Holiday Festivities — a beautiful life

MERCY SLEEPOVER

Mercy slept over recently and as usual, we all had the best time. The air was still pretty smoky from the fires so we were confined to indoor activities that Friday night. I picked her up from kindergarten (she ran into my arms with the biggest smile on her face) and then we came home and did some crafts and holiday cookie baking. She absolutely LOVES cuddling with Uncle Derek under the big fuzzy blankets and climbing all over him. It was a really mellow night and we all conked out by 9pm! The next morning we went to the bookstore and read books before going ice skating!

ICE SKATING

We had a big Pires ice skating extravaganza on the very first day that the ice rink opened for the holidays! It was actually a pretty warm afternoon and we were the first ones there so we practically had the rink to ourselves which was amazing! Mercy ice skated along the wall and did so many laps - she didn’t want to stop! Afterwards we all went to lunch together at a delicious Mexican restaurant in downtown. It was the perfect afternoon.

MAKING GINGERBREAD HOUSES

One of the highlights of this holiday season so far has been our 1st annual gingerbread house decorating competition. We broke up into teams and competed for cash prizes. Sophia and I were on the same team (of course), and we put so much work into our pretzel log cabin! It is truly one of my most prized possessions. However, Derek and Luke’s house won second place (after Mercy’s) because it had a water slide and all kinds of creative stuff. I may or may not still be a little salty about it… we will have our revenge next year! :)