Yesterday we quickly had school and then drove to Mount Baker for some sledding. We forgot our chains so couldn't go all the way to the top. We pulled into a snow park - it was for cross country skiers. There was some snow pushed up and the kids slid down that for a couple of hours before heading home. We want to go again this winter. Lots of fun but gave Isaac a low. Guess he needs more sugar! Lona probably climbed the hill 50 times. Help me Daddy, Help me Daddy was the theme of the day. Isaac loves to throw snowballs. As I was bending down to grab my camera, he nails me on the back of the neck and it trickles down my back. What a turkey. Job didn't want to go down until we forced him and then he loved it. He didn't necessarily need/want a sled. He was happy doing everything "by himself". He didn't need help but if the sled went down the wrong way it was someone elses fault. Oh boy.

The snow was beautiful with the large thick soft flakes coming down. It only rained in Bellingham. It was very deep and at one point Job laid down and swam.

We have had a very full weekend. Two Christmas Parties, decorating and taking down for one party, dance class, a chess tournament and a trip downtown Bethlehem.

BP's Family Christmas party was held on Friday night. We all showed up and helped to put up decorations and get things ready. Then we showed up around 5:30 for the party. The kids always have fun at these. They were able to test a few of the game/activity booths during the set up. They came home with lots of stuff in their goody bags. Decorated cookies, crafts that they had made, toys and pictures of them with Santa. Lona keeps reassuring herself that it really isn't Saint Nicolas because he is dead and it is just someone dressed up like Saint Nicolas.

On Saturday, Lona had dance class and Job had to go with us. She is doing so well. I think she is having fun. John and Isaac went to a chess tournament. He had one of the lowest rating because he lost all his games last year at the only tournament he went to. This year he placed 4th out of 47 and helped his team take 2nd place. Yeah. We are very proud of the work he has put in to do this.

The tech department at BP had their Christmas Party on Saturday Night. John returned from the chess tournament in time to change and go to the party.

On Sunday after church we watched a very depressing Seahawks game. Then at night, the Seventh Day Adventist Church was hosting a walk downtown Bethlehem at their church. So since we hadn't done anything this weekend we decided to go. It was amazing. They had constructed little shops and inns and even a synagogue. People were all dressed up as Jewish people or Roman soldiers. We went into the synagogue and the "priest" talked to us about the time period, what he was wearing, the practices of the day, some meanings behind some of the Psalms and read a prophecy from the book of Micah. They handed out "gold" coins to pay our taxes to Caesar and to purchase things. We had to state what tribe we were from and from what line we came. The answer to those two questions are the tribe of Judah and the line of David. We could not enter Bethlehem unless we had the correct ancestors. It was amazingly well done. If they do this again next year we definitely want to go again.

Tonight (being Monday) we jsut hung out. John finished ripping all our cds onto our computer. It's for my Christmas present. It is an ipod but he says that there is more to it than that. There is a ton of music now on our computer. The boys made a pyramid tonight. I'm still trying to figure out my camera. I ordered the lens and it should be here sometime this week. I have a lot to learn. There is a photography course online that will be offered in March for 8 weeks. Its $250. I think that its a great deal. Maybe i may learn something. We'll see.

We have had some incredible climate changes the last few days. The sheriff's office sent out a severe snow storm warning for Saturday and Sunday. And boy did we get dumped on. Saturday, there were cars in the ditch all over the interstate. We almost didn't make it up one of the steep hills in Bellingham. By Sunday morning the roads were slushy to bare in Bellingham. When we left church it started to rain. By the time we got out of Walmart at 11:00am it turned into snow and kept snowing for over 2 hours. I went outside to shovel snow and play with the kids. We saw a snow mobiler go up our street. John came out and said that the sheriff's office had released another severe warning, this time for flooding, heavy rain, and severe winds for Monday and Tuesday. By the end of Sunday, it had turned to rain with wind. Monday morning the snow was gone and it has been raining ever since. Job said it was 59 degrees this morning. What wild weather.

On Sunday the kids and I made a snow man and then had a huge snowball fight. It included a couple of neighbors and their kids: parents verses kids. It was so much fun.

We have our tree up. Only fell down once. We now have a new topper.

The kids have been into playing board games. The boys like yahtzee. They think they should play it for math (probably right) but it is too slow for Lona. She likes to play clue but needs to play on a team. We have been playing board games or chess at night.

I have been playing with one of my neighbor's lens. I told John that I need this particular lens. It is a fixed zoom 50mm f1.8 lens. It will allow me to take pictures inside without using a flash and not having to much "noise" in the picture. This is a "must" since we are going to Paris. I might have to take a picture inside a building that doesn't allow flash photos. It will also blur part of the picture for me. I'm trying to talk him into buying it for Christmas. I've pointed out all the reasons why I need it. Got to start thinking like an engineer to sell this. If not Christmas then Valentine's day is coming up. I have also found a book that has some great tips about travel photography. I want to go back to Barnes and Noble to read more of the book. One thing I learned is not to have people stand right next to a building and then take the picture but instead to have people stand closer to the photographer so they don't look so small and out of place with the building. I'll have to take notes.