Varvel Family: Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree:

We knew we wouldn't have the kids for Christmas, so we decided to do something a little bit different as far as a Christmas tree goes. We started a new tradition and bought a real, potted Christmas tree. We put it down in the barn, and decorated it for the animals. It's so cute! We will actually plant the tree on our property once it's spring. We figured we could do this each year, and eventually we will have trees planted all around the property.

Clover and Willow checking out their Christmas tree.

It was so cute when it was all decorated!

Willow loved it!

Reeses has always LOVED Christmas! It's putting up the tree that has always let her know that the holiday fun was starting. She instantly loved the tree in the barn. I would come down to wake her up in the mornings, and she wouldn't be in her bed. She would be curled up under the Christmas tree. Cutest thing ever!

I love her!

An Evening in Bethlehem:

Clover and Willow got invited to participate in Ririe's, 'An Evening in Bethlehem.' People could walk down the streets of Bethlehem to different booths, and then to end the night, they had an amazing live nativity, with camels and everything. We were the stable booth. Clover and Willow were a huge hit! We didn't even have time to get good pictures, because from the time it started, for over an hour, they were totally surrounded by people. At some points they were literally swarmed by kids. The donkeys handled it like champs! Clover surprised us with a sweet instinct to be extra calm and gentle around kids. We were so impressed with them. By the end, they were both overwhelmed and ready to be done, but considering the fact that they are still babies, we think they did fantastic!

Mark and Willow

Tricia and Clover

Early Christmas:

We celebrated Christmas a week early with Sawyer and Amanda. They were spending Christmas with Amanda's family in boise, so this gave us a chance to still have a celebration with them. Christmas in the barn was fun!

We got the presents under the tree before they got there.

Lots of stuff for Reeses, Clover, and Willow!

Somebody knew the celebration was about to start, and she was thrilled! 💙

We had a yummy ham dinner before presents.

Present time!

We never thought we'd be having Christmas in a barn, but it suits us!

We let the donkeys roam around the barn while we opened presents. Reeses got her stuffed pig right off the bat, and she was content the rest of the night.

Pistachios and new running gloves from Mason and Bailey.

Mason and Bailey got me pjs and slippers!

Sawyer was the one who got to give the donkeys their treats.

A cute sign from Mason and Bailey.

Sushi Go from Sawyer and Amanda.

We got each set of kids a big meat box from Ballerina Farms. Now I want one!

More treats! Clover was quite fond of Sawyer.

After presents we went upstairs to finish the night off with dessert. Amanda made peppermint cheesecake cupcakes. Yum!

Gingerbread Barn:

Mark and I made a gingerbread barn this year! It was so cute!

I was in charge of the animals. As you can see, my artistic ability was on point. 😂

Mark constructed the actual barn. I love it!

Christmas Donkeys:

Seriously, could my life get any more fun?!?

Cute Clover Rae!

They had cute scarves too, but they were having none of that. 😅

I love them!

Her little face is about the cutest thing ever!

Willow loves Mark soooo much! She is always giving him the best hugs! 😊

The kid's Christmas':

Sawyer and Amanda spent a few days celebrating Christmas in Boise with Greg and Cathy.

They had a nice dinner.

Matching Christmas pjs.

Mason and Bailey stayed in Boise to have their own celebration with Nora. I remember doing that once we had kids. It's fun to stay home and start your own traditions.

Matching pjs.

We got Nora the cutest rocking cow!

I know I already posted this video, but it's too cute not to post again. Make sure your sound is on, so you can hear all her cute noises.

Although we missed having our kiddos with us this year, we're really grateful that both of our kids married into such great families. It makes it easier to share them, knowing that so many other people love them too.

Christmas in Yellowstone:

Mark and I had a very non-traditional Christmas Day this year. It was our first year without any kids at home, so we did something a little different. Our friends, Phil and Joyce, won the lottery to do a non-guided snow machine ride into Yellowstone Park, and invited us to go with them. I've been to Yellowstone a ton of times, but never in the winter. It's like a whole different world. It is seriously so cool! We had a fantastic day! We kept commenting on how fast the day was speeding by. We thought it would be a once in a lifetime thing for us to do, but we totally want to go again next year.

We saw two moose and an eagle on our drive to the park.

Tricia-Joyce-Phil-Mark

The bison are so cool to watch in the winter. Their heads and faces are covered in snow, because they use their big heads to move the snow so they can get down to the grass to eat.

The first time we rode by a bison on the snow machine, I was a little bit nervous, but they weren't interested in us at all.

So fun!

Mark and Phil

A lot of the boardwalks along the geyser areas were open. So cool to see it in winter.

I loved all the frosty trees around the geyser areas.

Waiting for Old Faithful!

We always skip Old Faithful when we go in the summer, because there are thousands of people. It was so fun to see if with a small crowd.

Old Faithful

The Black Sands thermal area.

The pools look extra cool surrounded by snow.

Notice my cool orange suit. The rental place had to go to another store and get me a kids size. 😂

It really is like something from another world.

So pretty!

We were walking along this path, and it would get so steamy that we could barely see in front of us. Luckily another group warned us of a bison right beside the trail that they didn't even see until they were right up on him. We didn't make it to Grand Prismatic because he was still there.