It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Our family tradition has always been to get our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception. It was a chilly and windy day, but the sun was shining bright and it was a perfect morning to cut down a tree. For the past several years, we have gone to John Nieman nursery to pick out a tree. You come down a hill and are greeted by hundreds of Christmas trees. In the past, we have always picked a Canaan Fir tree- they have the best smell, but the branches do not hold heavy ornaments well. The past few years we have switched to a Blue Spruce - a great tree, but it does not have a 'Christmas Smell' and the needles are prickly - but we have a ton of heavy ornaments, so we chose a Blue Spruce again this year. Leah loved running through the trees and Max slept through the whole thing, which was fine because he was buried under blankets due to the wind, and he would not have been able to see anything anyway. Leah enjoyed placing the star at the top of the tree and playing in the lights, while Max just hung out. I was also able to finish stitching Max's stocking and we hung it up to complete our holiday decorations!

Gobble Gobble

We spent our Thanksgiving in Conneaut with Pat's family. We decided that it would be best to do the five-hour drive early in the day rather than in the evening after work, and I think we made a good decision. We were able to make the trip with just one stop north of Columbus - long enough to feed Max, get Leah a snack, change some diapers and get a coffee refill. We were even able to get a nap out of both Leah and Max after we arrived! Rick treated Pat and I to an afternoon at the American Legion while Nana and Connie watched Leah and Max, and a delicious dinner was waiting for us when we got home. Then the unexpected happened. Leah got sick - twice. Leah has never thrown up, and of course her first time had to happen in her bed in the middle of the night. She was a real trooper though - we had her on a bland diet throughout turkey day, and she never argued about it. After watching the Macy's Parade, Dayna, Paul and Taylor arrived, and later Aunt Cork, Rick and Kim. We enjoyed catching up with everyone over turkey, stuffing, potatoes - and of course, pie! We even celebrated Nana's 91st birthday with cake! Pictures include Leah sitting at the bar with cousin Taylor and my little 18-pound turkey - Max sitting on his own!