Here is us with Chad's parents on Christmas
Chad told me before we left DC that he wanted to really experience what Idaho has to offer this vacation, so on Christmas day after we opened presents we all went skeet shooting in the hills near our house. It was Linda's first time, so here is Chad teaching her how to do it. Almost everyone hit at least a couple of clay pigeons, so that was fun. Cara hit 3/3 when she first started!
On Christmas eve day, to show Chad a little more of what Idaho has to offer, we took our four wheeler to the mountains and did some four wheeling and sledding. We didn't last too long on the four wheeler because our faces were getting so cold, but it was fun to be enjoying the outdoors and time with family. I love that in Idaho, even when it's really cold, you can just dress warm and be totally comfortable (as opposed to DC where no matter how warm you dress the cold humidity chills you to the bone).
While we were playing around in the snow, Chad lost his cell phone. He didn't realize until the next day (Christmas) that it was missing. After searching the house and cars, Chad was convinced that the only place his phone could be was in the snow in the mountains where he had fallen. So after skeet shooting we drove back up to the mountains to look. Most of us didn't really think we would find it, and if we did, if it would even work after being in the snow for 24 hours. Amazingly though, Brandt found it in a little hole, right where Chad had fallen the day before and it was perfectly fine. We were all very relieved that it was still there and hadn't been buried by more snow! Our mothers called it the Christmas miracle! We played around in the snow for a little while and then headed home.
Michelle and Chad skeet shooting
After Christmas, we decided to go to the Bruneau Sand Dunes near our house. They are the tallest Sand Dunes in North America. There's not much to do there when it's cold outside, but we did hike up one of them.
Chad and I learned how to make beef jerky while we were there. We bought the beef, cut it into slices, marinated it, and put it in the dehydrator. It turned our really well and was fun. We really love my mom's beef jerky recipe!
Chad, his mom, Brandt, and Cara all went night skiing/snowboarding one night at Bogus Basin.
My family (minus Brian who is in the Philippines, but will be home in less than 2 weeks!)
One of my family's Christmas traditions is to make gingerbread houses with homemade gingerbread. We struggled with getting our roof to stand up, but finally got it to work. We bought way too much candy and decorated it with everything we like to eat. I guess we forgot to take a picture of it all done.
Another Christmas tradition - matching pajamas to be opened on Christmas eve. Very comfy and cute!
Chad and I got a new PS3 for Christmas.
It snowed a couple of days after Christmas, so we took our four wheeler to the park and went hooky bobbing. It was a lot of fun! That is one of my favorite things to do in the winter.
Before we went to Idaho, we went to see the D.C. Temple lights with some of our friends.
