Christmas!

 It's been a beautiful Christmas season. We enjoyed the following: 

watching Clara in her Christmas dance recital,

making graham cracker houses,

listening and watching Robbie and Henry's (first!) piano recital,

visiting Philadelphia on a sweet getaway Michael planned (Longwood Gardens, the Philly temple, Reading Terminal Market, and the Franklin Fountain in the freezing cold),

taking Christmas photos (okay, so those weren't exactly "enjoyed"), 

ringing the Salvation Army bell,

eating Christmas dinner early (first time making a salami rose, clam chowder, and a Yule Log cake),

opening Christmas presents early,

traveling down to Georgia and spending time at Clay and Amie's along with Matt's family,

eating our annual Joseph and Mary dinner at the local ward building with some of the Weilers, 

staying up making last-minute Christmas preparations (yes, we brought the tree with us from Virginia),

opening stockings, 

eating yummy food (Christmas breakfast!),

playing in the sand (who needs a snowball when you can have a sandball?),

hanging out at the beach,

swimming, 

spending more time with Weiler cousins,

and going parasailing. 

Do any of these things have a huge meaningful eternal impact? Some more than others. I am hopeful, though, that the efforts we put into memory-making will help our children feel that they are loved and have a desire to share that love with others, and that they will learn the true reason for the season as they get older. That's my hope anyway.

Fall festivities

This fall has been a lovely one. The weather has been very dry (unfortunately?), which has made for gorgeous leaves. That's made me feel better as our yard has been ripped up by trying to get an irrigation system put in (hopefully it will be worth the mud in the yard!). For Halloween, we had to take advantage of Henry's interest in reading Harry Potter.

Harry Potter, his friends Hermione and Ron, his owl Hedwig, and professors Trelawney, Snape, and Dumbledore all gathered in one place for a brief moment.

Who knew that Snape and Trelawney were an item? 


Different costumes for the actual night of trick or treating.

We enjoyed a fall hike with friends Ruth Robertson, Monica Mathusek, and Sharon Lorimer and their kiddos. 

Michael turned the big 4-6 this year. Wowzers. And hardly a gray hair on him.

We decided to try hosting Thanksgiving at the lakehouse this year. The Lorimers, Mathuseks, and friends Hannah Gilman and Wes Unice joined us. The food was delicious and the company even better.

Clayton is very fastidious and loves to organize, clean, fold his laundry, and does not like wearing underwear with even a drop of wetness in it.

The sweet brotherly moments make up (maybe) for the punching. 

Check out the leftovers from a GIANT pumpkin that was blown up at the local pumpkin patch. They had fit little pumpkins inside of it and then blew the whole thing up. 

This scarf is actually a library book receipt. I miss the days when the books were stamped with the date due inside... card catalogs, ah me.