Leavenworth Christmas Cabin

This was our year to be with the Johnson side of the family for Christmas, and since Aaron & Rayana live in Washington now, Jan, Alex, Andrew & Kate came here to celebrate with us.  It was great to be together, but we wished Angela's family could have been here too.  It would have been even more fun with all the cousins together.

We planned a snowy getaway for two nights in Leavenworth, a Bavarian-themed town in the mountains of central Washington known for its Christmas lights, nutcrackers and shops.  We rented a big cabin where we could all be together under one roof and have plenty of space.  The day before we left, we learned there would be a lot of snow on the roads and we got tire chains for our cars.  Most of the drive was fine, but as we turned off the highway to take the road out to the cabin, we found it was steep and buried under a lot of unplowed snow.  Adam, Aaron, Andrew and Alex got to work putting the chains on our car and Aaron's van, but none of them had dealt with chains before, and they were standing in the snow working for about two hours by the time we were ready to make it the rest of the way to the cabin.  It was a bummer to get things started off that way, but luckily the children all did well waiting in the car and everyone seemed in good spirits.

Rayana, Kate and I made a couple of yummy chicken pot pies for dinner while the guys watched the BYU game and the kids had fun with Grandma Johnson.  Once the kids were in bed, the ladies hung out around the fireplace and we all had cookies and caramel popcorn.  The next morning we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and everyone went outside to sled and play in the snow.

Preparing for the snow battle

This was the most and best snow Holly had ever seen!

Holly had been excited to make snow angels long in advance

Snowball action

That night we ventured back out onto the snowy roads for our chance to see all the Christmas lights in Leavenworth.  We felt it was worth the risk of going through the chain pain all over again.

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't get to eat at a German restaurant because of a water main break on the main street, but everyone was quite happy with our selections at Sandy's Waffle & Dinner Haus.  Unfortunately we ended up in a second lengthy tire chain situation on our way home, and this time the four brothers (and Kate) were out in the even colder dark of night.  It was definitely not what we planned on when we set out on our pre-Christmas retreat, but at least the guys had a brotherly bonding experience and gained a valuable new skill set...

We got the kids off to sleep and enjoyed some Tres Leches Hot Chocolate around the fire while the guys practiced singing "Away in a Manger," which they would be singing at our ward's Christmas sacrament program a few days later.  Despite a few vexations, it was fun to have lots of snow to play in, and it was nice for the adults to be able to hang out together after hours.  Thanks to Grandma Johnson for treating us to the cabin!