Oh Christmas Tree

Saturday, we went to cut down our Christmas tree with the Hunsakers. It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny, but freezing day! Vincent came with us since Jeff and Annette had a date to see Twlight...(Jeff gave in)

Bryndie was so cold! She was going to stay in the car but finally decided she wanted some say in what the tree looked like! Too skinny, too short, too fat, too tall, we finally found one for Grandma and Grandpa! Baylie was pretty cold too, but was a trooper tromping through the woods. Julie took a little longer to find the right one for her. She sent Cameron to get the car with the kids, found the tree she wanted, sawed it down and dragged it to the road! We couldn't tell what Cameron thought! But he was a good sport and tied it on top!

Here's proof that we were there although the picture didn't turn out very well. Once again we had a good time being together and missed those in our family that weren't here. We can't wait until next week when everyone starts arriving for Christmas!

The Christmas Village

Every year one of our favorite Christmas traditions is putting up the Christmas Village. It's a big job, but we love it when it's done.

I was having book club at my house this week and decided it would be fun to have the Dickens village up before everyone came since we were reading "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. We had a fun evening and enjoyed discussing the wonderful story of Scroge and Tiny Tim. Now we have to watch the movie!

It's like a fairyland and it's fun to imagine yourself right there in the village. Thanks to my mom for starting a Christmas village tradition in our family when we were "Young"!

Now the trick will be to keep 12 little hands out of it for the next month! Vincent came over today and "Car, car, car! Horse, Horse, Horse!" but he was good not to touch!

For My Dad

My dad and I have always had fun watching different wildlife when we are together. I think it's fun to see the quail and magpies at his house. This week, woody- woodpecker was in our tree. I thought Dad would like to see this!

I couldn't get a good picture before he decided to fly away! But that's him in the middle of the tree. Then the same day, we were coming home from Costco and saw all these geese in the field at Rocket Park! It reminded me of the time Mom, Dad and I went down to Rochester, MN and saw thousands of geese in a park. I was braver with Dad and got closer than I did this week!

There were a lot more than it looks! I couldn't get them all in the pictures! Anyway, it brought back a fun memory with my parents and was fun to see so many geese in one place. I love to hear the honking everyday as the geese fly over and usually run to the window to watch! Just another plus for living in Minnesota!

Thanksgiving celebration

I thought I'd better document Thanksgiving. This year we went to Julie and Cameron's home. Julie cooked the turkey and we all contributed to the meal. Yummy!! I think Jeff and Cameron ate more before dinner than during dinner!

It was fun to be at the Hunsakers home. We ate alot and enjoyed each other's company.

After dinner, Baaylie put on a dance show for us in the newly finished downstairs. I was quite proud of this shot, catching her in mid-air.

All the kids joined in the program. They had a great time running around dancing. All the girls were then invited to join the dance. Julie and I rocked out for one song before we got too tired! Annette decided to watch. After the program, we all played Pit. I was the new champion (much to Birch's dismay) He likes to win.....During the Pit game we looked over at Payton, he had found the empty bubbly bottles.....

Good to the last drop! It was a fun day. At 10:00 p.m. Julie and I left for the outlet mall. We shopped till 3:00 a.m. Got some great deals! And enjoyed the people watching as we stood in lines. The weather was pretty nice this year. At 4:00 a.m. Birch and I crawled into bed. Needless to say, we didn't hit the morning specials!