Cold January

It has been a very cold and snowy January.  Thus far we have gotten 48+ inches of snow.  The average snowfall for an entire winter is 30 inches.  Forty-eight inches puts us at the 3rd snowiest winter on record, only 4 inches short of the 2nd snowiest.  Don't worry, though.  We are supposed to get another snow storm coming through in the next couple of days so we should beat that handily before the weekend is over.

It's also been cold.  You've probably heard all you'd ever want to hear about the "polar vortex" on the news so I'll skip that.  I will say that it was cold enough to frost over the inside of our windows. 

It completely frosted over our kitchen windows. 

This is the crew ready to take Addilyn to school one morning.  It's only 2 blocks but when it's super cold (although I will note that Addilyn didn't have school for the 4 coldest days of the month so don't think we were out when it was -13), you have to be prepared.  The boys were all wearing their snowpants.  I love Albert's look; he's not super pleased with the double hats.

Blorch!

We've gotten out all our Lego as it is a good indoor activity to keep all the kids occupied.

Asher painted a little too.

I love the layers of colors he put on.

Even though it's been cold and we've been stuck inside for a while, everyone's still fairly happy.  Especially this guy.

He starting to get tall enough to see on the tables.  "Can I play with that?"

It's a little blurry but here's a shot of his "glare."  I love it.

 Smoosh.

I'm not sure what was going on here but it looks precarious.

 Cutie.

Another cutie.
So that pretty much brings you up-to-date.  Yay!

Hi!

Christmas in Nebraska

After our trip through Michigan and Minnesota, we headed to Nebraska to see the my parents and celebrate Christmas together.

I love that face.  I don't know what it is supposed to mean, but I find it funny.

Happy face.

Asher got some pants.

"Let's try those babies on right now."

Helping Grandpa B open one of his gifts.  (I'm not sure where those pants went.)

Elias got some boots.

Monster boots.

Stomp, stomp.

Addilyn got a new blanket. Check out her face (you may have to click on it and view it larger to get the full effect)!

"I think I've had about enough of all the chaos."

"Hey there, Mr. Potato Head."

So pretty.

Enjoying a banana muffin with Grandpa B.

Having some of Grandma B's treats.

See that bun?  The dog definitely finished that bun.  We're not really sure if Belle (the dog) took it or if Albert gave it to her.  Either way, they both seemed pretty happy with the situation.

Making some Christmas ornaments with Grandma B.
Then we drove all of New Years' Eve eve to get back to Chicago.  And that completes the retelling of our Christmas trip.

Christmas Trip...Leg 2

Here we were driving through Michigan on the second leg of our Christmas Trip.  Look how pretty it is, with all the trees and the snow.

After driving through all of Wisconsin, we arrived at the Mall of America for a little family fun.  See the amusement park in the middle?  We stopped there a few years back and rode a ride or two.  Addilyn has been talking about wanting to ride some more rides when she got taller ever since. 

We had to stop and check everyone's heights to see what they could ride.

Even Elias was tall enough to get in on the fun.  Yay!

We didn't ride that.

Or that.

But we did ride that.

He was still pretty happy after his very first rollercoaster. Daddy was too.

We rode that too.

And Addilyn and Tyler rode that!

After all our amusement, we wandered the mall for a bit with Grandma and Grandpa J.

Rode the escalator.

Took in the sights.  I wonder what could capture all of their attention so thoroughly?

Oh right, Lego. 
Anyway, it ended up being a pretty fun evening.  The bigger two got to ride two rides each and Elias got to try out the log ride for the first time.  Super fun!  And after a quick meal it was off to a hotel and on to the final leg of our trip, Grandma and Grandpa B's house.

Snow, Sledding & Snowmobiling

It felt like a good chunk of our time in the cabin was spent either getting the kids ready to go outside or helping them undress after coming back inside. 

That's a whole lot of warmth! How adorable is that little kid with that big, old helmet?

Tromp, tromp, tromp.

Whee!!

I think she was enjoying herself, although we are fairly certain she was holding her breath.

Cutie.

Those are some intense eyes.  This girl wasn't messing around.

Away she goes.

I mean, seriously. Tyler had to hope on back because she was just going to go.

Sledding with Grandpa.

Lily, Joel and Ollie coming back from a ride.

Chatting with Grandma.

Asher's turn to drive.

Sledding with Daddy. Asher would run and jump on as Tyler went. 

More sledding.  And fun was had by all.