Christmas in VA--Part TWO!

I'm finally on to the second half of my Christmas post! (I've been sick for the last week, and now I'm starting to feel better and Jake is sick. Isn't that how it always goes?? In any case, I stand by that excuse for the large gap in my update.)

So, the second week in Virginia we packed up the cars and drove 2 hours to the Massanutten Resort. My parents booked 2 condos for the week! They were stacked liked a townhouse, and it was awesome. During that week we did plenty of laying around of course--But in between the relaxing we went to the rec center pool, sledding, the waterpark, and tubing! Some of the family even took one day to go skiing and snowboarding. And then every night after the kids were all asleep, we stayed up playing games and watching movies. It was so nice to be "away together" as a family like that--no distractions.

We started a new tradition over the break, and it's one that I hope to continue every Christmas. On the first night in Virginia my dad presented the idea of having a nightly devotional. Basically, we pulled topics from a hat and took turns sharing a brief spiritual thought each night. It was a really wonderful thing to experience as a family, and I think it's safe to say we grew individually and as a whole by doing this. I highly recommend it :). after all, it's so important to remember Christ during this special time of year.

Here is a small sampling of pictures from Massenutten. (really--I know it will seem like a lot of pictures, but my family takes A LOT of pictures..so it's only a few by comparison)

Day One: Grandma builds a fort with the boys. What a cool Oma huh?

At the Rec Center pool. Luckily the room was heated up nice and toasty!

"teaching" jake how to swim.

Sledding on a random little hill. The snow was packed and icy, so we got going pretty fast!

This picture is too awesome not to post. The hill was small enough that even David got to go by himself! His expression was priceless.

The waterpark was soo cool! They had a lazy river, a bunch of big water slides, a kiddie playground pool, and even a hut tub for kids--heated up like a warm bath! The only downside was that the Flowrider was broken :( but other than that it was awesome!

After spending all of News Years Eve day at the waterpark, we could barely stay up til the ball dropped! And then Jake had a night terror around 11:45. By the time Wes and I got him calm and back to bed it was 12:20...(Maybe he just wanted to be a part of the New Years celebration!?) I can't think of a better way to spend the holidays than with family around you--even if one of them is screaming his head off ;)

We flew into the New Year at the speed of light.. well maybe not that fast, but I swear, those inner tubes got some air a few times! We went tubing in groups so that the kids didn't have to go out in the cold. Thanks to Mom, Dad and Syd for watching our babies so we could double up!

We were so sad to leave the resort at the end of the week. On the way home we stopped at Yoders--a little Mennonite farm and country store. Jake loved feeding the goats there!

As always, the trip ended too quickly.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for hosting a wonderful Christmas...We miss you already.