Christmas in Red River- part I

This year was Christmas with my family and we spent it in Red River, NM.  We stayed in a ski-in ski-out condo right by the slopes which had plenty of room for everybody and was very convenient of course.  We had a great time skiing, tubing, playing games at night, and just enjoying being together as a family.  Amy brought a wooden ornament decorating kit and so the kids (and Mimi and Amy) had fun decorating those to put on our Christmas tree.  Judson's version of decorating was mostly telling Aunt Amy how to color the ornaments:)  He really likes her a lot and even got her to play hide and seek with him a few times.  The girls both did a couple days of ski school and then also skied with Scott and I some.  Kendall made it to the next to last level of ski school and was able to ride up the lift with us and ski down the green under the lift without falling.  Avery went all the way to the top with Scott and I one afternoon and skied down on greens and blues.  It was so much fun to see how much she had improved and be able to ski together.  We were really proud of both the girls.  Judson was too young for ski school, but he did a couple of private lessons.  He enjoyed it and it was a good introduction to skiing for him.  We also did the tubing again this year.  Even Mimi joined in the fun! We took turns going together on the tubes- kids with parents or Mimi, kids together, and Scott and I even went down together once! A second post will follow with pictures from Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, and Santa gifts once we returned to Ft Worth.

Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris.  Judson has an action figure that looks a lot like Chris in his ski gear, so he calls it Ninja Chris, and he calls the Poison Ivy figure, who has red hair, Amy:)

Mimi, Judson, and Amy working on the wooden ornaments.

Playing Headbands

Waiting in line for the tubing

Mimi and Judson tubing

Whee!

More ornament decorating

We had to try out some of Mimi's clever ideas for snow pictures

Ready to hit the slopes!

Judson in one of his private lessons

He enjoyed skiing like everybody else

What a heartbreaker!

Using his hands for balance (no poles for kids)

my cutie-pie skier

Kendall (in purple) during ski school

Avery (pink coat and cheetah hat) with her ski school class headed to get on the lift

Avery skiing down under the gold lift with her class

Good snow plow Avery!

Avery and class headed to the lift again

Cutest skiers I ever saw!

Scott and Avery as w skied down blues and greens from the top of the mountain

Kendall on the magic carpet

Getting some instructions from her coach

Party Time!

Since I am a room mom this year, I helped with both of the girls' school Christmas parties and even managed to go to Judson's preschool Christmas party.  Judson's party was short and sweet with food, a craft, and a book exchange.  For Kendall's party, the kids had pizza, decorated sugar cookies, and played some silly games like blind drawing and scooping cotton balls into a bowl using Vaseline on their nose.  They also made a foam Christmas tree craft.  For Avery's party, we had the kids make Christmas cards for the troops, assembled bags of snack mix and had snowmen-shaped donuts, did a snowman craft, and played Bingo using cards with the kids' pictures.  Kendall came with me to Avery's party because she wasn't feeling just real well.  She sat between Avery and another little girl at her table.  She was very sweet to help Kendall make a card and play Bingo.  They were both fun parties, but this Mama is glad that it's over and I don't have to plan another party until Valentines!

Judson holding his candy cane he made with beads at his Christmas party.  

Kendall with her decorated cookie

Making cards at Avery's party

Avery and Ella with their snowman crafts

Kendall and her new friend in Avery's class

playing Bingo

This little girl was very sweet to share some of her desk space and to help Kendall know who all the kids on the card were.

Avery's Voice Recital

Last summer Avery began taking voice lessons, and so at Christmas time she got to show off her skills and perform in Harmony Music Studios Christmas Recital.  The recital was held in the auditorium of the historic Old Bedford Schoolhouse.  It was just big enough for the audience, but still had an intimate feel.  Avery sang 2 songs, "Castle on a Cloud" from Les Miserables (chosen by her teacher) and "Happy Holidays" (chosen by her).  I know she was nervous, but she had such composure on stage and I think the nerves actually helped her to sing the songs better than she ever had. She nailed both of them and even incorporated some hand motions that she came up with.  She had a big audience of fans including our immediate family, Mimi and Poppi, Memaw and Dedaw, Aunt Sheila and Brooklyn, and her teacher Miss Henderson and her fiancee. She received tons of compliments from people in the audience as well as from her teacher.  Mrs. Jacobs was very impressed of her performance considering she had never been in choir or performed on stage before.  We are super proud of her and we are already looking forward to her recital in the spring!