Christmas time...

The day after Thanksgiving always brings Christmas carols over the radio. Which always seems to put us in the mood for Christmas.

We returned on Saturday from New York, and immediately set to decorating the house for Christmas after church on Sunday. We have never pushed Santa Clause with our kids, we actually are the parents that tell our kids that Santa isn't real, he doesn't bring you presents, he's just the "fun" part of Christmas. We emphasize the birth of Jesus and that we give gifts just as the wise men brought Jesus gifts. In fact our kids only get 3 gifts from us, 1 from each other and 1 combined gift. Anyways, with all that said, Nathan woke up this morning and said,"Mommy did Santa bring me my birthday present under the tree today?".... somethings are inevitable, like a child believing in Santa.

Shanghai, China

Bryant spent 2 weeks in Shanghai, China. He says that there were tall buildings everywhere you looked and in the mornings the smog was so bad at times that he couldn't even see any buildings.

As far as eating authentic Chinese food.... the closest he got was McDonald's! (Which may not be a bad thing. I'm not sure if I would really want to eat true Chinese food.... we'll stick to our General Tso's and Szechuan Pork from down the road.)

He did bring back a lot of really cool stuff.... chopsticks, a beautiful platter, pearl necklaces for Gracie and I, lots of movies, and Leagos (Chinese version of Legos) and a Jade dragon for Nathan.

He had a good time, but we're glad he's home.

Hello from New York...

Well, I have no pictures for you. Bryant has our camera with him on the other side of the world. But, hopefully that means that in a couple of weeks, we'll have some pretty cool pictures to post!

So, for now here are some highlights of what we've been up to while daddy is gone:

• We headed to New York while Bryant's away, and we are planning to stay until after Thanksgiving.
• The kids have really enjoyed going on four wheeler rides with Grandma and feeding the cows their dinner.
• We've pressed some apple cider and made yummy donuts too.
• The kids have had a fun sleep over at their Nana and Papa's, which gave me a night off (I can't remember the last time that's happened).
• And today we're cleaning house and canning apple juice.

Enjoy your week, we are!

Fall Fun!

The Fall always brings lots of opportunities for memories!

Like leaves...

And pumpkin pickin'...

And carving...

And trick or treating!