All Aboooooard the Polar Express!

We had so much fun on the Polar Express train ride near Mount Rainier this week complete with hot chocolate, singing waiters, and a visit from Santa!

More Christmas Break Memories

We were blessed this Christmas with extended family time, thoughtful gifts, a warm fireplace, and lots of walks in the woods.

 Thanks for the great visit and special gifts, Grandma D!

Family Time in Leavenworth

We had a blast sledding and skiing on the hill behind the

Rieke 4's new house.

Who needs a rope toe or a ski lift if you have the help of Uncle Moo to get up the hill?!

 Holden and Lola took turns reading the birth of Jesus in Luke 2 before we opened gifts.

 Mama baked gingerbread cookies for us to decorate!

What a special visit. We love you Riekes!

Cornerstone Christmas Programs

 Karen and I sang songs in front of a packed house Tuesday evening for our Christmas program.

I also memorized lines for a class play about the significance of different Christmas symbols (like the candy cane). We performed in front of parents as well as the whole school.

 Mrs. Theibert showed our class a traditional German Christmas decoration that has been in her family for decades. Parents made all sorts of ethnic foods for our Christmas Around the World Lunch this week. Mama made a big batch of Scandinavian lefse using a recipe handed down from my great grandma Lola to grandpa John to her.

Winter Wonderland

 We loved playing in the snow this past week!

 Sledding into the night down our drive way.

We built Papa, Mama, Holden and Karen snow people!

Jingle Bell 5K

Christmas Decorating

This past week we had so much fun with our annual traditions of decorating the Christmas tree, a Gingerbread house, and cookies to give away.

Christmas Tree Hunt

 Papa let me help cut down our Christmas tree this year.

It was fun to share our adventure with Grandpa Mike.