to blog or not to blog.

That is not the question.

Of course I am going to blog.

I’m just taking a little break. 

That is turning into a longer one. 

I think I will be back at it in January.

But for now I am going to enjoy the holiday, and I hope you all do too!

Here are the pictures I WOULD done posts for if I was blogging. 

This one would have been a good Wordless Wednesday:

Oh, and here is the picture of my wreath that looks so nice over our fireplace mantel.  I was going to show how much nicer it looks than the other one I had there….but you’ll just have to believe me.

And here are some pics of our trip to a fun kids place called Jungle Playland.  The kids played for 3.5 hours!

I would have titled this post “double fisting”.

Hannah in her Christmas dress:

And my step-daughter arrived a couple days ago to spend the holidays with us – you see her, right?

And last but not least, check out Santa’s favorite little reindeer:

 

pictures with Santa

2010:  I’ll stand here but I WON’T sit next to him.

2009:  You can’t tell but Eli someone is getting ready to scream.

2008:  Eli’s appearance cracks me up in this one. 

2007:  Best. Picture.  Ever.

2006:  Is it just me, or does Santa look a little TOO happy? 

We did the pictures somewhere different this year and I can see a huge difference in quality.  However, they are not any better at getting an uncooperative child to cooperate than the elves at the mall. 

Hope you have enjoyed this little trip down Santa lane….

They light up my life....

wordless wednesday: my hardworking men

mental note.

Mental note.

When your sister you get a bright idea to do a 2 mile walk around the track at Portland International Raceway as a family to see the holiday lights (and get a shirt)……



Just say NO!

Don’t let those smiling faces fool you.

It was cold.
And wet.

Very wet.

And cold. 

Did I mention wet?

We did the 1 mile kids parade, saw a couple of the lights.






The kids got a medal for walking in the parade, so we figured they probably wouldn’t know the difference if we skipped the actual event.

So we went back to my mom’s.

Where it was warm.

And dry.

And stocked up.



We figure next year we’ll try again.

Only we won’t do the walk.

We will just go in the car and DRIVE around the track.

With the heat on. 

Gotta give my sister props for coming up with a great idea for something fun for the family to do…

BUT

Until Christmas is in June I am thinking we probably won’t try that again.  :) 

On Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving, be thankful that if you get up at 3 AM to catch a short flight down south to be with your wife and kids on the holiday……

Your son will be more than willing to share his blankies so you can catch up on your sleep….



And he’ll be more than happy to make sure you don’t get too much sleep!

Hannah jeanne: karate master

When we were at my mom’s last week Hannah must have spent 15-20 minutes telling her Grandpa Larry ALL about her karate class and showing him all her moves. 

Of course, Hannah is not now nor has she ever been in a karate class, but Grandpa Larry didn’t know that. 

I’d probably believe her too, she is so convincing.

 

The most wonderful time of the year

Is also the busiest for us grown ups!

I was out of town all last week and have spent this week catching up, and finally today I am sitting down to post something. 

Sooooooo, how the heck are ya? :)

I’ll be posting pictures for a while until I catch up…..here are some from November 20th, our first day of major snow this year.