We finally had our family Christmas two weeks ago and my parents, my sister and her family, and my brother and his family all came to stay with us.  I love when my family gets together and I love my house because we can host everyone comfortably.  I am reminded of a prayer I ran across:  When you have piles of laundry and dirty dishes to deal with, be thankful because it means your family is nearby.  When you have garbage to take out, and vacuuming to do, snow to shovel and a lawn to mow, be thankful because it means you have a house.  There is more to it but it escapes me at the moment.  It was bitterly cold but we still had fun playing outside on our frozen pond.  My nieces brought a pair of skates and couple hockey sticks and we all had fun knocking tennis balls and practice pucks around playing boot hockey.  Amy even found a child's hockey stick for Erik the next day when we all went thrifting.

 I know I wrote last winter about our hockey neighbors and how serious they are about it and all the equipment they had.  Dave surprised us all by building a goal net out of our old garden gate, some pallets and some landscaping fabric!  He quietly put it together out in the garage while we were clearing the breakfast dishes and took it down to the pond.  I think he had the most fun out there and was truly the hockey hero that weekend.

What a great winter playground we have out there!  Dad used a shovel to make fox and goose trails which was a winter game he used to play as a kid.  I love this action shot because Erik and the dogs are following in his trail and Sparky's ears are blowing in the wind.  We brought lawn chairs down to the ice and Mom and Dad sat and watched us play and held little kids when they were tired.