This is Our December {Part Two}

For a few days in a row in December, while I was walking along the snowy bike path to get a newspaper each day I saw a big ol' bald eagle perched up high in a big ol' dead tree across the river.  One day I decided to try to get a shot of it with my camera, but of course the day I had my camera with me is the day the eagle didn't show up.  (In fact, I haven't seen him since.  Hmmm.)  But I still managed to get a few fun pics of our snowy winter wonderland.

I thought this one looked a lot like a puzzle or a postcard.

Icy river.

Really icy.

No eagle, but I did spot a few photogenic
magpies.  (I'm not a huge fan of magpies,
but they did make a nice photo.)

Christmas morning was wonderful and relaxing.  We woke up (not too early) and opened presents and stockings and ate some yummy cinnamon rolls.  We skyped with the Elwood gang and opened more presents.  And then we lounged about a little bit more.

Stockings from Mom and Dad Elwood - even Toasty got one!

All the loot after it was unwrapped and semi-organized.  (It still
looks like this on New Year's Eve by the way.)

Toasty may have only been the size of an avocado on Christmas
morning, but he/she got a good stash of fun things anyway.

In the afternoon on Christmas, we decided to trek out into the beautiful sunshine and enjoy a peaceful hike through the snow on Squaw Creek Trail in Cordillera (same place we snowshoed last December).  There was no one else around and the air was so still and quiet.  It was simply gorgeous.

Always gotta push over a dead tree on our snowshoe adventures!

Our Vail-style hiking snack. ;)

Yum!

Happy hikers.

Gregg took a shortcut on the way
down the trail.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 25th]

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night (well, almost, I guess). Here's the grand finale of my little countdown. Thanks for playing along with me.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 24th]

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 23rd]

I love this hymn (though it's the hardest one for me to play for some reason) and I really love this story to go along with it.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 22nd]

Perry Como's voice just goes with Christmas.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 21st]

I'm sure somebody probably hates this one, but it always reminds me of watching the light parade in Preston in the freezing cold. Heather and I always sang it "Cindy's having a wonderful Christmastime". Still makes me smile. :)

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 20th]

I just couldn't resist another from the muppets.  Enjoy this gem.  :)

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 19th]

Good ol' Rudolph.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 18th]

This is one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs.  I just love it.

This is Our December

Here we are, just enjoying the season in our mountain home.  On December 1st, we went to watch the Birds of Prey World Cup ski races again at Beaver Creek.  It was a lot sunnier than last year, and it was nice to be outside in the mountains.  We didn't stay for a long time, but it turned out that the top three finishers raced while we were there, so that was cool.

After the races, we drove down past Minturn, turned onto Tigiwon Road, and hiked up a mile or two to find ourselves a Christmas tree.  It was a perfect day for hiking - not enough snow for snowshoes yet - and we found a lovely tree to bring home and decorate.  (It did look a lot bushier out in the wild, though.)

That's ours, right in the middle of this pic.

Gregg got creative with a flashlight in the next few photos - he's so clever!

We didn't technically build and furnish our gingerbread beach shack in December - it was actually created while we were in Utah on the day after Thanksgiving at Grandma Elwood's house - but it's definitely a favorite part of our Christmas decor.  You'll notice the palm tree seems to have been affected by a hurricane.  But the back "yard" is quite lovely, complete with fruit stripe gum beach chairs, graham cracker crumb sand, and a gummy shark swimming in the blue sprinkle ocean.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 17th]

Ah, classic.  :)

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 16th]

Yep, another one from MoTab. My favorite part is the tum-pa-tum-tum-pa-tum-tum-pa-tum-tums :)

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 15th]

Who couldn't love a cute little ditty from Kermit (and son)?  Definitely a short one, but super sweet.

The Twelve Reading Days of Christmas

A few years ago I found a list of scriptures that counted down the twelve days before (and including) Christmas.  Similar to what I've done the week leading up to Easter, I've kept this list in my scriptures and turn to it every December 14th as part of my personal Christmas celebration.  I just wanted to share it here, in case you are interested in reading along.

Dec 14th - Isaiah 7:14-15; 9:6-7; 53
Dec 15th - 1 Nephi 11:9-33; 12:4-8
Dec 16th - Mosiah 3:1-12, 20-21
Dec 17th - Helaman 14
Dec 18th - Doctrine & Covenants 76:19-24, 40-42
Dec 19th - Alma 7:7-13
Dec 20th - Luke 1
Dec 21st - Luke 2
Dec 22nd - Mark 1-2:13
Dec 23rd - Matthew 1:18-25; 2
Dec 24th - 3 Nephi 1:9-22
Dec 25th - "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles"

- from The New Era, December 2005, p. 39

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 14th]

You'll get no argument from me on this one:

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 13th]

I do love listening to this one (even if I have to do it when I'm home alone to spare Gregg the "bleeding ears").

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 12th]

I really love this song.  And these guys/gals are my new fave.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 11th]

Today's song is dedicated to my nephew, Kage, who is missing one of his front teeth and has a super loose one on the verge of coming out (or maybe he's already lost that one, too?).  By Christmas, I bet he'll be singing this song.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 10th]

Love Mannheim Steamroller at Christmas.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 9th]

I rather like the obscure Christmas hymns, and this is one of them. Especially this version. It brings back lots of memories of my mom's Reader's Digest Christmas records. Yeah, records. :)

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 8th]

I was looking for this song and came across this cute little Christmas special - bonus!

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 7th]

I love Jon Schmidt's Christmas albums - and this year it's been this song that has stuck with me when I listen to them.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 6th]

Christmas tree lit and decorated . . . check. Stockings hung . . . check. Nativity set up . . . check. And it's snowing (very tiny flakes, but it's still snow)! Yep, I'd say it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. :)

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 5th]

Today's song is brought to you by the Whos:

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 4th]

We sure could use some snow . . .

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 3rd]

Simple and sweet.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 2nd]

Today's song comes from the MoTab (I LOVE them - and you'll be hearing a lot more from them as the month progresses). It's not a super common Christmas hymn, but I've always loved it.

Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown [Dec 1st]

It's December 1st and you know what that means? Time for my annual Song-A-Day Countdown to Christmas. The first pick this year is fitting for today, too, because we're heading out soon to find ourselves a true Colorado mountain Christmas tree. :)