Bavarian Village Tourists

 One of our two favorite stores in town (the other right next door)!

Of course we had to visit the Gingerbread Factory (a few times)!

Sledding in Leavenworth

We had a BLAST sledding with our cousins Lola and Violet in Leavenworth prior to Christmas. The Rieke 4 will be moving into a new house on East Leavenworth Road in February. Their property is near the Rieke 5's house and they, too, have a great sledding hill!

Their house is being remodeled before they move in. So exciting!

Pre-School Christmas Musical

Karen's class sang lots of songs using hand motions and instruments during their Christmas musical this week for the parents. She seemed very focused on stage but also took time to wave and blow a few kisses. :)

Karen with her very special teachers, Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. Forbes.

Gingerbread House Creativity

Sea Puffers

We just completed our most recent session of swim lessons and we had a blast!

Christmas Nativity

Our school's Christmas program was last week. Pictured left to right: Vaughn (shepherd), Andrew (Joseph), Paisley (Mary), and me (Wise Man).

Levi was another wise man in our nativity performance. It was a very special night in front of a "standing room only crowd".

It may look like Karen was in the performance but this picture was taken 30 minutes prior to the start of the program. Mama won this Elsa dress at a MOPS raffle earlier in the day and Karen wore it all day. She felt appropriately dressed to get up on stage and dance while the audience waited for the program to officially begin. She was not alone. :)

Reindeer Handprint Hats

We had fun tracing our hands to use for the antlers of these Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer hats!

Thanksgiving Feast in the Classroom

A few weeks ago, my mom was a parent volunteer in my class. We learned how to prepare different parts of a traditional Thanksgiving feast. My mom helped us make homemade cranberry sauce. Other stations included mashed potatoes and pumpkin dessert.

My class shared the meal and it was very yummy! We have much to be thankful for.

Karen had a big fruit & vegetable feast the day before Thanksgiving break in her pre-school class. She brought an avocado to share with her classmates.

Jingle Bell 5K

 We had so much fun running in the Jingle Bell 5K this weekend as a family.

 Karen was recognized during the awards ceremony as the youngest competitor (3 years old). She improved her time by 4 minutes completing the 5K in 41 minutes flat.

After the race, Santa and Mrs. Claus got a kick out of me asking them what they wanted for Christmas before I gave them a list of the top items my sister and I would like.



Hunt for a Christmas Tree

 This tree farm with Clydesdale horses is less than a mile from our house. We had a blast looking for the perfect tree! We brought our tools to help Papa cut it down. :)

 Thanks for the new ornaments, Grandma D!

Karen put the angel on the tree this year.

Thanksgiving in the Snow

We went on a fun road trip to Chiliquin, OR (approximately 1/2 way between Crater Lake and Klamath Falls) to visit Grandpa Mike and Grandma Donna. They just moved to beautiful lakefront property at 4,100 feet in elevation - hence all the snow!

 Ginger chased a jackrabbit one morning!

 View of Agency Lake from grandpa's balcony.

 Grandpa gave Karen a new bike! She wore her new helmet all day.

A highlight was this walk along the lake with the dogs. Thanks for making us feel so welcome Grandpa Mike and Grandma Donna. We love you!