Took a little walk by the lake.

My parents. My sister and I are both homeschooling our kids this year, and my sweet parents decided to make us teacher gifts for Christmas. 💗💗💗 And, of course, they didn’t make just one normal size tin of homemade treats. No, this is my mom, so I got three tins (because I have three kids, get it?) and about seven different kinds of cookies (again, because my mom). I haven’t always been the best at getting teacher gifts on time (or some years at all), but, man, I want to be better in the future. This was just over-the-top thoughtful of my parents. Teaching is no joke, and it feels really nice to be appreciated.

Making music. And, yes, I already asked him if he is even kidding me with how OLD he looks in this photo. I assure you he is not actually fifteen but rather ten years old (for another two weeks).

Making memories.

Making a snow angel.

Simon made a fort in the front yard. And then he very graciously agreed to pose for my picture. He wore flip flops outside (and no coat) and then tossed them aside to get them out of the photo (his choice, not mine), so then he had to walk barefoot in the snow to retrieve them. I appreciate his sacrifice for my art.

Today we made these sweet little snow globes. I only superglued my fingers to one thing. I’ll take that as a win.

This family has my heart. We were able to squeeze in a quick shoot in the very last hour of the last day of the beautiful weather we’ve been having. I didn’t take any other photos this day, so this outtake will have to do. (I hope to do a post after Christmas of my favorites of the shoot.)

One of our very favorite parts of every week is an outdoor adventure with this crew. This week we discovered the Frank Shoemaker Marsh north of Lincoln (out 27th Street to Bluff Road), and it was a great find. Ian was skeptical: within the first five minutes, he asked, “If this isn’t fun can we go to Platte River State Park?” I think the throwing of giant rocks into the creek to break up the ice was what finally won him over, though I was thoroughly convinced long before that. (And if I have to shoehorn this into my theme, let’s say “making time to enjoy being with friends” or “making time to explore the outdoors.”)

On the must-do list every Christmas is making a(t least one) batch of my Grandma Johnson’s ginger cookies. This year the kids made them all on their own. Pretty cool.