A Shepherd and a Snowstorm

Gabe and "Will".

A view of our backyard

Enjoying Gabe's program

Gabe the Shepherd (I later learned I had put his robe on backwards. Whoops!)

Gabe sitting with Santa, aka Ms. Melissa's husband Kenny.

Since Barry has headed to the UK-UT game tonight, I've gotten a chance to catch up the blog a bit. Well, sort of catch it up.

Back in December, we got to watch Gabe play a shepherd in his preschool Christmas program. I have to say, he did a terrific job and was followed his directions exactly. He even sung a little and did the hand gestures. Like all good shepherds, he was rewarded after the program with some cookies and Sprite.

Gabe also got to meet Santa at school. Last year, he had this same opportunity but he freaked out -- big time. He actually started shaking and stayed down on the ground so Santa couldn't see him. This year, we were so proud when he went and sat in his lap and told him that he wanted Mario Kart. Audrey, on the other hand, chickened out at the last minute and refused to go sit with Gabe and Santa. (We were shocked because she had no problems hugging Stitch, the creepy little alien dog, or Minnie Mouse, a giant dress-wearing rodent, at Disney World, but a guy in a red suit? Scary. Go figure.)

Finally, just before Christmas, we got our first big snow, "big" for us being about 6-7 inches. We got to take the kids sledding, playing in the snow, and Gabe's favorite, snowman-making. Both kids had gotten snowsuits and snowboots for Christmas, which they were allowed to open up a little early. He named his snowman Will (this is also his top choice for a baby boy's name), which we assume has a Pirates of the Caribbean connection.