Our Snowy Winter Wonderland!!!

I somehow thought I blogged about this already! These photos are all from January, and forgive my photo-heavy post. I absolutely ADORE snow pictures, and these are the best ones I've ever gotten, so please look at them all and ooh and ahhh and leave me a comment about how beautiful everything and everyone is. :)

We went for a nice, snowy Saturday drive in January with our friends the Van Dykes (I love having friends who are just as adventurous as we are!) and ended up in this gorgeous spot:

Pretty amazing, huh? It's called Lake Wenatchee, and I am now dying to go camping there this summer. They have campsites right next to that gorgeous lake.

I couldn't find any snow pants for Kirsten or for me, but I bundled us all up as best I could and we headed outside to frolic and play in the beautiful snow!
And isn't this a stunning picture? Natalie looks SO beautiful! Just the way the bright pink makes her blue eyes stand out and the pure white snow in the background. . . sigh. Gorgeous baby, gorgeous photo.

I love the smiley-faced one too. :)

Natalie did GREAT in the snow. She was so happy!

Natalie didn't actually get to go sledding. . . but we can pretend.

I got some great shots of Kirsten playing in the snow when we first got out of the car:

Kirsten learned a very important skill from the Van Dyke kids that day: the fine art of snowball-throwing. I love the expression on her face in this photo.
"I'm going to get you, Mommy!"

And she did get me. In fact, all the kids seemed to want to throw snowballs right at my face.

But then Kirsten hit a melting point, and wanted a nap, and wanted to go home. Ummm, not really an option when we're an hour and a half away and surrounded by beautiful fluffy mounds of snow. Sorry, Kirsten.

Isn't that the most amazing background? WOW, it just blew me away! We couldn't get Kirsten to smile in any of our family photos, but I love them anyway.

Me and Rozemary by the lake! We braved the snow and laid down to get this photo. The things we'll do for great shots!

More crying. More meltdowns.

At least Natalie was happy!

Finally a smile from this girl.

One of my favorite shots of Natalie and me. I LOVE my baby!!!

And then we hit the slopes! Okay, the slightly-sloped sledding hill. And Kirsten turned on ALL her smiles and had a total blast! Guess we should have gone sledding before the pictures.
(On a side note. . . aren't my boots totally rocking? I got them for Christmas, and I love them!)

Stephen and I took turns pulling Kirsten back up the hill and sledding down with her. I think she would have kept sledding all day if she could have. She just kept saying "More!"

Woo-hoo!!! The faces of pure happiness that come from speedy sledding skills!!!

It was one of the most memorable and awesome days of our entire winter, that's for sure. I think we'll need to make it an annual tradition! This California girl loves the SNOW!!!