Wallace for Christmas

We went to Wallace, Idaho for Christmas! My little sister Allie has been planning this big family event for ages now and the day finally came when we all drove and flew from our various destinations to meet up in the small silver mining and historic town of Wallace. On Friday the kids were supposed to go to school but I let them skip (what school district makes kids go to school three days before Christmas?!) and as soon as Chris got home from a half day of work in the morning we headed out. It was a beautiful white wintery drive through Snoqualmie Pass.

We stopped for dinner at Cafe Rio in Spokane then pulled into Wallace around 8pm. We stayed in the rental house next to my parent's since there wasn't enough room at the inn, so to speak haha. My dad got a new drone and took this beautiful shot of Wallace. Winter wonderland!

As soon as we arrived, Fox found a snowy heart! Adorbs.

On Saturday morning the kids wanted to go play outside in the snow first thing, natch. I like to look at snow, I don't like to be in snow. But Chris was a trooper and took the kids outside many times to let them play to their heart's content!  For lunch I requested to eat at the Blackboard Cafe since it'd be closed on Sunday and Monday and we planned to leave Tuesday morning. Now or never! Had to stop and take photos of the epic downtown! I ordered a fancy grilled cheese sandwich with brie and apple slices in it - sooooo good! I'm not usually adventurous when it comes to food but as I'm getting older I'm trying new things more often and loving it! Tanya stayed home with Zoe, but everyone else came to lunch and it was a blast. Daisy was my own personal snow flurry (#Frozen) heater.

Then for dinner we went to Casa de Oro. I got a yummy burrito. As we were leaving it was a bit chaotic - there are 12.5 of us (Tanya is expecting a baby boy in April, yay!), and there were a lot of families standing at the front waiting to be seated. I was nudging Jane to go out the front door, only when I looked down it wasn't Jane! It was someone else's kid who just happened to be the same height and wearing the same colored jacket! Poor thing looked so confused and scared. My bad!

On Christmas Adam (the day before Christmas Eve) we went to the Walmart in Smelterville to do our traditional family gift exchange. We convinced my dad to increase the $5 per person limit to $7 because of inflation since 2000. Can't beat cold hard facts!! :) We also convinced him to get a TV for above the fireplace so everyone could gather 'round in the same room and watch shows together.

Tate & Allie & Daisy - so cute!

Gaaaah! Can't handle the cuteness! On Christmas Eve we went to church and enjoyed the Christmas program. 4 degrees?! This should be outlawed!

Another pic of Allie and Daisy cuz they're cute and so is that house! While the kids napped I stitched and we watched The Santa Clause.

For dinner Allie & Tate made turkey and ham, mashed potatoes, salad, green bean casserole, and rolls, topped with Martinelli's. It was so yummy.

We read the story of Jesus' birth up until the "scary part".

Even Fox read a page, he's so awesome!

The night ended with one of my favorite traditions - a good ol' classic episode of the X-Files called How the Ghosts Stole Christmas. See, the TV was a good idea Malm!

On Christmas morning Fox came into our room at 4:30am to say that Santa had brought him a stocking. Thankfully he went back to bed until 7:30 and we actually had to wake Jane up to head next door for Christmas festivities! We tried to take turns opening presents but eventually it just became a free-for-all haha.

My cute girly girl!

Aunt Allie snuggles!

Matching jammies for the grandgirls! Zoe wasn't having it though haha.
Matching jammies for the grown up girls!
Fox and Jane on Christmas Day 2017.

Even more fun than opening presents was when I finally got up the guts to go outside to play in the snow! We found a hill and went sledding. The kids loved it, I loved it, it was a wonderful way to end a perfect day.

Pure joy!

We finally managed to snap a family photo between naps, feedings, meals, and activities! Love these people!

It was such a memorable Christmas with EVERYONE together! I can only hope it happens again sooner than later :)
Merry Christmas 2017!!