Decorating the tree this year felt really calm. I love taking the ornaments out of the box and passing them to my girls to hang up. This year, I made felt mittens (free pattern) and have ambitions to make stockings too, but to say I have my hands full is an understatement! Maeve's branch full of all her ornaments is so cute! Maeve loves the Christmas tree, but she thinks the ornaments are toys. It's a tricky distinction.

This year, for a Christmas tree, we went to Greenbluff and cut a tree down at a tree farm. I've never been to a tree farm for a Christmas tree. We had original planned to cut down a tree from a national forest, but the ranger stations aren't open on the weekends this season which means I should've mailed in early for a permit. Right before we were going to drive out of town, I double checked and we regrouped and drove to Greenbluff. It was fun to pick out a tree and see it from every angle. I'm really happy with the beauty we chose!

After hiking and before we drove into the town, we stopped at Two Jack Lake to ice skate. (Maeve stayed in the warm car with grandparents!) My girls were in heaven! They love ice skating, they love their cousins. It was a win-win scenario! And even though it was icy cold and very windy there was absolutely no complaining from my happy kiddos. It was such a great day!

When my Mom was a little girl and playing hooky from school with her Mom, she remembers coming here. Her big Bernese-Border Collie dog, Popsy and her were playing on the ice. Popsy would pounce on the places she heard bubbles and then my Mom would jump on the ice. Well, one time the ice broke and she fell in. She only got wet up to the hip on one leg fortunately (Popsy got out of there quick and didn't help). My Granny warmed Mom up by the fire, but then they had to head into town to warm up in the hot springs. My Mom says she remembers wearing my Granny's rubber boots, which were huge on her, as she walked into the hot springs. 

Isnt' it fun to have shared experiences? But I'm so glad the ice was super thick for us!

This was a really fun day planned by the Larsens! We drove out the Banff, all the Muirheads that were in town, and we hiked around Minnewonka Lake. I always want to make a stop at Banff when we are in Alberta, but it doesn't always pan out. It was very cold and very windy, and so beautiful! So long as we were moving, we stayed warm. When we stopped for lunch everyone got pretty dang cold. Poor Maeve, her hands got really cold. She cried a lot towards the end of the hike, but I'm so grateful she hung in there and I'm so glad we got to do this! Definitely want to do more of this. My big girls hike so well with cousins. They don't complain at all!

We spent Christmas day with Catherine and Jim, Conor's parents. Man, I love my kids! They are so good and grateful and it's so fun to spend Christmas with them. I love watching them exchange gifts with each other. They get so excited to pick something out and even more excited when it's time for their sister to open the gift. It was so sweet and so pure. I love being able to take my time on Christmas morning and let the kids enjoy everything and that's exactly what we got! It was extra special to share the time with Catherine and Jim. It's a huge blessing to have two sets of Grandparents who love my kids!

On Boxing Day, we did a big Christmas celebration with Conor's sisters and their families too. The last picture is of Maeve in her fleece pajamas that Nana made for her. Maeve picked up the phrase, "open it," over Christmas and was very eager to help pass out presents and assist her family members in opening them. She'll take care of it for you! She caught on pretty quick that the bow and the tag are the first things to get removed. So then she was pulling those off before she passed them to the recipient. It's so fun to have a little one around!