Christmas Cheer

This is Spencer with his cousins Emma and Kelly on Christmas Eve. They are great pals and have lots of fun together. Kelly is a Freshman at the UW and Emma is a Senior in HS. They made a fun little scavenger hunt for the for the three youngest boys to do on Christmas Eve.





















Cooper on Christmas morning. He LOVES penguins as I think I have mentioned before. He also recently celebrated his 10th birthday (12/21).




















Spencer loves Christmas. I think he pretty much wrapped every present--even some for himself. He is always asking "got anything to wrap??" I think he liked it this year. He didn't get all 37 things on his list (of course) but he got a few.

Tucker wanted camping gear and that is mostly what he got for Christmas. I think he really is serious about want to hike and camp more. Perhaps he will be ready soon to go on a Death March with his Uncle Chuck and Inkom Crazy Lady??

In Search of the Tree

Every year since Tucker was a baby we used to go down to Centralia and cut down a tree with Oma & Opa. This continued even after they moved up here to Seattle--until last year. Last year we got a tree from the lot where Tucker was working because we got it for free and we just couldn't find a good time to travel all the way to Centralia to get a tree.

This year Oma decided she had had enough of fresh trees and bought an artificial one. They boys are still trying to get over the shock of it.

We decided we wanted to cut one down again. Instead of heading south for Centralia we went north to Stanwood where Douglas and his family live. Dennis researched tree farms online and we selected the first one on the list. It just happened to be right off the exit to Doug's house. In fact it was probably less than a mile away from his house.

It was fun to tromp through the fields and search for the perfect tree. We finally agreed on one that was a little shorter than usual and a little more full on the bottom, but perfect for hanging the tons of ornaments we seem to have collected over the years.

I didn't realize how the star was really making the top lean until I took the picture. Oh well. I do love the smell of the pine of the fresh tree. We also go some cinnamon scented pine cones so the house smells really nice.

I threw in the cross-stitch stockings for Des. When I was around the same age, I was really into cross-stitching and it lasted for years & years. I made stockings for each of the boys--even though they have really cute ones that Oma made for them--and also made the ones here for Oma, Opa & Dennis. I also have a cute little doorknob hanger on black fabric that is really cute. I don't cross stitch at all anymore, but it is nice to have these little keepsakes.

I think I might be getting more in the Christmas spirit. Still haven't done any shopping to speak of. Although I did manage to get an invite out for Cooper's birthday yesterday. And so it goes.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Just a couple pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend. The Miste/Cooper picture are the place markers that Spencer made for everyone for dinner. He loves doing that for special occasions. I think he is pretty darn creative. The paper is obviously pre-printed but the names are pure Spencer. Note the gravy spill on Cooper's--no explanation necessary other than it's Cooper's which should be self-explanatory.
The day after Thanksgiving Tucker worked and hung out with friends and Spencer went shopping with a friend. That left Cooper home with mom & dad by himself. When asked what he wanted to do it was go to the zoo. So that's what we did. He totally loves the zoo and it was a beautiful, sunnyish kind of day. Fun day with mom & dad.
Saturday the two younger boys and I went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox which is one of the weirdest movies I have seen in a long time. Creepy animation to boot. The boys didn't laugh once I think--three thumbs down. Although I have heard that some people think it's the best movie ever--must be a different sense of humor than mine. (Maybe the Napolean Dynomite crowd).
Dennis & Tucker went to the shooting range with Dennis' brother Dan and his son James.
A fun weekend for all. This weekend it's the search for the Christmas tree. Maybe that will get me in the mood. I have done zero shopping. Spencer pointed out the other day that I didn't even put out the advent calendar Oma made for the boys--still haven't, that's how bad I am. Here's hoping the tree gets me in the mood.!