We just returned this evening from our 5-day trip to Priest Lake. Although my parents decided to be extra safe and stay home, the rest of my family (besides Brynn and Garrett who are serving their missions) decided to go up for the week after Christmas. Although we missed having my parents there, we knew that it was the safest thing for them to do especially since there was over twenty people staying in the cabin and spending most of our time indoors. After a quick turn around after Christmas, we headed out on the morning of December 27th to make the seven hour drive to Priest Lake. Luckily, the roads were basically clear and we made it there before dinner with no problem. We then spent three, fun-filled days at the cabin playing in the snow and spending time in the cabin together. Although there was only about five inches of snow on the ground when we arrived, it snowed all day long the day before we left creating a winter wonderland. It was so much fun to play in that beautiful, fluffy snow with the kids. Part of me wished that we could stay one more day to enjoy the new snow, but we decided to stick with our original plan and head home on New Year's Eve to give ourselves three days at home to unpack and regroup before facing the realities of homeschool and work on Monday.
On Monday morning, we decided to let the kids open up their cousin gifts instead of waiting until the evening like grandma normally did. Here is Ella opening up her gift from Sarah.
A LOL, coloring set! Needless to say, Ella was thrilled.
Logan opening up his gift from Trenton.
Logan holding up his Pirate Treasure Dig activity.
Lia opening up her gift from Kelsey which included some vintage, AGD books and a Polaroid camera.
We then bundled up and headed outside to spend the morning sledding. Although the road to our cabin had been torn up by an overzealous neighbor driving his tractor, our neighbor's driveway was untouched. After patching up a few bare spots, we had a great sledding hill to use all morning long. Emmett loved going down the hill with me and never even made a peep! Here we are ready to go.
Emmett and I sledding down the hill.
Ella was totally fearless and had no problem steering the toboggan sled. It was so impressive to watch her fly down the hill over and over again.
Lia sledding down the hill with Ella in front of her.
Logan walking back up the hill with a sled full of snow and his brand new, snowball launcher.
Ella took Emmett down the hill with her a few times. Here are the two of them walking back up together.
Ron fixing one of Emmett's gloves. I just love this picture of our sweet, little snow bunny looking over at me.
Emmett did a great job lasting all morning in the snow and didn't get fussy until it was time to go in for lunch. Here he is hanging out in daddy's arms.
After sledding down the hill many times, our family walked over to the neighbor's tennis court to play in the untouched snow. Here is Ella after making a snow angel.
For some reason, all three of our older kids LOVE eating snow and can be found munching on it all the time whenever we are outside. Here is Lia snacking away on a snowball.
Emmett giving me a look as he walks through the snow which he kept on calling "no" all week long.
Logan made a little snowman all by himself that he named Frosty (which Ron later changed to Dionisio).
Kelsey eventually joined us on the tennis court and took this darling family picture of us hanging out on the log swing.
The Hartland kids swinging together in the snow.
We celebrated Callie's 17th birthday on Monday evening. Here she is about to blow out her candle.
Blowing away!
Emmett loved climbing up the bunkbed ladders in our bedroom all week long and hanging out on the top. If it weren't for the worry of him falling off, it would have been the perfect activity to keep him busy and happy while hanging out in our room.
Lia and Ron and the majority of my family left very early on Tuesday morning to spend the next 12 hours going on a ski trip to Silver Mountain. Since my knees are still not 100% healthy, I decided to stay behind and watch our three younger kiddos. We had another pleasant day playing in the snow both in the morning and afternoon and enjoying a calmer and more peaceful cabin. After Ella went back into the cabin, Natalee and I took the boys down to the beach after playing in the snow all morning. Emmett was fascinated with the water and kept on wanting to play in it.
The boys on the frozen beach.
Brothers at play.
Emmett giving me a sad look after loosing one of his gloves.
We then walked back up to the cabin so that the boys could go sledding in the driveway for a little bit before heading in for lunch.
Logan giving me a smile from the driveway.
With all of the big kids gone for the day, Logan, Ella, and Trenton built their blanket forts on the catwalk again. Please noticed the two D-O robots that are "eating" at the table that Logan set up for them.
Ella smiling from her fort.
On Thursday, we headed out two times to enjoy the beautiful snow that had started falling some time in the night. We spent the morning sledding on our road that had been covered with a fresh coat of snow. We managed to take a few family pictures before heading off down the hill.
A close-up of the Hartland fam with a beautiful, snowy background.
Once again, Emmett loved going sledding with me several times. Here we are ready to head off down the hill.
Logan hanging out in the snow at the side of the road.
We then spent the afternoon sledding down the massive hill by Canoe Point. Everyone went except for the other moms, Ron, a napping Emmett, Callie, and Vivi. We all had such a great time sledding down this epic hill several times until we were forced to quit when it got dark. Here is the group picture we managed to take before we all went down our first time.
The first wave of people heading down the hill.
The second wave of sledders taking off.
And a third group pushing off.
Since it takes about 15 or so minutes to walk back up the hill, Kelsey was kind enough to pull Ella up several times. What a nice, older cousin!
Ella was so brave once again and had no problem going down this hill by herself. This is the picture I took of her as she sledded past me in the midst of this winter wonderland.
An adorable Ella smiling at me after she came to a stop.
Ella and Logan taking a break on the side of the road before heading back up.
Lia, Ella, and Logan walking back up the hill.
At the very end of the afternoon, the majority of the group made the trek down to the water to look out at the lake in all of its frozen glory. It's amazing how different it looks in the winter versus the summer. Here is the fun, group shot that Eric took of us hanging out on someone's dock.
The gang starting the hike back up to the top.
A picture that I took of a snow-covered tree on the side of the road. This perfectly captures how beautiful everything looked outside on Thursday! Oh, how I love Priest Lake covered in snow!
We enjoyed relaxing together as a family on our last evening there. Here are the younger cousins hanging out on top of Riley while watching TV in the rec room.
Eric got a hold of Emmett and wrapped him up in his blanket like he was in a straight jacket. It was so funny to watch him walk around as happy as can be! He didn't mind at all and would have kept it on as long as he could, but it eventually came unwrapped.
Emmet walking around in his blanket.
Emmett chilling out on the stairs with his two favorite things: his ya-ya and his favorite blankie.
After dinner, the entire group enjoyed playing some fun games. The first was taking turns unwrapping a massive ball of saran wrap full of goodies inside courtesy of Rebecca. Although several of us never got a turn to unwrap it (since we needed to roll a double pair of dice), it was still very entertaining to watch! Here is Brent unwrapping away.
Bryce getting a turn with an envious Logan looking on.
Callie getting a turn!
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