Merry Christmas!

The Ferner family had a very merry Christmas this year!  Santa (and the grandparents and aunts and uncles) spoiled us as usual.

On Christmas morning, Ian went straight for his Santa sack and Mia went right for the new trampoline.




Santa came through with the Ninja Turtle bus Ian asked for!


Macy the puppy added some extra chaos to the festivities.  (She's Emily's, not ours!)


Mia's filling up the tank with her new gas pump for the Cozy Coupe.


Ian loved his City Center and his Batman jail.


The trampoline is a hit!

Holiday Show 2013

The kids' school held a holiday program again this year.  Mia's class dressed up as Santa's elves and performed a "skit" of making toys in the workshop.  She was less than interested in participating.



She did look pretty cute in her elf hat and Christmas shirt, though.




She also insisted on wearing her hair like this all day.


Ian's class performed two songs, one rhyme about a snowman melting and one rendition of the Chipmunk Christmas Song.  Ian is still not feeling 100%, but he did his best to sing a few lines toward the end.

Recent Photos

Joe and I got each other a new camera for Christmas so we've been taking a lot of photos recently.  Here are some of the best ones.

Ian's homemade button wreath ornament hanging on the tree


Chandelier


Monkey


Pressing the "belly buttons"


Cookies


Fountain view


Tossing pennies in the fountain


Make a wish!


Gingerbread village

Winter Walk of Lights

One of our favorite holiday events is the Winter Walk of Lights at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.  This is our second year walking through the lights (last year's pictures here).  Ian hasn't been feeling well but he really wanted to go, so we bundled up in extra layers.









(this photo is the Google "auto awesome" version, with added twinkle)


At the end of the walk, we toasted some marshmallows, made s'mores, and drank some hot chocolate by the fire pit.

Family Photo Session

Back in November, we had family photos taken by a professional photographer.  It was a windy and cold day, and we only made it halfway through the session before having to put on coats, but we're pleased with how they turned out.  Now that our Christmas cards have been mailed, I can share the rest of our favorites.

Snow Day!

We got our first snow of the year yesterday, and the kids loved it!


Bundled up


Helping Dad shovel




Blue tongue from a candy cane


Snowball fight!






Gotcha!




We tried sledding, and it was a hit until Ian's pants got wet and Mia got a face full of snow.  We didn't last long.


Warming up by the fire


Overnight the snow turned to ice, and we woke up to a late school opening and some beautiful wintry scenes.






Santa and Frosty shed their icy coatings when they deflated


With 5 more inches of snow expected tomorrow, we're stocking up on snow gear!