Thursday, December 29, 2011

A Visit with Santa

I wasn't sure if I wanted to take James to see Santa this year.  I have mixed emotions on the whole subject and plus I knew he wouldn't really get it and would probably be terrified of him.  However, in the end my sister convinced me that the Santa in a small neighboring town was charming and fun for the kids.  So, we trucked on up the road the Sunday evening before Christmas for our visit.  It was quite a spectacle... one I will never forget!



How funny is this Santa?  Charming for sure...  He was actually a very nice guy, but I think he was a little worn out at this point in the Christmas season!  My sister-in-law has already submitted the photo to the Ellen show.  It was the quintessential Santa experience!  It will be fun to show this picture to James one day. Drew did just fine on Santa's lap!



Maybe next year will be better!

Thanksgiving 2011

I am a little behind on my holidays here!  But I didn't want to skip over anything, so I am playing catch up today.  We hosted Thanksgiving at our home this year, which was really nice because we were able to have both sides of our family all together rather than running from one house to the next.  The day started early with breakfast for me and my little turkey.


My mom came over mid-morning and helped me with the bird... phew!  I have no idea what I am doing in that department!  We made the stuffing together and peeled the potatoes and then she went home for a few hours before everyone else arrived.  Everyone brought a dish, so the prep work was very easy.  I really just had to set the table!







We served appetizers around four and ate dinner at 5:30.  Of course I filled up on all the yummy appetizers and was stuffed by the time the turkey came around!








Lots of merriment followed our meal.  We went through all the shopping ads to see if there were any good deals to be had on Black Friday, the guys watched sporting events of some sort, cousins raced around laughing and loving on one another and of course we ate some more... pie, cookies, cupcakes.  It was the overindulgence that has come to be expected on this day.









We are so thankful for the many blessings our God has showered upon us this past year.  We praise His holy name yesterday, today and always...


Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.  His love endures forever.
~Psalm 136:1

A Trip to the Children's Museum

We joined the Children's Museum a few weeks ago and I took James for the first time.  He loved it!  He ran from one thing to the next in the toddler area like a crazy 16 month old boy!  He even loved the big kid areas, which I thought would be a little intimidating for him.  But he just ran right into the craziness and had fun!



















We are looking forward to another trip down there!