Our very Merry (and White) Christmas

Well, I had good intentions of catching up on blogging while we were out west, really I did. That is, until I realized that I hadn't brought our cable to download pictures. Drat. So, now that I'm back home, I'm finally playing catch up. Here it is - our last few weeks in a nutshell:

Before we left for Idaho/Montana, Connor decided he liked pretending to be a dog. He wanted his "dog biscuits" (really pita chips) and water served in dishes on the floor. He would crawl around like a dog, bark like a dog, and had a "dog house" (really a diaper box) that he played in. The kid's not hurting for imagination!
Around this time, Connor would sometimes be a bird and make a "bird house" out of the couch cushions and a safety gate. The day we were packing to leave, Jake noticed that several of his pants that are normally hanging up were left in a heap on the floor. We went out to the living room and discovered that Connor had decided his "bird house" needed a closet. He had a couple of his pairs of pants and a couple shirts hanging up. This picture still makes me laugh.
Bird Connor in his house
We had a much longer than intended transit time to IF, but were greeted by wonderful snowfall when we arrived. Jake and Connor had to go out and enjoy it!
We spent a week up in Bozeman with Jake's parents. Connor loved making sugar cookies with Grams. He also got to play Thomas tracks and kitchen with her a lot.
Ellie's first pigtails!!! She looks like a Dr. Seuss character, but she finally has enough hair! Happy day for mom!
Playing out in the snow. Ellie had kind of a hard time walking around, but she enjoyed herself immensely.

The snowman Jake and Connor built
The snowman after Jake and Connor attacked it. Connor had a lot of fun with that.
Connor put on one of Papa DaBell's socks and told me "Look mom! It's foot and leg socks!!"
Dad, Connor, and "Santa Papa"
Connor the shepherd, Ellie the disgruntled angel or Mary and mom the stagehand playing dress up for a pre-Christmas FHE

The kids having a bath with cousin Gavin. Too cute. It took forever to get them to smile and look in roughly the same direction.
After Bozeman, we drove back to IF on the 23rd, spent a wonderful (very snowy) Christmas Eve with my family and extended family. This is the beautiful scene we woke up to Christmas morning. This is my parent's back yard. You can see parts of the frosty Snake River through the snow. Ellie really excited about one of her gifts. Notice the matching jammies- those were one of mom's Christmas indulgences. :)
Connor and his harmonica. He also got some Geotrax, a piano book, games, and clothes.
Ellie showing off her new baby doll and stroller. She also got some clothes and bath toys that she's loved. She's turning into such a girl.

So, now we're home. Our flight was fairly uneventful. We only arrived 1/2 hr late and all of our bags arrived with us (yay!). We had a great time seeing friends and family, watching movies (National Treasure 2 gets two thumbs up), trying out our guitar skills with Guitar hero 3 on the Wii, and having extra entertainers for the kids. This next semester will be pretty crazy with getting ready to move. We've had such a great experience here in North Carolina and will be sad to leave in 4 months!