Micah Skis!

We took Micah skiing for the first time yesterday and he LOVED it! He was so courageous and had a constant smile! We went to Massanutten Mountain (30 minutes away) with the Martins so Sylvan and Micah could ski together.
Check out Micah's tuck! He did great on the bunny hill skiing solo, so we let him ski between our legs on some green runs off of a chair lift. He had even more fun than I thought he would! It was fun recalling the stories my mom tells of me learning to ski as a preschooler too. All day today, Micah asked when we can go skiing again.
Paul was fascinated enough by watching the snow fall in our front yard!

Beach Brothers

Tonight, before praying for the boys before bed, I asked Paul what he was thankful for and he pointed at Micah. In return, Micah said, "I'm thankful for Paul." Ahhh. That is why this family vacation was so encouraging to me. I've put a LOT of pictures on this post, but really this is the summary photo (and much better than the rest!)

Paul did a lot of pointing this trip. Paul seemed interested in everything, just as Micah did when we went to San Diego when Micah was Paul's age.

Oceanography field trip -- Micah was interested in the tide pools' amazing diversity.
Both times that we visited the seals at La Jolla, Paul was all smiles. I think that was his highlight.
P.E. field trip -- Something in the San Diego playgrounds brought out climbing courage in Micah!

Thankfully, the boys slept well in the car and the hotels!

Botany field trip -- Who would have thought that Aunt Cheryl's home in Hollywood would be the place to learn where oranges come from! This was Anthony's birthday, too.

A genuine smile in Hollywood!

Performing Arts field trip --Touring Sony, where Aunt Cheryl works, was fun.
I even got to be Vanna White in front of the Wheel of Fortune board.
Who is enjoying the Santa Monica Pier Carousel the most?

Theology field trip (ever heard of such a thing?) -- Jon and Pam Lunde are such good friends and we were blessed to have a day with them . . .

while Micah had a blast with the big twins, Trevor and Connor.

What a great family! They were our next-door neighbors in Chicago. We all decided that life was significantly different than 5 years ago!

Even though we don't have a picture of them, we got to have a great evening with Uncle Robert and Aunt Nona. All four of us really enjoyed being with them!

Science field trip -- Even though we had days of rain in a city that expects sunshine, we had fun at the science museum.
History field trip -- Eating at the place where they filmed Top Gun qualifies as history, right!?
Economics field trip -- We also took a day trip to Mexico to appreciate U.S. infrastructure.

Zoology field trip -- Zhen Zhen is the baby Panda on the left and she is less than 6 months old. She's only been on exhibit for 2 weeks.

The Orangutans were both of the boys' favorite animals. This one was interested in Micah for awhile, but the swinging ones were the most entertaining. Can you find Micah and his Grandma Jo in this picture? I puts lots of miles on the stroller!

The camera took a math field trip (at Anthony's conference) while the boys and I had a gorgeous day riding a ferry and playing on beautiful sandy beaches on Coronado Island.
Spanish field trip -- Balboa Park was beautiful to walk around with our friend Michael who was at Northwestern with Anthony.

Under the direction of Paul, we went back to beautiful La Jolla with Michael.
Laundry conservation field trip -- Among the numerous things Paul taught himself this trip was the ability to build a sandcastle without dirtying one of his few pairs of pants!
Education field trip -- We had several great visits with our friend Ray Posey who taught at Trinity with Anthony.
I am rejuvenated after a great time with my boys. As Anthony has been saying, "We're good at vacationing!"

CHRISTmas

Even if it looks like she has a two-headed grandson on her lap, Grandma Bev got to have four grandsons under the age of 4 with her for Christmas! We had a 3, 2, 1, and newborn adventure!
Paul is so proficient in walking that he can (and does) make a break for it. Micah learned the Christmas Vacation phrase, "That there's an RV," since we got to camp in a borrowed one on beautiful Blue Heron farm. It was great to be with family, even though we passed on a stomach virus that we had three days before Christmas. Grandaddy sweetly chose the music of the junior park rangers Micah and CJ over his new IPod! Micah got to cuddle up in a bear bag. A note about Micah's Christmas: Micah memorized lots of Christmas carols this year, including ALL of the verses of Joy to the World, Away in the Manger, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Feliz Navidad, Angels We Have Heard on High . . . you get the idea! The gift that he kept asking for was a "JMU North Pole Puzzle," but he was just as happy to get a safari puzzle on Christmas morning.
I've never seen three horses run so fast to see a three year old and a two year old bearing carrots and apples.
What's it like way down there, Paul? At least someone looked at the camera!
For Charlie, I think the horses were the highlight of Christmas.

But for the rest of us, Joey was the star of the show!
Joey was smiling all of the time for his first Christmas!
Do you see what I mean?

A Christmas tree tip: believe the Miller family when they say that ALL of the needles fall off of a Norway Spruce, even when you cut it yourselves!

Another Christmas tip: the Playmobile Nativity set is a great advent activity to keep Christ central for kids. Micah loved getting to play with one additional nativity character each day. You wouldn't believe the adventures that Mary and Joseph had!

Before Christmas

I'm beginning the game of catch-up, since we got back from California last night. I love my extended family so much! Here are a few more Thanksgiving pictures to supplement the ones I posted a month ago, but these great ones are taken by my cousin Karen.
Micah and his cousin CJ at Great-Grandpa Smith's house
Good old times plus some! My mom, my brother Scott and I have a bigger family than we used to and Joey isn't even in this picture. Here he (Joey) is, with Karen the photogenic photographer . . .
who even managed to get a smiley picture of Paul who has been having stomach problems for the last 3 months.

Moving on from Thanksgiving, here's Micah with friends Sylvan and Noah, at their first bowling experience, in honor of the JMU math club! Also before Christmas, we also got to have family fun at "Pump It Up," an inflatable party place, in honor of Micah's friend, Eve Carter's birthday.
While James Carter rightfully accused me (Megan) of having more fun bouncing and obstacle-coursing than the kids, Paul did have a good time, too.
Judge for yourself -- is Drew Miller having as much a thrill as Micah, Colin and Noah?
Don't worry, I will get around to posting Christmas and California pictures!