holiday picture catch-up

Apparently it’s been a while since I uploaded the pictures from my camera. I might have missed a few holidays. You know, like Halloween… Thanksgiving… Christmas. I really don’t have very many pictures, and some are from my phone - but it’s better than nothing. So here is a brief summary/catch-up:
HALLOWEEN

Ethan the Jedi Master and Witchy Abby [pics from my phone]
-------------------------
THANKSGIVING

[This picture is all I have. Sad. Not sure what was up with Abby and Ryan. Or why I didn’t notice it and take another picture. Do you like the kitchen table in the living room? Yep. That was the kids’ idea. It made things *extra special*.]
This year we had Thanksgiving with just the four of us at our house. It was fun planning and preparing the food. But the afternoon/evening after dinner just felt kind of lonely. But we enjoyed spending the time together and having a break from school/work.
________________________________________
CHRISTMAS

The kids had a tradition with my parents decorating gingerbread houses every year. Since they moved far, far away… we carried on the tradition through pictures.

We let the kids decorate the Christmas tree all by themselves this year. (And I didn’t even go back and move things around.)

Ethan and Daddy putting together the first Lego set of the day. (In my opinion, the best Lego set we have ever bought. It’s from the Lego Education line – which I had never heard of. This particular set is all community minifigures. It makes a bunch of little scenes. I found it randomly on Amazon was day in October and it was on sale. You can see it here.)

Abby and her new CAMERA! She was SO surprised and excited!

This was another favorite gift. It is a book called Lego Ideas Book. As you might guess, it is a book full of ideas of things to build with Legos. I love it because it gives so many ideas for things to build with bricks you already have. Ethan has spent countless hours reading and studying this book. Plus, it has helped him venture outside of Star Wars scenes, ships, and battles. Which makes me happy.

Abby and Zoey chillin’
I really loved having Christmas on a Sunday. We got up and the kids each opened one gift. Then we ate breakfast, got ready, and went to church. Having Christmas on a Sunday really helped keep the focus on the Savior. Then when we came home we opened more gifts and just spent the day at home together.