And the Time Flew...

(Please note that I published 4 posts today, so scroll down to see the rest!)

The rest of our time with Nathaniel was a bit more calm and sane, yet also short. He and Jim were able to indulge in the traditional Pennsylvania pastime and go hunting with our friend Ed Wisniewski and his son Edward. While they came home empty-handed, (as Jim tells it, they "took the guns for a walk...") they still had a bunch of "manly" fun.

Isaac's teacher invited Nathaniel to come speak to her class. He did this last year, so was prepared with a slide show of photos from Iraq as well as a Google Earth presentation of where in the world he's been with the Army. The trip over the top of the globe from Iraq to Hawaii was particularly impressive...

Christmas tree time! We hauled ourselves out in the cold to pick a couple of trees to put up for the holiday and were very pleased with the available selection. Bekah chose the big tree this year as I found our smaller tree.

Since our main tree is in a back room of the house we decided to put up a smaller tree in one of the front windows "for the people". I enjoy seeing Christmas trees lit in houses as we drive by in December and wanted to have one visible here as well. Our little tree is perfect for the lighter ornaments and frees up space on the larger tree so it's not as crowded. And it's so cute too!

Kate brought home an ornament she bought for the family while in Germany. She also has a suitcase full of gifts that she has been excitedly alluding to for a couple of months now and is wrapping them as I type!

Milo has had the funniest reaction to the Christmas trees. Having been an outdoor cat most of his life, this is his first year indoors for Christmas. He looked at us like we'd gone mad when we brought the trees in. Then, as he investigated further and watched us decorating the trees he decided that they must be for him, and is now delighted with his trees covered in toys! He now spends most of each day underneath the trees napping, taking an occasional waking period to bat at the ornaments within his reach. Silly boy...

As we decorated the trees Bekah got a fire going in the fireplace and Isaac brought out the S'mores fixin's!

All set for the holiday. Merry December everyone!