29 years ago today. . .

. . .was the beginning of our adventure together.
I'm thankful for my travelling companion. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

2007 Stockings

All Set! Michelle holds up "Something I have a lot of" Something that was Amber's Something I Made(a puppet so he can play with Carolyn!) LMC refuels in order to avoid Toddler Meltdown. Bryan is a big Wheaties fan; eats them every single day. It is also true that Bryan is a big U of M fan. Enjoying Something I Made(As you can see, Bryan is wise for his years. He first offers some to Michelle!) Below, I believe is an example of a stocking donation. This is called The Equalizer. There are some who are just itching for a chance to beat Bryan at ping pong. The beads are a big hit! LMC is excited to have bottles for her baby. Bryan is led on a scavenger hunt. . . and at the end, is rewarded with Brad's old XBox. Isn't this the cutest little spatula you've ever seen? The Bone Pen, which was missing(aka, stolen!), turns up in my stocking. . . and it makes its way to its rightful owner for the year. Check out my really cool coffee cup!

Christmas Eve

Carolyn loves her baby doll. We had our own Christmas Eve service with carols by the piano, and the Luke 2 story (in KJV!!!) recited by all, with periodic corrections by Craig, who had an open Bible to keep it all correct. You should always wonder when a toddler is out of sight for more than, say, 30 seconds. Below, you can see Carolyn made her way upstairs (did she follow her nose?) and found a pan of cookies, undoubtedly made to fulfil the "something I made" requirement for a stocking. At least, she didn't just help herself. You can't hear her "Psss! Psss!" (Carolynese for please), but you can see her desperately signing it. (For those who wonder, yes, she did get a cookie!)

More Pre-Christmas

Carolyn was fighting a bit of a cold and did not feel at her best over Christmas. Sometimes, it made her very cuddly, like in this picture. Other times, well. . . The making of the Candy Cane Cookies The Eating of the Candy Cane Cookies
(I do love having my boys around!) Carolyn gets acquainted wiht The Magi

Pre-Christmas

We celebrated together on Christmas Eve as Christmas Day belonged to the in-laws this year. Here, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. . . It's a little challenging to photograph an 18 month old. Here she sort of sits in the old rocking chair, recently repaired for a new generation of little ones. Carolyn helps to decorate the tree. I thought it would be nice to have an ornament with everyone's name on it. So EB found one and had the names placed on it. She brought it home, and then I unwrapped our ornaments to decorate the tree. It turns out I already had the identical ornament!!! I guess I ordered it last year, but I had forgotten! more to come. . .