Maybe I am the only one, but I was totally surprised to wake up to new snow this morning. The kids were really excited to try out their new snow shovels. Every time someone asked Cody what he wanted for Christmas, he would say "snow shovel", so my mom got each grandchild one of their own. It was the first thing they wanted to do in the snow!
Sarah really wanted to ride in her sled, so after Mike plowed and shoveled, he obliged her until lunchtime.
We went to Mike's mom's house on Sunday and the kids got to hang out with their cousins. When we got there, Cody sat down on the couch next to little Mikie and said "Hi, my name is Cody" I laughed so hard because I have never heard him do that before! Usually he either won't say anything or he says that he is little hunter, little bear, little deer, etc....
On Saturday, we went to my Aunt Jeanne's house to celebrate with my gram and family. Sarah wore this pretty dress from Shelby (thanks!) and Cody enjoyed playing with all of the old toys there.
On Christmas morning, Cody woke up and came over to our room. He was so excited! He had to wait until we got Sarah up because she generally sleeps an hour or two longer than him.
He went right into opening his presents. Sarah had to watch for a few minutes and wake up, then she got into it, too.
Of course, the favorite gifts had to do with hunting. We got them a lot of the same things, because they always fight if not.
Sarah got a couple of "buck" shirts for Christmas. I had her pretty dress layed out for her to wear up to my mom's house, but she absolutely refused. She kept screaming "buck shirt" until I finally put it on her. Oh well, I guess she looks cute anyway!
We went to church with our friends Angie and Brian on Christmas Eve, so the kids got to wear their Christmas outfits again. I tried to get pictures in front of the tree, but they were pretty uncooperative as usual. 
After Sarah got her jammies on, she was hamming it up, but they just don't want to be in pictures together I guess!
This one is funny because it is a snapshot of life at our house. Sarah is always reading a book, and Cody is always hunting...something. (Notice how the giraffe is wearing his christmas tie!)
We finally got to go get our Christmas tree this weekend. It was a little cold, but we bundled up and the kids didn't seem to mind at all. Sarah was quite content to wander around by herself, pulling on weeds, falling down, getting back up, falling down, getting back up......
He had brought along a rope (to tie the tree to the car) but he thought it was a dragging rope and he wanted to drag the tree out of the woods. Sarah got in on the action for just a few minutes, then took off on her own again. Cody was serious and "helped" Daddy drag the tree the whole way to the wagon.
Both kids enjoyed decorating the tree this year, then hung out on the couch with daddy watching the outdoor channel and eating camo cookies.
Cody wanted to make "camo cookies" the other day, so I was trying to figure out how to do that. I decided to add green food coloring to the batter and make chocolate chip cookies. Except that after we baked them they looked all kind of brownish anyway. Oh well, he had a good time.
So did Sarah! While I was putting the cookies in the oven, she was "measuring" baking soda. I think I need to buy a new box before we make more cookies!
Daddy was tired when he came home from work, so Sarah crawled up on the couch to read him a story. She loves to read to anyone who will listen (or not!)
After the church Christmas party on Saturday, Mom brought Dana and Destiny over to play in the snow. The kids had soooo much fun! The didn't have snow gear with them, so I dug through my yardsale collection and found stuff to (almost) fit everyone. Cody of course had to wear his hunting vest.
They had sled races down the side of the yard. Sarah just got pulled around in the baby sled- which she only wanted Grandma to pull, not mommy!
Their favorite part, though, was building a snowman. It was Cody's first, and he loved it so much that he kept hugging it!
On Monday, Mike was off work for archery season. In between the morning and evening hunts, he came home to eat and take a nap. Right after he went upstairs, I saw a flock of turkey come out into the field, so I yelled up to him. He really wasn't all about shooting a turkey, but since Cody was really excited about it, he went out and broke them up while I got Cody dressed in camo. They went out together to the hunting shack and called this turkey back in! Cody was really upset that Mike shot it because he wanted to be the one to shoot (with his toy bow) so Mike let him shoot it when they walked up to it and it was still flopping. So, Cody got to "finish it off" He is so proud of his turkey!
Once again, Sarah wasn't afraid to pet the dead turkey. UGHHHH!
We finally got to take our annual fall hayride on the last weekend they had it. The kids had so much fun! The first and last thing we did, of course, was check out the reindeer. Cody was pretty impressed with the rack.
The kids had a good time running through the pumpkins and seeing who could pick up the biggest one.
Our friend Chris has been in Iraq for the last year, and finally got to come home, so his family threw a wonderful party to welcome him back. The kids had a great time seeing their cousins, and Matt was a magnet for all of the kids. Tina says he is like a real-life jungle gym! Cody was never far from his side, that's for sure.
I had been buying corn a lot at the stand on my way home from work, and I was in the kitchen husking some when Sarah kept saying "Hup ew!" At first, I couldn't figure it out, then I realized she was saying "help you!" So I gave her an ear of corn, and she had a good time husking it. She was very picky about getting all of the silk out!
The hotel where we stayed had a pond with ducks outside of it. The kids loved to go look at them every morning. Sarah was saying "du" in this picture. 
Busch Gardens just opened a new section that features Sesame Street characters. There were only a few rides that Sarah could go on and it was so hot anyway that the kids just wanted to do the water stuff. At this waterpark, the characters come out every hour for a show. Sarah enjoyed watching them. Cody was just annoyed that they turned the water off during the show!
At Water Country, Cody got to ride almost all of the slides. Sarah went on a couple different ones, but mostly enjoyed the kiddie area.
Cody also enjoyed all of the wildlife at the park. He is definitely his father's son!
