I hope that everyone had a merry Christmas. We had a very relaxing Christmas at the Evans household. Katie and Chris were sadly not with us this year (they spent Christmas with Chris's family in Chicago). I enjoyed having some quiet time to relax after completing my first semester of teaching!

Dad got a new pair of snow shoes for Christmas, which conveniently means that the Evans house has three pairs.  We went for a Christmas Eve snowshoe and managed to stay warm in the cold (but sunny) weather.
We also enjoyed having some Christmas guests come and visit us in the yard.
Today Dad didn't have work, so after shoveling the driveway we all enjoyed some fun snow recreation.  We managed to dig up an old purple plastic sled from the garage and tested its strength against the rocky cliff in the backyard.  Here you can see our path. 
This picture is taken from about halfway down the slope and displays the rocky terrain.  Our goal was to launch off the rock, fly through the air, and go faster down the deathly slope.  As often as not, we would crash into the rock and tumble out of the sled.
This action shot, taken by Dad, shows me about to wipe-out after crashing into the rock.
Mom safely made it over the rock and is continuing down the hill.
In this picture, I made it all the way to the bottom of the hill, but ran flat over a small tree... hurting myself, and also the tree.
We were so inspired by our sledding fun that we decided to invest in a new sled.  This one is hopefully a bit sturdier than the purple plastic one, and can also fit two people.  Here, Mom and I test our new purchase in the living room.  I especially like how short Mom's snow pants are.

I hope that your Christmas was as enjoyable as ours, and less dangerous too!