Lance came home from Utah the day after Thanksgiving.
It was good to be together as a family again. :)
Lance was happy to see everyone, too...
...especially Diesel.
That poor dog put up with a lot of love from both the boys. I think he considers Lance and Jude fellow puppies.
Lance needs a good dog. One day we'll be able to get the boys one.
That Saturday my side of the family went to our favorite place to pick out a Christmas tree.
Laura, Mason and Tyler.
Jude was happy when we got out of the car because there were rocks, rocks everywhere! See, Daddy? Rock!
No, he's not eating anything. He's actually trying to "whistle" on a pine needle that he thought was grass. He saw some girls sitting around whistling on blades of grass and thought it would be neat to try.
Lance found something to entertain himself, too.
On the hunt. Jude and Lance both had their own ropes that kept them busy the whole time.
They tried to "catch" trees.
Uh, don't pull too hard, Lance.
Jude tried to catch some trees, too.
Thanks for the lift, Uncle Chad!
So, if you know my family, you probably know that picking out something as important as a Christmas tree takes some time. We did a lot of standing around talking and looking and waiting that afternoon. George with Amy and Jason.
We found some trees that had been trimmed pretty far up the trunk. Jude thought it was a good place to try and hide.
Where's Jude?
Lance and Vera thought it was a fun place to play, too.
This is Lance and his pet log. He found this piece of tree laying around somewhere and tied his rope around it. If you can believe it, he dragged that log everywhere he went up until we bought our tree and loaded it into the car!
Jude saw the fun Lance had with his log friend and wanted one too, so George made him a pet log as well.
Ta da!
Our whole group.
I guess Jude lost interest in his pet log, so Lance stepped up and "walked" them both.
They finally ditched Jude's little log (it kept falling out of the rope) and both pulled Lance's instead.
I think this farm is beautiful! Here is Amy and Stephen with Laura, Tyler and Mason.
Still enthralled with the log. Pull, Jude. Pull!
It got caught on a tree. A very little tree...
Laura's little family.
Our first attempt at a family picture. At least it's real to life.
A little better? I don't know. I think I like the first one better.
We finally found it! George getting to work cutting down our tree.
Lance trying his had at sawing.
Still trying to get through to the other side.
Working our way back to the barn with our "kill".
Mom and the rest of the family were still on the hunt.
The rest of the family found a beautiful tree for Mom and Glenn's house and met us at the barn. Mom bought our tree for us as a gift (which was REALLY nice because these trees are expensive!). Thanks, Mom!
Lance helping Mason get back to Laura and Tyler before the hay ride back to the cars.
On the way back from the farm. Lance wanted to ride in the van with all his Aunts and Uncles (and Vera), so Chad came along with us.
I love that we have this tradition as a family. Yeah, the trees are a bit more expensive than buying them off a pre-cut lot and sometimes it can be a bit of a process orchestrating a large amount of people--and getting everyone to agree on the same tree--but we always come away with some laughs and fun memories. I love my family!
We all went to Panera Bread for dinner on our way home and enjoyed some great soup and sandwiches--perfect!
We drove back to my mom's house to unload her tree off our car and then left the boys with my family while George and I went to see:
We saw it with George's Dad, Nate and Allen. It was hilarious! George especially thought it was clever and laughed out loud several times.
We drove back to my mom's house to pick up the boys and found Lance and Grandma putting up the Nativity.
It was sweet. They were talking about what each character was and what part they played in Christ's birth. Lance was really into it and I could tell he was concentrating on what my mom was saying. It moments like this that make a lasting impression on children and I'm glad my mom got to share it with Lance.
Look at that beautiful tree! Usually the tree sits in the garage for at least a few days, but I guess having everyone around inspired them to set it up right away.
George and I drove the boys back to the Glass's house to go to bed, but came back on Sunday to say good bye to Chad and Stephen who both had to fly home. It was nice to have the whole family together. I can't wait for Christmas when we get to be together again!
