Christmas Morning.

Our Christmas morning was filled with many wonderful memories. Luke and Reid are both at such fun ages so their excitement added to the joy of this special day. We opened gifts in the morning, and then attended Mass. Enjoy these photos!

O Christmas Tree!

Reid & Luke (decked out in their cute Santa shirts from Mimi Margie and Papa Ted) were ready to check out their stockings.

In the midst of the unwrapping frenzy.

The boys' big gift ... a new horse swing! Giddyup, lil' cowboys!

Fa-la-la Fondue.

Our Christmas Eve festivities routed our sleigh to Denver to celebrate with Mimi & Papa. What better way to celebrate than firing up the fondue pot! We sampled some delish swiss cheese fondue, mini Aidell sausages, and peppermint white chocolate fondue for dessert. We also enjoyed opening a few more gifts & celebrating this joyous season. It truly was a very Merry Christmas Eve!

Luke & Reid were so excited about their Power Ranger toys from Mimi & Papa!

Ho-ho-ho-WHO are these crazy folks?! Oh, just Santa, Rudolph, Dasher, and the Elf.

Mama Elf and Santa Luke

Broadmoor Bound.

We've heard the decorations at the Broadmoor Hotel are quite the sight at Christmas, so tonight we decided to see for ourselves. We loaded up our little elves and drove down to the Broadmoor with our sights set on getting hot cocoa and touring the hotel grounds. What fun to see the hotel in all its sparkling splendor! We also ran into our friends the Bender family while there ... great to see them, too.

The gingerbread village display. Amazing!

Scott & the boys in front of one of the many finely trimmed trees.

Jami & the boys outside by the lake (frozen behind us.)

Luke is all smiles about his hot cocoa!

3 Cousins & a Cowboy

Today, we journeyed up to Denver to visit Mimi & Papa. Here the 3 cousins pose in front of the fireplace...

When we returned home last night, Uncle Scott decided to give horse rides. Dalton giggled non-stop. Giddy up!

Solo Artists.

Perhaps they are swept up in the Christmas spirit, but the boys have really been into singing lately. Below are two solo numbers for your enjoyment.

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Act I -- Luke sings "Peppermint Stick."

Act II -- Reid sings "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

Note: Luke is providing back-up vocals and line prompts. Reid really likes to drawwwww out the last word of each line for extra emphasis and meaning. Also, his stage exit is quite the grand finale.

More Family Fotos.

This past week we were thrilled to receive our family portraits from the Leahy Family Reunion in Omaha this past summer. In 2008, we've been blessed with some great times with family, and it's wonderful to have photos like these to capture such special memories!

Nelson Family Christmas.

Today we started the Christmas celebration by hosting the Nelson side of the family -- including Briana, Craig & Dalton from KS and Mimi & Papa from Denver. We kicked off the get-together with a lunch reminiscent of Craig & Briana's rehearsal dinner -- mesquite pork loin, creamy chive potatoes and green beans, as well as 2 desserts including a "snow cranberry cake" and ostkaka (AKA Swedish cheesecake.) From these culinary delights, we then moved on to opening gifts. Many surprises and fun gifts were opened. We decided to lean toward gifts of family outings this year, so we are all sure to have fun new adventures that await us in 2009 thanks to the generosity of our family.

All in the family!

Mimi, Papa & their 3 grandsons.

The 'original' Nelson crew.

Our fam of 4.

After all the festivities, Papa read Reid a book before naptime. Curious George tagged along.

Class act for Christmas!

Children donning reindeer antlers. Gingerbread houses made from graham crackers stuck on milk cartons. Christmas carols sung by sweet lil' voices. These are a few of our favorite things after today's Christmas program at Luke's school.

Luke and his classmates crooned several carols, and then we decorated gingerbread houses. It was so much fun to see all the children in the Christmas spirit with the great energy and enthusiasm that the teachers -- Mrs. Elstad and Mrs. Young -- bring out in the children. Here are some photos from our very merry morning at school celebrating with Luke.

The reindeer all lined up and ready to sing!

Luke and classmate Paige decorate their gingerbread houses. Luke only used green gumdrops, green M&Ms, and green sprinkles for decorating. And yes, he's wearing a green shirt. There is only ONE color in his world!

Cuties with cookies.

Luke with his teachers Mrs. Young and Mrs. Elstad

Side note: This is the first public performance that Luke has not been super shy when standing up in front of a crowd. We are so proud of how confident he was today! Maybe it was the antlers...

C is for...

C-c-c-cold and croup! This week started out with some of the coldest temps we've experienced here ... hovering in the single digits! Brrrr! Along with that, Reid also came down with a case of croup Sunday night. After a visit to the doctor and some medicine, he is on the mend, and the characteristic croup cough is fading. Here's the patient resting up and watching a show on Dad's computer...

More fa-la-la festivities...

This weekend brought more fa-la-la festivities for the Leahy family. While Scott and Jami dashed off to the RT Logic Holiday Party, Mimi & Papa watched the boys and worked on the creative culinary masterpiece of decorating a gingerbread house...

Mimi & the boys put their heads together to come up with a design for the house.

Hmmm ... little did we know the box included a Reid!

Every project needs a supervisor. Reid finds it's best to offer guidance while standing on the table.

Off to a very merry holiday gathering for RT Logic!

Holly Jolly Junior League

'Tis the season to be jolly with the Junior League! Things have been hoppin' with League events this past week. Here are some highlights...

We celebrated our newest Junior League members (they are in the back row in the sparkling sashes) at the Fall '08 Provisional Graduation last weekend. Members of the Recruitment/Provisional Committee are in the front row plus Jami, who helped assist the committee with some of the marketing/ad materials for recruitment.

This weekend this fantastic group of Junior League volunteers helped to decorate one of the Colorado Springs airport terminals for a service project called Fantasy Flight. At this event, underprivileged children come to the airport where they have the opportunity to take a real plane ride to visit Santa at the North Pole (AKA our well-decorated winter wonderland courtesy of the League). What a wonderful way to share the Christmas spirit!

And finally, some members of our Spring '08 Provisional Class gathered together today at the Leahy home for a lipgloss exchange (like an ornament exchange only more girly!) We had a wonderful time catching up and celebrating ... and we all left with great glossy gifts!

Spreading Christmas cheer...

Today Reid and Jami set out to help spread a little Christmas cheer with the MOMS Club, a new group we've joined that connects families in our area for fun activities, playdates, service projects, etc. We joined about 10 moms and 20 kiddos at a local retirement home to sing carols and share holiday crafts with the residents. Reid was a little timid about meeting everyone, but he eventually warmed up. The morning was very heart-warming for the young and young-at-heart! (Below Reid is in the middle of the holly, jolly carolers.)

You. Me. 3D Movie.

The boys celebrated a milestone this week ... seeing their first 3D movie! Armed with Skittles (the cinematic snack of choice) and the fancy 3D glasses, we enjoyed the kids' flick "Bolt," a story about a dog who stars on a TV show and thinks he has real superpowers. Very cute!

Brothers & Belts.

One day this week while Luke was getting dressed, he shared the following proclamation: "Today is a GREAT day to wear a belt!" Ah-ha. So it is! Luke rummaged around in his closet and found a belt -- not just one, but two -- so Reid could wear one, too. After Luke put on his own belt, he assisted Little Bro, who was quite intrigued by the concept of wearing a belt but went along willingly. Wouldn't you know it, both boys have been sporting a belt every day since...

And that is the story of how you learn to start wearing a belt. Because your brother made you.

Snow Family.

With some gorgeous weather today, the conditions were perfect for making some snowmen ... 4 to be exact ... oh, and they just happen to resemble some familiar faces. Take a look at the production process and the final result.

Dad teaches the boys the art of rolling snowmen.

Real Reid places the carrot nose on Snow Reid. 

Tah-dah! Our snow family! Thanks to the Zienkewicz crew for the snow family kit!

Small Town Christmas.

One of the perks of living where we do is the proximity to Monument (a small town north of Colorado Springs that is a mix of close-knit community, mountain lifestyle, and artsy folk.) Take that small-town feel and add a splash of holiday and you have Monument Small Town Christmas. Today we met up with Mimi and Papa and journeyed downtown for the fa-la-la festivities. Below are some photo highlights...

Reid & Luke have a chat with Santa and Mrs. Clause. They both were pretty okay with talking to Santa this time ... huge progress from past meetings with the jolly fellow! Reid had THAT expression the entire time, as if to say, "I'll go along with this, but I don't like it." 

 

It's a holly jolly hayrack ride! Yeehaw!

Look -- it's Rudolph ... or is that Blitzen?

Let it snow...

And snow ... and snow! We awoke this morning to beautiful flurries falling, and the snow has continued all day. We ventured out once today for a birthday party, and when we returned 3 hours later, the snow was so deep that we got stuck pulling into our driveway and had to shovel it to get back into the garage! This is the biggest snowfall we've seen since moving here (it's between 1-2 feet in some parts), and the Leahy crew took the opportunity to check out the weather conditions today. Below are some videos of our snowy adventures.

This first video is taken in our backyard. Please note there is no audio. It is a little lengthy, but worth watching to see the brothers in action. 

The Boys & the Sled

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Let us preface these next 2 clips. We live at almost 7,000 ft. elevation, and our neighborhood is very hilly ... mostly uphill to get to our house. So when you are presented with the opportunity to ski down your street, why not?! We had heard that a few years ago a guy skied down our street, so we decided to follow suit. Scott was up first. As luck would have it as he was walking up the hill, he passed a woman who was snowshoeing down the street! (Note: these 2 videos have audio.)

Scott the Skier

Mountain Mama

In all, what a memorable day of our Thanksgiving holiday weekend! 

Elf on the Shelf.

Have you heard of the Elf on the Shelf? It's a fun Christmas tradition that came to the Leahy household this year. The story goes that the elf is sent by Santa to keep an eye on little boys and girls, and he then reports back to Santa on whether the children have been naughty or nice. Every night the elf moves (with a little parental assistance after the boys are in bed) to a new lookout post. When the boys awake in the morning, they are so anxious to see where the elf has moved. Here are a few highlights about our Elf on the Shelf...

• Part of the tradition is that each family has to name their elf. The boys decided to call him Mr. Teddy (well, actually, that was Luke's idea, but Reid went along with it.) 
  
• Luke likes to stare at Mr. Teddy and exclaim, "I see his mouth moving. He's smiling!" 
  
• Papa told Luke that elves can fly, so Luke has developed many theories about how Mr. Teddy gets to his new locations. Every morning a new tale unfolds. Quite entertaining.
  
• If the boys get a little unruly, it's amazing to see how quickly they snap back into shape with the reminder, "The elf is watching you!"

Traditions are one of the best parts of the holiday season, and this is a new one we are really enjoying. That said, it's late and we'd better go transport Mr. T to his new spot...

Deck the halls...

With the turkey dinner over and done, our next order of business for Thanksgiving night was putting up the Christmas decorations. It was so much fun to find the 'new' spot for all-things-holiday since this is the first Christmas in our home! The boys really got into decorating this year and checking out all the ornaments. Mimi and Papa got quite a chuckle out of all the commotion involved with holiday decorating in our house! Very lively! 

Dad and his little helpers start assembling the tree.

L & R are still "helping." Perhaps Reid is making sure Dad is steady while standing on the stool... 

"Look, more toys! Who says they need to hang on the tree?"

Tah-dah! The finished product!

So blessed.

We are celebrating many blessings this Thanksgiving, but two of the greatest are health and happiness. We are so glad that Mimi has been feeling better lately and that we could all enjoy family time together this holiday. Here are some fun family photos from the day & a video, too!

After-dinner wagon ride.

The family on Thanksgiving '08!

Outtakes are funny. Notice Reid quietly chiming in and that Luke doesn't trust the self-timer on the camera.