Before we get to all the Christmas happenings at our house, here are a few Thanksgiving shots. It was our first Thanksgiving in our new house, our first Thanksgiving to stay home together, and my first full Thanksgiving to cook on my own. All around, it was a great day!
Our Thanksgiving feast
Hooray for turkey!
Marina made a craft out of a tomato container. It is now her bank. She is so creative!
On Thanksgiving night, Ryan and Lincoln went to Las Vegas to see The Adams Family Musical. They loved the show, but the pool at the hotel stole the show. The waterslide takes you through the shark tank before it spits you out in the pool. That is what Lincoln could not stop talking about!
While Lincoln and Ryan were in Las Vegas, Marina and I decorated the house for Christmas. It is so nice to have room to put out some of the many decorations we have (yeah new house!). Marina loved setting up the nativity (we never had room to put it out before). She changed the location of each of the statues daily. She said she figured they all needed to take turns being close to the baby Jesus.
Then, we all decorated the tree together - beautiful!
Lincoln has been doing very well with scouts. He received several activity pins at the last pack meeting - traveler, swimmer, artist, and I can't remember the others.
It's not Christmas until we have had Christmas at the Homestead at Ryan's museum. Our friend, Kevin, was manning the printing press, but stopped long enough for a photo opp with the kids.
We also got to put our requests in with Santa.
The kids also made candles, and then we lit them when we got home. Marina's was nice and straight, and Lincoln made his a mutant. They were both pretty to burn.
The museum has also had "An Ornament a Week" project, so each week the kids have gone and made a Christmas ornament. Here they are with a couple of their ornaments.
There is currently an exhibit of quilts at the museum, and Ryan is displaying a quilt I made for him. It is a t-shirt quilt - each block is a different t-shirt that had some significance for him. Yes, Elvis is on there three times.
At church, we had a Christmas party complete with a Christmas pageant. Marina and I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever together, so we both giggled a little bit that we got to see a show of our own. Marina was a sheep with all the other kids there. As you can see - lots of sheep, lots of shepherds. But it was very cute.
Another of Marina's creations.
Lincoln and Marina had early Christmas with Amy-Mama last week. Marina got a camera and was eager to put some of her photos on the blog. Somehow, they all got deleted from her camera, so she is taking more photos and we'll include them next time.
Marina's grade did a Christmas program of Christmas carols. Here are a couple of photos and some videos of some of the songs.
