Seattle at Christmas

I love Seattle!! I grew up only 30 minutes away and then lived in Seattle for 4 years during college, and it just has a special place in my heart. It is especially beautiful during the holidays, so we decided to take the kids for a quick trip while we were up to celebrate Christmas with my mom and brother.  Chrissie and Aaron met up with us, too.  Every year the Seattle Sheraton hosts the Gingerbread Village, which is a fundraiser for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), so we went and checked it out.  The gingerbread houses (more like castles) were amazing! The teams are made up of chefs and architects and the theme this year was Once Upon A Time.

Zack's Favorite!

Sadie's Favorite

I want to live here!

Narnia!

After seeing all the houses, we headed to Pioneer Place Mall.

Love the steel drum band!

During the Holiday Season, it snows inside the mall!  We had never seen this, so we went upstairs to the top level and waited.

IT'S SNOWING!!!!

What a fun evening we had!  Thanks, Seattle!

Cookie Fun

Every Christmas the kids love to help make and decorate spritz cookies.  It's such a fun tradition!

The Twelve Days of Me??

This year, my birthday fell on 12-12-12.  Being a number person (and loving EVEN numbers the most), I find this pretty cool.  And what is even COOLER is the fact that I turned 36 on 12-12-12!  This fact led to a discovery that every year since 2000, my birthday adds up to my age.  :)  My sweet hubby surprised me on December 1st with flowers and a card, and this continued on for TWELVE days!  Wow, I am spoiled.  I took pictures of each gift so I would always remember how special this birthday was.

Day 12 - A Dozen Roses

Day 11 - Eleven pieces of See's candy

Day 10 - A $10 Starbucks Gift Card

Day 9 - A 9 ounce bag of Jelly Bellys

Day 8 - An 8 pack of mini Cokes

Day 7 - 7 scratch tickets

Day 6 - A "6 dollar pint of ice cream"

Day 5 - Five bags of Funyuns

Day 4 - A scarf "four" my neck

Day 3 - Three cards from my three sweet kids

Day 2 - Two movie tickets

 Day ONE - A new iPhone, wheeee!!

Wow.  Every day was so exciting as I got to see what creative card and thoughtful gift I would get to open next!  I definitely felt pretty spoiled and very loved.  Thank you, Tony, Sadie, Zack and Drew!! 

Choir on Fire!

Zack is in choir at school this year.  One of the things they do is sing at the mall during the Christmas season.  Zack had a blast with his buddies!

Zack and Brandon

Mrs. Kelly giving some instructions

"Jingle Bells..."

Victorian Country Christmas

One of my very favorite Christmastime traditions is going to Victorian Country Christmas with my mom.  And now that Sadie is a part of the tradition, it makes it even more fun!  We shop, eat, walk, eat some more, shop some more, ride the carousel and just have a great time.  

Chicken artichoke crepe?  Yes please!!

And of course we have to have a soup bowl!

And ride the carousel :)