fill of fish, actually we had to pull the girls kicking and screaming, we headed over to the human hamster wheel.



On our hey ride we got to see pumpkins shot out of a cannon. It was pretty cool. Travis and I both got a chance to do it. I was very surprised at how hard it was to pull the leaver but sent my pumpkin just as far as the guys!


Juliette was in a thoughtful mood.



Time for some Hula Hoopin' after our hey ride.




We were able to close down the pumpkin festival and headed over to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin and Charlie Brown himself!





Once our pumpkins were found, the corn maze was our next adventure. The corn maze is 15 acres and this year is shaped in celebration of the city Snohomish. It was really good and we were able to eventually find out way out, after an hour!

Silly Faces!



This next week is a very special week. We are taking our family vacation to Disney World. And more importantly our little or should I say big, Molly turns the big double digit 10!!!! Keep your eye out for daily blog post of our vacation.

First Day of School!!! First Day of School!!

Yes this is one bus stop!

Today was Molly, Gracie, and Hunter's first day of school. They were all so excited!







Hunter was super excited today!! She is starting first grade this year. Just as always, she is very independent, she got ready and on the bus, she never even looked back.







Gracie, while I thought she might be the most difficult, was so excited this morning, her tights didn't even bother her. Normally, she won't wear tights unless I bribe her with ice cream or something. She was sporting new glasses and a new do. And while most kids would think a class in a portable would not be a good thing, this child sees no bad in it. Gracie will be starting third grade this year.





Molly, my dear sweet Molly, had a difficult morning for her first day of school. It seems that she has reached the age where she is starting to care what others say. Skirts are no longer cool and knee highs are for babies. Oh and they make her feet look fat too. This is one excuse I am pretty sure that I never gave my mom. But if I did I apologize now. She is starting fifth grade. She will be attending a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade multi-age classroom.



It is so hard to comprehend that these little girls, and while it is hard to admit, one big girl, use to be little babies. I will miss them this year while they are in school. Another year bigger!