Decorating

We spent some time decorating the tree Saturday Afternoon.  The lights were enough to make me crazy and by the time we were finished it only looked so-so.  While this tree is skinny, it's the tallest we've ever had and required a lot more lights and ornaments than I thought.  Shortly after placing the star it fell over - pulling off lights, breaking glass, and knocking off about 1/3 of the ornaments.  We put it back up and tied it to the railing outside through the (closed) window.  I know... really classy.  At that point I didn't really care and it looks good enough for me.  The kids thought it was pretty funny and it does make for one of those unique Christmas memories.  I'll have to tidy it up a bit before taking an official picture later.

Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

We got one more year at our traditional Christmas Tree Farm.  I'll be honest, the trees are really not very nice, but we wanted to go to the same place just one more time.  I was happy to get my favorite picture of everyone walking down the row and we found a fairly nice tree.  Dallin's girlfriend, Kalani, came to visit and joined us for this fun tradition (by the way... she's really great!).

We are going to find a new place and start a new tradition next year while Dallin is on his mission.  Maybe we need to find a palm tree or some other tropical plant?  I doubt many fresh Christmas trees make it to Kiribati each year :-)

Friends

These kids were so happy to see each other.  It was great to have them over all week.  Good kids.  Really good kids.

Frisbee

Dallin got together with some of his friends and played an ultimate frisbee game.  Cami was in charge of taking pictures as it was too cold for me to attend :-)

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  The top of my list is having Dallin home and watching my family be together.  It was a happy day and we loved having our friends and Ed's brother Dan join us.  Dallin made another spectacular turkey and the rest of the food was delicious.  It will be fun to see what new traditions Dallin will bring home for the holidays from the islands!

Together Again!

It was so nice to have all our "kids" back in our basement.  We sure missed them!

"Spidey Ball"

A new game was created called "Spidey Ball".  You use a Spiderman ball, crutches, and a cane.  I'm not sure what the rules are, but there is lots of yelling and laughing involved.  Fun stuff.

Dinner in NYC

The girls decided to come with us into NYC and met up with their cousins while we were in the temple.  I want so much credit for letting my daughters take the subway to Times Square without me and wander around shopping.  They thought it was great and had a blast with Haley and Jenna.  After we were finished at the temple we decided to meet the girls for an early dinner.  None of us realized that this was my dad's very first time in New York City and on the subway.  Cheryl snapped such a classic picture of him and I think it will make me laugh every time I see it.  They gave Dallin a shell pin to wear on his lapel.  It is to remind him of all our great memories at the OBX and is perfect for his island destination.

After dinner we all decided to head home... only so did about 3 million other people.  It took us 2 hours just to go a few blocks to the Holland tunnel (there was an accident in the Lincoln).  Everyone stayed calm and cheerful and we eventually got home without any scratches on Ed's car.  Whew!  My parents may never forgive us for having them drive in with us, but you can't say we aren't exciting :-)  I got a picture of a truck that got stuck right in front of us.  There were so many problems with traffic it was unbelievable.  I really can't wait for our temple in Philly to be done!