The Gingerbread Houses

This is not one of my favorite traditions. I know we're gonna do it every year, and every year I just want to get it over with. The houses never seem to stay together very well, the kids eat more of the candy than they put on the house and even more than they eat ends up on the floor, and afterwards you have this big lump of sugar that takes up space until you can get the kids to forget about it long enough to throw it away. Well this year I used my hot glue gun to put the house together, much easier! And we didn't even make the houses until Christmas eve and they were thrown away by the day after Christmas. Not so bad. The kids did enjoy decorating them, and Charlee enjoyed eating 5 lbs of candy.

Santa's Workshop

In the five years we've lived here we haven't yet missed Country Lights at Lake Farm Park. The kids built some toys with their elf's in Santa's workshop (Dillon's elf was especially cool, after we got home he was sure he wanted a mohawk), took a wagon ride to check out the lights, and got to visit for a while with Santa. Definitely one of my favorite Cleveland Christmas traditions.

Christmas at Tower City

We were sad to see that Bruce the Spruce had retired to Flordia this year, but we still enjoyed the Toy Soldier's preformance at Tower City. We also enjoyed the elabrite display of gingerbread houses/mansions, and a quick stop in the Dollar Store for the kids to get each others Christmas gifts, and a pose in front of the nativity outside.






I had to put this picture in because two weeks from now Travis will no longer be working in this beautiful building that shadows over all the rest in Cleveland. I always got a sense of peace when I drive around town and can see the sky scraper peaking off in the distance, knowing my husband is there and feeling close to him. I know this is for the better and great things await us, but I suppose I'll never quite look at this building the same. Goodbye Key Tower.

Fun with Poppi, I mean Santa

While my dad was in town visiting he was kind enough to be one of Santa's helpers and fill in for him at our ward Christmas party. He even brought his own suit. Thanks Dad! We miss you!





Just wanted to throw this picture in here too. One of Dillon and Travis' favorite past times.

The Perfect Tree... Again

Every year for the past five years we have made our way to Whispering Pines Tree Farm in Amish Country the day after Thanksgiving. We always seem to find the perfect tree, Travis cuts it down, they shake it and wrap it, then we throw it on our car and head to the barn for some free dogs and s'mores to roast over the fire. Couple all that with some yummy hot cocoa and this is a tradition you will surely be starting with your own family.

A Wicked Thanksgiving

Wicked for a few reasons...
First, because I turned thirty the day before and second, because Travis took me to see Wicked on my birthday. We really enjoyed the show, and a wonderful dinner at my favorite restaurant, Sarava.


The next morning I got up early and finished the pies, got the turkey in, and got all the sides done. This is the first year we haven't had people over for Thanksgiving dinner. It's nice having company, but after a late night the night before it really takes the pressure off and cuts down on the dishes because your family doesn't care if you serve things out of "fancy" serving dishes.
Boy did we have a TON of leftovers though, apparently I haven't mastered the concept of cooking for less. Anyway we were done with dinner by 2:30 and decided to hit the movies and see Ponyo. This was a fantastic animated movie, one of the best we've see in a really long time. On the way home we stopped by some friends house who were serving up some yummy Indian food, ate some more, and called it a night. Happy Thanksgiving!

Grammy

Grammy came for a visit when Charlee got her surgery ( a dermoid cyst removed from her throat). The kids just love their grammy and constantly talk about how much grammy spoils them. Lucky kids.