The "Finnster, et al."

I recall a time, not too long ago, when putting up my Christmas Tree was the one of the happiest days of the year.  That was before I had children.  Now, the very thought of putting up the Christmas Tree fills my heart with dread. This year I didn't get up tree up before Thanksgiving, so we put it up the Friday after Thanksgiving. We got started around 5:30 p.m..  I thought this would be plenty of time to get the tree up before the boys went to bed. As always, I checked the lights first.  Of the six strands I tested, five strands were not working. I was so upset.  We bought all new lights last year!!!  In frustration I asked Michael to go get new lights. He responded, "but I haven't had time to research." Wrong answer.  Those of you who know Michael know that he researches everything.  We don't make a purchase over one hundred dollars without Michael doing hours of research.  Well, in my world one does NOT research Christmas lights. ...

On Wednesday night we went to spend the night with Nana and Papa.  By the time we arrived, Em's crew was already all there. We started our evening doing our favorite thing - sitting in the kitchen, talking.  The boys did their favorite thing too - wrestling on Nana's new furniture.  For dinner Nana made taco salad AND turkey cookies!! Sam and Hank found each other pretty early in the evening and stuck tight to each other all night. After dinner we all sat upstairs and the boys played Angry Birds with Papa.  They got so excited every time they earned a point.   See Finn's excitement below. Sam decided that he needed to take pictures.  He refused Nana's real camera and instead opted for his fake "Frozen" phone camera. The next morning we all went out to play before lunch. They swung on the tire swing. . . Played horse shoes . . . Played on the playground . . . Climbed trees . . . And bu...

This weekend, me and few girls that work with me in Juvenile Court took a weekend retreat to Rock Island state park.  We arrived at the cabins around 4:00.  We literally put our stuff in our rooms, sat in the living room and talked until 10:30 that evening.  We had the best time. The next day we got up and went exploring a little bit. Our favorite place was Twin Falls. This is all of us - Erin, Samantha, Me and Robyn. This place was so neat - you could climb all over the place.  Later than evening we went back to the cabin and tried to start a fire in the fire pit.  By the time we got it going (which took a while) it started raining.  So we went in and ate taco soup and talked some more.  I left that evening around bedtime so that I could be back for Sunday School the next morning. 

Tuesday night we went to HCA for Sam's Thanksgiving Program.  It was pretty beefed up from last year.  They sang five (short) songs and finished up with "Give Thanks."  It was precious! Sam and his class were the Indians.  Afterwards we had cake in the cafeteria.