Christmas 2009

For Christmas Brian and I headed east to visit Seth and Michelle and their kids. Mom and Dad Platt flew down from Valdez, so it was a special visit. Brian and I hadn't spent much time with Mom and Dad together since we left Alaska, so it was really good to see them and catch up.

First, we need to introduce the newest family member- Rosie, Seth and Michelle's dog. She's a sweetie (even though she ate the kitchen floor while we were playing cards). They rescued her from the Human Society a few weeks before we arrived. If anyone asks, she's a boxer mix.

One of the first items on the to-do list after we all arrived was for the girls was to do a bit of shopping at the outlets close to Seth and Michelle's house. We had a lot of fun having some girl-time. Here's a self-portrait of Mom and me. Gabby didn't make it through the entire shopping trip and had to take a little nap. This photo shows off her gorgeous eyelashes.

Harmony and me posing for a portrait in a dressing room mirror. Harmony and I have a lot in common (besides spilling our milk), so we like being together.

Brian got a new chainsaw from Santa. Michelle gave him plenty of opportunities to try it out in their overgrown backyard.
James even got in on the action! On Christmas Eve James and Harmony were in a play at their church about the Christmas story. Harmony was a lamb and James was a donkey. I didn't get any good pictures of Harmony, but here's James in his costume. They were both adorable and did a great job! Of course we had to have meatpie for dinner on Christmas Eve.The kids let us sleep in until 7 o'clock on Christmas morning. They were very excited, especially James. This expression says it all. Dad on Christmas morning (just a nice photo). Brian and I brought a prime rib from Iowa with us (the meat capital of the country) for Christmas dinner. It was lovely. Dad carved- he's an expert.

The day after Christmas we took a trip to a museum nearby with all the kids. James, Harmony, and Gabby love museums and this particular museum had lots for them to do.

30-million years ago and Brian would have been toast!

I re-enacted a pre-historic battle in the kid area. James, Gabby, and Harmony riding a (fake, but very realistic) camel in the Egyptian room. Seth and Dad scope out an extremely large tree cookie. James, Harmony, and I spent a lot of time in the kids' water area. They got pretty wet...I managed to stay much dryer than they did.

Mom and Dad said they would babysit so that Seth, Michelle, Brian and I could go out. We went to the Melting Pot- a fondue restaurant. It was nice hanging out- just the four of us...and the food was terrific. Seth and Michelle, across the table. Another highlight of our visit was fossil hunting. James loves fossils and there is a great place to go fossil hunting close to their house. Dad climbing to the top of one of the cliffs. (Notice the "no climbing" sign). What can you say- he's an Alaskan. Brian contemplates some 300-million year-old shells. The guys digging for trilobites. Seth found some really nice specimens. Before we left there were a few inches of snow, so the kids all bundled up to play. Gabby got all suited up, reminding me of the movie A Christmas Story. She was only outside 10 minutes before she came back in because her fingers were cold. She hasn't yet made the correlation between leaving her gloves on and keeping her fingers warm. Maybe by next winter. Thanks for a super fun visit!