Priest Lake in the Snow!

We just returned home from our five day trip to the beautiful, snowy, winter wonderland at Priest Lake.  There was so much snow at the cabin this year and several inches fell the day after Christmas which was the day before we left.  Luckily, we managed to make it over Snoqualmie Pass on Tuesday morning even though we had worried that the pass might be closed or we might be stuck in long delays due to the storm that had just come through the night before.  However, the snow plows had been out in full force throughout the night keeping the roads cleared for the most part.  Although I-90 was covered in compact snow when we reached the pass, we were able to drive through, but at a much slower speed.  It took us about nine hours to get to the cabin instead of seven and half, but we were just grateful to arrive safely and to get there in time for dinner.  All of my brothers and their families got there before us and the cabin was cozy and warm with the Christmas decorations already up!  It was so beautiful.  I just couldn't get over it.
My parents unfortunately never made it up to the cabin due to how bad their viral plague was.  They never got better the entire time that we were all up there.  And the real surprise came when my dad got diagnosed with shingles half way through the week.  As a result, his flu turned out to be a real blessing in disguise as it had forced him to stay home close to things like Urgent Care, doctors, and prescription medicines which were all things he badly needed once his shingles were discovered.  If he had been up in the woods at Priest Lake, it would have made getting to doctors and getting home really difficult.  So although we missed my parents dearly, it was a good thing that they never came up.  Regardless, we had a wonderful time playing in the snow, sledding down the hills, and being with the cousins.  The children always have such a great time up there and I just love being in the middle of nowhere in a cozy cabin in the snow.  It is always such a fun way to spend the second half of our Christmas vacation and to wrap up the holiday season.  Here are some pictures of our time up at Priest Lake...

The three kiddos and me outside and ready to play in the snow on our first morning there.

Logan getting a feel for the sled after being pushed down the hill by me.

Logan crashing into a snow bank on the side of the road.

It came as no surprise that Ella immediately took to sledding and was never afraid of doing it all week long.  Here she is happily sledding down the hill on my lap.

Logan going for a run down the hill with Papa.

Lia has gotten much braver in the past year or so and now happily flies down the hill on her own.  Here she is going down the hill on her maiden voyage of the trip!

Logan discovered this week how much he loved eating snow.  I could find him eating this stuff every time we went outside to play.  It was pretty funny.  Here he is with snow all over his mouth after taking a large bite of the delicious, white stuff.

As always, Ella had to copy what Logan was doing.  So she also got into eating snow on this trip.

Ron, Logan, and Ella at the top of the sledding hill.

Logan and papa going down again.

Ella wandering around.

Logan enjoyed exploring the deep snow on the side of the sledding hill.

Both of the little ones even agreed to go down the hill at the same time with me.

Logan, Trenton, and Ella playing in the deep snow.

My favorite family picture taken all week long.  I can't believe how everyone is looking at the camera and smiling at the same time.  This doesn't happen every day in the Hartland.

Some of the parents at the top of the sledding hill.

Logan and Trenton hanging out and eating snow.

The kids had plenty of indoor cabin time throughout the week.  They passed a lot of the time playing games.  Here is Lia with some of her cousins playing "Apples to Apples."

We brought up Logan's Star Wars Lego set that he had just gotten for Christmas since we knew there would be some down time at the cabin to put it together.  Here is Ron helping him out with Princess Ella looking on.

On our second day there, Ella agreed to ride down the sledding hill on Lia's back a couple of times.  She has no fear when it comes to these kinds of things.  I just thought it was the cutest thing to see the two of them flying down the hill.  Here is one of the action shots I managed to take of them.

The two girls speeding down the hill after they passed me.

It snowed on our second full day there which made it even funner to be in the snow.  Here is another picture I took of Logan eating snow with the snowflakes in the foreground.

The kiddos and me.

Ella riding down on Lia's back again.

Chris introduced video games to Ella and Logan for the first time.  Although the two of them had no idea what they were doing, they got a kick out of holding their own controller and pushing all of the buttons.

Lia tried out "Minecraft" for the first time with Sarah and Vivi.

I brought up a sock snowman craft (left over from Activity Days this month) for the girls to do.  Here are Lia and the triplets making their own snowman to take home.

Ella joined the group and pretended to feed her stuffed penguin a bunch of buttons left over from the craft. 

On our third full day at the cabin, the majority of the group went skiing to Schweitzer.  As a result, Natalee and Trenton stayed behind with us which made for a quiet and relaxing day.  We started out the morning sledding down the driveway and snowbank near the garage for a change.  Even Ella was game to try going down the driveway on her own sled.  It was the cutest thing!

Logan fell in love with the snow bank and went down it over and over again.  It's pretty steep, so I was impressed that he was willing to try it out all on his own.  He's starting to grow up...

Of course, Ella was willing to go down the snow bank with me.  Here we are at the bottom.

And going down again!

Lia did a few runs herself.

We then decided to venture down the 88 stairs covered in snow to check out the beach below.  Here are the kids climbing on and around the boat lift that has been pulled onto the shore for the winter months.

Lia sitting on a 'snow throne.'

Logan relaxing on our dock covered in snow.

Another family picture in the deep snow with Priest Lake in the background.  So beautiful!

The sun came out for a little bit on our third day there.  Here is a picture I took from the deck looking out over the water.

After the gang returned home from skiing, the girls finally broke out their stuffed animals that they had all brought up to the cabin.  Here are the triplets and Lia with their extensive line-up of Beanie Boos.  This kind of stuffed animal is definitely a favorite among our entire family!