Big Bear Weekend Ski Trip

We were recently invited to spend the weekend with some of our friends at their vacation home on Big Bear Lake.  Obviously, we accepted the invitation without hesitation :).  We are all about free lodging - yay! 

The house (below) is a cozy cabin + garage apartment nestled right on the banks of the lake.  You can't really tell from the picture, but this is an absolutely amazing location!! 

We arrived late at night so when we woke up the next morning we were blown away by the view from the main cabin (below).

It had snowed 16" the night before we arrived, so was covered in pristine whiteness!  Here's Lily having her morning milk while cradling Pippa Kate, her doll from England :).

And here she is with her buddies, Zoe and Roma, both 2 years old.  The girls got along famously!

On Saturday, while the boys skiied, us ladies made a trip to the grocery store to get supplies.  The girls enjoyed riding in their cars and eating their cake pops from Starbucks (Can we say spoiled?!  Yes, I think we can :).

The next day it was all about the snow!  I was determined to get some decent family pictures with the hopes of using one for our Christmas card, as my deadline for that little project was quickly approaching!! 

Here's Daddy with his Lily girl.

Even Sushi got dressed for the ocassion in his festive red sweater :).  He was a bit tentative with the snow at first, but soon enough he was romping around like an old pro!

And here's Lily dressed to the nines.  Recognize the coat and boots from my previous shopping post?! :)

The lake was so beautiful and there were quite a few ducks that we couldn't resist feeding the leftover toast from breakfast! 

Lily finally realized you throw the bread!  The first few pieces got gobbled up :).

Here is my favorite of the family pictures.

And here's a great shot taken by my friend, Shannon.  I love the joy and delight visible in each of their faces!!

Here was one attempt at a Christmas-card-appropriate family photo.  Unfortunately, Chris was not very pleased with his 'silly' hat and Sushi wasn't in the photo so ...

I came up with this alternative.  Yep, that's our Christmas-card-photo this year, folks!  I think it worked out quite well! 

So on that note, and in case I don't get back this way before the New Year (a real possibility with my busy scheduled over the next couple of weeks), Merry Christmas, y'all!!