Holy Smokes! We're already a week into 2013. I always meant to post pictures of my new Christmas tree, but I never got it up. It's my favorite - ever - but I guess you'll have to wait another year.
I'll just give a short recap of our Christmas vacation - mostly a photo diary version. I have to preface this recap by saying this was our worst Christmas vacation ever. Hands down, without a doubt. Why? Sickness. Lots and lots of sickness. Everyone is better now, but it was not fun while it was happening.
1. We headed to Omaha the Saturday afternoon before Christmas. That night #2 started to succumb to the illness. She woke up Sunday and looked horrible. I was sure she had strep throat due to a high fever and sore throat. Nope. Just a nasty cold. Evidence:

Here are some other shots from Omaha:
This is aunt Erin and Uncle Chris. Since they live in Dallas we don't see enough of them. The kids ADORE them!

I'm desperately allergic to Grandma and Grandpa's dog. Hence, I require a hotel. (Yes, I'm high maintenance. I admit it.) The little girls stayed with us. The big girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.

The girls - snuggling with Grandma and Grandpa - wearing their new PJs. (They get to open one present every Christmas Eve and it's always PJs.)

Christmas Eve outfit picked out by #3. Notice the shoes.

Christmas Eve outfit smuggled in by #4. This is really a "dress-up" dress. Oh well. She's dressed.

#2 didn't go to church since she felt too crappy. I forgot #1's dress in the hotel so we were in such a rush I forgot to take a picture of her outfit. Darnit.
#3 with her godmother, Mikaela. #3 idolizes Mikaela.

2. We headed home on Christmas day. (#2 was supposed to fly out to Dallas on the morning of the 26th but was too sick to travel.) My side of the family came over after we had our family Christmas. I have to say, I'm not sure why #1 isn't in more pictures and I'm going to have to work on capturing her more often!
Here is #4. She came down with the illness on the 24th. So she was chilly and covered in the blanket here:

Here is the bunk bed I made for #3's American Girl doll. Cute, yes?

We are on year 3 of Want, Need, Wear, Read. It is still working very, very well.

This is the dollhouse the hubby and I made for #4. She has played with it quite a bit. Phew.

Christmas night brought the annual cousin's performance of Jesus's birth.

3. We headed to the Aquarium a couple days after Christmas. The hubby is missing from this picture because he was down with the illness beginning late Christmas night.
The aquarium is nice but I wouldn't want to get an annual pass. Once you've been through it once, you're good to go for awhile.

5. After the hubby started feeling better (after FIVE days of just LAYING ON THE COUCH), we headed out to Weston to ski for a day. I really wanted to get #4 on skis so she'll be ready for spring break. #1 brought a friend because #2 was in Dallas with her BFF.
Success. #4 really likes to ski. However, I'm not sure how well she'll do in ski school when she has to go by herself?!

This lunch photo was snapped before #3 was struck down by the illness. Yep. She spiked a fever at the ski slope.

Here's #1 and her friend. They had so much fun until her friend fell and broke her collarbone. Yep. True story. I felt so bad that it happened on our watch! And she was doing so well. She picked it up really fast!!

5. We got a little snow over the break which I loved! Here are the 3 little girls hanging with their former nanny, Ashley. (#1 was off shopping with her friends.) Aren't they cute?

6. Our buddy, Chad, is installing wood steps for us. They are beautiful. They're close to being done and just need some trim. Now it's my turn. I have to stain and poly the steps. Then I have to paint the trim work and the banister. I'm not going to lie, I'm not looking forward to all that painting. But it's going to be work it because it'll look awesome. Here's the progress shot:

So there you have it! A recap. I'm really looking forward to 2013. I think it's going to be a good year. We've got a couple trips planned so far - Breckenridge and Hilton Head. And mostly, I just love January. I love the fresh start.
With that, I'm out of here. Have a great week!