Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Grandpa has had some recent health scares so we were really happy to be able to celebrate this birthday with him! Here's to another year!

Shawn's brother Tamer, Shawn, Daniel, Samia, Shawn's sister Gihan, Grandpa and the rest of the crew!

Snow

How much snow does it take to scrape together a snowman?

not much

How much snow do you need for a snowball fight?

not much

How much snow does it take to cancel school?

you got it!

Traditions

Our family has some pretty strong Christmas traditions.  We always spend a day in downtown Seattle and the more the merrier! We started off at the gingerbread houses, which are always so creative!

Then off we went to the old fashioned carousel, where I take the pictures... I can barely watch it without getting sick!

And then we end with fish n'chips at Ivar's

 And even though the food is fabulous, it is feeding the seagulls that the kids look forward to!

Except Ethan, who would rather eat the seagull food...

And an added bonus, it didn't rain!!!

Family talents

For those of you who were not there, these pictures probably won't be all that interesting... I guess you had to be there.  For those of you who were there, enjoy!

sing with me: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Hum with me... da da da dadada.... Look he lost his fingers!

Spencer, Hannah, Claire and James were a hit! I think they prefer to be called vertically challenged people...

It was a Tim Tam slam kinda night!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

On Christmas Eve, we had a visitor!

This is Kailey's third year as Santa and she's becoming quite a pro!

And then, with the stockings hung by the chimney with care and the children nestled all snug in their beds, the real Santa paid us a visit!

It's always fun to see the tree on Christmas morning! And for some reason I only captured a few moments this Christmas... probably because everything was going so fast! The kids have definitely perfected their tearing technique :>

 

My brother Nelson has always wanted a Santa suit and this year, Santa delivered!

Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve, Eve

Because of scheduling conflicts, we had our extended family Christmas Eve on the 23rd.  That just means double the parties!!!! First we feasted and then were  treated to a visit from Santa.

And what's a visit with Santa without a screaming toddler...

Then we acted out the Nativity with an all-star cast this year!

Brayden and Jada were Joseph and Mary

Kailey was a shepherd

with her sheep

And here is a picture of the whole crew!

Here we go a caroling

Music is very important in our family and so one of the traditions we have is to go Christmas caroling each year, rain or shine! We even went in -5 degrees in Michigan (we sang through people's doors because they didn't want to open them)! This year the temperature wasn't too bad so we had lots of smiles. 

The McKeons came out for Christmas and Audrey and Jonny are the only cousins my children's age, so my kids were pretty happy to have companions!

The best way to travel!

Jada's not so lucky...

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Note by Note recital

This is Kailey's third year playing the piano and Jada's first, and they both do so well! Here are their backs while they were playing beautifully!

Kailey played Joy to the World and Jingle Bells (Ethan's favorite song, so he sang while she played)

Jada played Silent Night and Oh, Come All Ye Faithful. Thank you DD for being their fabulous teacher!



Our annual Hajj

Every year, rain or shine, we go hunting for the perfect u-cut Christmas tree to bring home. This year we had rain. It seems like it has been raining all year! This year the pickings were pretty slim, so Shawn asked the owner if we could cut one that wasn't tagged and after some negotiations, he agreed. Everyone gets a chance sawing with the saw.  This is Ethan's first year!

Shawn introduced white chocolate covered Oreos into this tradition in 2004 and the kids absolutely love that part!

Kailey finishing off the job

Heading over to the barn for hot apple cider~ yum!

Another successful day in Candy Cane Lane!