Living in Georgia

 I love the look of the Christmas lights at night. It's not always easy to get a good picture, but I try.  I escaped the craziness of the house on evening to attend a make it and take party here in our neighborhood with my girlfriend Christi. It was so much fun to craft, drink and chat.  I'm definitely NOT the most artistic, but I think it turned out okay. Jack really liked it when I showed him, so that make me feel good.  The boys had been asking since Thanksgiving when our Elf, Jingle James, was going to show up. But I guess he got too creative and showed up in the pantry and even though they go in there A LOT, it took them a day or two to actually notice him.  I found a new way to display my old photos of the boys with Santa and our past Christmas cards. I love it!  And I finally got the formal dining room clean and decorated for Christmas. Whew, I think I'm done!

 The day after Thanksgiving has become my official "get ready for Christmas" day. Everything gets pulled out and we start putting it all up. It takes awhile to get it all up but I love how it looks so I like to do it as early as possible so I can enjoy it for as long as possible.  Each year I try and change things up a little bit, to keep it interesting. This year I changed up my front porch a bit. I added large ornaments instead of bows to the greenery.  This year I had a big helper. Wyatt REALLY wanted to be involved in it all.  Last year we added this "forever" tree to the family room. I always felt that we needed a little bit more in this room and I have loved it. It's where all the boys have their homemade ornaments that they've made over the years. I don't have a topper for it so this year I added a couple Elves feet.  Not much has changed in this room over the years. I try to keep it simple and colorful.  Wyatt

 The holiday's are always so hard being so far away from family. It's rare to have anyone come visit up and even more rare for us to travel back to see them. But this year we were invited to our friends house for dinner with their extended family.  But first Jason had to smoke our turkey on the Big Green Egg!  The weather was really warm so the boys took advantage and played outside.  I'm not sure what he's doing, but I love this face!!  Then we were off to dinner. It was such a fun afternoon/evening visiting, eating and being surrounded by a family as crazy as ours! After dinner the boys enjoyed the firepit...  While the boys enjoyed a nap... While the ladies cleaned up! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 It was a nice treat to walk in and see Jack playing with Ethan one afternoon.  Jack would build the maze and Ethan would put the marbles down the run.  Wyatt always cracks me up with the things he dresses up in.  This is what happens when I put Ethan in pants with a hole in the knee. By the end of the day there was no longer a hole!  Silly goose!  The boys participating in their school's Veterans Day program.  Passing out roses to all the attending veterans.  Someone was happy to see Daddy!  Wyatt's class did a Thanksgiving reading.  Wyatt did not like having everyone looking at and listening to him. But he did a good job. These two!