Lots of Snow!

This year we've already gotten our fill of snow. We're just now hitting January and we've already surpassed our average seasonal snow total for the year. In all of our years of living in Michigan Jenny and I have never seen this much consistent snowfall this soon. The only reason we're not completely buried up here is we've been fortunate to have two significant snow-melts. If it weren't for those two melts we would have over 3 feet of snowpack on the ground right now. At the height of the snows we had to dig a trench for Glacier on our back deck just so she could get to the backyard. The self-portrait was taken after spending about 2 hours outside snowblowing and shoveling.

Go...uh...Spirit????

One night all 6 of us went to a Saginaw Spirit hockey game. Usually Ben and I just go and we have a great time. This time however we brought Jenny and Megan as well, along with my parents. Everyone had a good time except for Megan. She wasn't in the mood to sit there and watch people go back and forth on the ice. She just wanted to get down and walk around the whole time. Anyway, this picture pretty much sums it up. Can you guess who was the one who didn't want to be there?

Christmas At Random

Here are some random pictures from our Christmas this year. The kids loved having my parents stay with us this year, and we even had my grandmother over for Christmas dinner. (She loved the talking Elmo doll more than Megan I think.)

Christmas Day

The kids had a great Christmas this year. Santa got them some great presents and all of the grandparents treated them very well. Some of Ben's gifts included a Batman "Bat Cave" playset, and some Space toys (rockets and shuttles). Some of Megan's gifts included a shopping cart with groceries, and an "Elmo Live." Also, the kids got a new bouncy house for the basement...which they love obviously.

Christmas In The Kitchen

One of our Christmas traditions is making Christmas cookies. Ben loves this primarily because of the frosting. Okay...so does Dad. Anyway, this year we got Grandma and Grandpa in on the act as well.

Birthday Party

One of the highlights for Ben over the Christmas break was going to a birthday party for his friend Ella from school. They had the party at a gymnastics center here in town. The kids got to bounce around, swing from ropes, and jump into giant foam pits. Ben had a great time.

Christmas At Random

We're all in the Christmas spirit up here at the Frame residence. Here's some random pictures from the past few days.
(The picture of Ben holding the sign was from the other day at the Santa House. Some guy came up to us with a video camera. He said he was with one of the local churches here in town, and that he was making a "spirit of Christmas" video for his church. So that's why Ben is holding the sign.)

At The Sled Hill

Ben and I went sledding today at the sled hill. In our city forest (which is a mile-by-mile public forest) we have a designated sled hill...which is about the size of a bunny hill at a ski resort. It's a good size and worth the time and effort. Anyway, the weather wasn't too cold...and there was no wind. So it was a nice day to go sledding. As you can see...Ben had a blast.

At Santa's House

Yesterday we took the kids to the Santa House downtown to see Santa...one of our Christmas traditions up here. Here in town they have a bavarian-style house downtown that they open up every Christmas and invite everyone to come and see Santa. The house is filled with Christmas lights, toys, puppets, and all sorts of decorations. Best of all...it's a lot more fun than waiting in line at the mall to see Santa.
Ben brought his Christmas list for Santa, and he of course sat on Santa's lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas. Megan on the other hand didn't want anything to do with Santa so Jenny had to hold her. Coincidentally, we saw our friends the Bell's up there. All the boys had fun walking around the house looking up at the ceiling at all the toy trains, toys, and decorations.