A Christmas of Firsts

On the morning of Christmas Eve, my mom informed me that we were to get snow later in that day. I laughed and said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

As I was baking in the kitchen a couple hours later, the rain that fell all morning turned to pretty, fat snowflakes. The wind blew like crazy, and before long, we were telling the boys that we were going to have a white Christmas!
That photo was taken before the snow stuck to the roads. By Christmas morning, we had 4 inches, and the roads were icy. It was a true Winter Wonderland around here!

We kept telling the boys how unusual it was to have a white Christmas here, but I'll bet my last dollar they'll ask for more next year.

Lo and behold, four days later, it happened again!
We only got about an inch that time, but it was the THIRD snowfall for the month of December at our house. It is amazing, and I am grateful the Lord blessed us this way this Christmas season.

But a white Christmas wasn't the only unusual occurrence around these parts.

Garrett learned how to tie shoes! He's not even 5 yet, so we're all quite proud of him. Apparently, he's proud of himself, because he stopped all gift-opening to show off his new skill to his grandparents.
His eldest brother couldn't be shown up, so Liam sat down and finally figured it out.
Jack didn't take the time for tying shoes, but he pulled his firth tooth!
And he learned how to ride his bike without training wheels.
Go, JMan! He's extremely proud of his new accomplishment. He rides with a beaming smile upon his face, and we watch with wonder. Never did we imagine he would learn so quickly.

But, at age 4 years 11 months, he still needs the occasional encouragement from Daddy.
Meanwhile, Liam is riding circles around him and acting like his usual silly self.
And Garrett was content to carry on with training wheels.
Daddy did, however, convince him to try riding without.
But it ended in a fit, which Daddy tried to remedy with hanging him upside down.
It didn't quite help the situation, so we won't force the issue any further.

At any rate, our Christmas and New Year's holidays have filled our minds with good memories, and we look forward to whatever the new year may bring our way.