Well, it happened.
Our local grocery store brought in their one and only shipment of Christmas trees, which the kids were thrilled about! On Friday, the moment he was finished work, John went and picked it out; and boy did he find a beauty!!! Like, truly, the prettiest, most perfectly shaped tree I have ever seen.
The kids set to work decorating it and for two days we enjoyed it's lovely soft glow. I did however, begin to wonder if it was perhaps starting to lean a little. Occasionally I'd ask John, to which he'd reply, "Oh humph...no of course it's not leaning. You are just looking at it from a weird angle...."
Sure enough, early the next morning John woke up to find it laying on it's side. Water, pine needles and decor were scattered everywhere!!!
One of my favorite days so far, came last week when we seized the few available hours that we had and headed out to Waterton for a hike! (Actually, we went out there because I was too "busy" to cook lunch and wanted to feed the fam at Wieners of Waterton, but it sure sounds better to say that we "went out for a hike";) After we ate lunch, I WAS able to talk the family into walking up Bertha Trail. The plan was just go as far as the kids wanted to go. It was SUCH a blast!
I'm still surprised that the kids continued on without complaining. They probably would have hiked all the way to the falls, if I'd had let them.
Sam really was a fun one to have around on this particular hike. He spent the entire walk up to our favorite checkout point, trying to spur on a snowball fight. We'd run up and down the trail, conspiring attacks on whichever family member he could get a rise out of. Abby played the part of the tormented sister very well, but even she enjoyed the family time. Nate and Jess loved "taking breaks" which involved laying flat on their backs in a drift of snow and staring up at the sky. Jessica certainly did need the breaks, seeing as she was carrying a very large "snow baby." (What eventually started as a small snowball, grew along the way until she needed both arms to lug the thing around. She eventually did grow to tired to carry it though and smashed it on Sam's face.)
It was a PERFECT afternoon!
Nate has certainly been feeling the Christmas spirit lately and would not rest (or cease nagging me) until we let him have a "Christmas Party" with some friends. I tried to delay things, but soon realized that I was only pushing his plans closer to Christmas. I agreed to let him have his party, so long as we did it sooner than later. So, with a few days to notify his classmates, Nate threw together a Gingerbread House making celebration with 9 of his friends.
Thank goodness Volleyball season is over, John was BEYOND helpful!
Just in case you were wondering, 9 grade one kids + a table full of sugary candy + two and half hours = sheer chaos!
There is no other word to use and I certainly think some of their creations represent the mood perfectly. Their houses looked how I felt;)
Sam was recently officially introduced into the scouting program. I look forward to him "being prepared" now. That'll be a nice change;)
Last week Jessica (as part of the CES choir) sang at the 2nd annual lighting ceremony in town.
There was music, tours of the museum, cotton candy, sleigh rides in the dark and of course...the lighting of the beautiful museum grounds! It's always a nice way to kick off the Christmas season!!
Sunday night (tonight) we were excited to get home from church and watch the annual Christmas Devotional. The church always does such a great job of it, but FIRST - we had to dine on a yummy BBQ steak, chicken and shrimp dinner! I invited my cousin Ty over to join us.
As you can see, we have begun eating our meals by Candle light, as per our December tradition.
(oooh and this Cranberry bundt cake was not too bad. Thanks to (my sis in law) Luci's friend Mel from Mels kitchen cafe;)
Nate continues to drive us all crazy with his desire to eat anything BUT what is served.
While we all feasted - he settled for a meticulously peeled mandarin orange, strategically arranged on an otherwise empty plate. The food pyramid is lost on this guy!
Finally, after filling our tummies beyond capacity, we settled in downstairs to watch the devotional.
Like I said, the church always does such a great job. I'll admit, I fell asleep shortly after the opening number (I blame the food coma I was experiencing) but I'll watch it tomorrow and will no doubt be totally blown away!
Here comes Christmas!!
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