The art of imitation

The second we put our tree up we were busy barricading it off from Senor Travieso (troublemaker, aka Eli), sure he'd be pulling the whole tree over with his freakish baby strength. Considering that he gets into pretty much EVERYthing else he's not supposed to, I think both Stephen and I had visions of his inevitable tannenbaum mischief: tugging on branches, snapping beloved ornaments in two, unplugging the lights and/or trying to eat the individual twinkle lights, and generally wrecking the whole tree. Hence the wall of furniture and boxes to keep Godzilla out. Not exactly the kind of holiday feng shui I would've liked... but oh well. How surprised were we, then, to find our little destroyer displaying a rare moment of gentility as he carefully tried to place an ornament on the tree? No one knows how he weaseled through the barricade, but once we was through all he did was take a little Elmo ornament off the tree and then gently try to put it back on, and back on, and back on again. He didn't want to kill the tree afterall; he just wanted to do what we were doing--decorate it.

The other un-Christmas tree shots are from a live nativity we went to Saturday night, complete with live camels, sheep, and donkeys; Roman soldiers that were "mean and grumpy", according to Bennett; shepherds and wisemen, and of course the live manger scene with Mary, Joseph, and a real newborn babe. A local Baptist church put it on and attracted quite the crowd.

Turkey and Temple

I realize we're a little late, but here are a few shots from Thanksgiving. We had Stephen's family over for a modest feast (this was our first time hosting for turkey day), and while sadly we didn't get a pic of everyone together... here are a few pre-meal shots that Stephen took. Food and family always go well together for us. Post-meal activities included playing soccer out back, playing Mexican Train dominoes, and laughing at Eli, who threw down some serious food. Not only did he eat a LOT of turkey, mashed potatoes (which he smeared all over face, hair, and ears), stuffing, green beans, etc., but he then proceeded to beg for apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake off anyone willing to share, and even those who weren't. That kid eats like a linebacker.

The next day was the Oakland temple lighting, the perfect occasion to fulfill Bennett's month-long wish of seeing "Jesus and Santa at the temple." (When we told him we were going to see the Christmas lights at the temple, his little mind jumped to the conclusion that both of them must live there.) Stephen's parents came with and made for fun company as we walked the grounds and visitors' center, waiting for the lighting. Benito didn't want to leave once the lights did come on, wanting to look at every different color and type of light, but Eli the escape artist had worn out the adults by that time . . . so we dragged B back to the car and caught our final glimpses of the Christmas temple and San Francisco by night in the background.

Football in the leaves

Bennett woke up Saturday morning itching to play football, so Stephen took him out to the front yard--which we rarely use since the kids always play out back--to rake leaves and play a little pigskin. I could hear B laughing and had to join in the action. And then came the rookie: little Eli woke up from his morning nap and made a stellar debut as family running back. Bennett also showed off his new bike-riding skills (don't worry, it's the neighbor girl's bike, although had our son chosen a pink and purple bike we'd have supported his decision) after we'd jumped in the leaves enough times to undo all of Stephen's raking.

Sunday afternoon entertainment

How do you play with an empty bucket of Red Vines?

Stick it on your head, of course

Why do they keep locking this thing on me? All I want to do is shove my hand in the DVD player... what's so wrong with that?

If I can't have the DVDs, at least let me have the camera!


Cracking up at the prospect of being chased by Mom or Dad

Turkey comes early

Last Wednesday marked our third annual young women's Thanksgiving dinner, and guess who had the bless-ed opportunity of hosting the feast this year? Yours truly, so Stephen wanted me to document the fact that we had thirty people eating dinner in our house at one time. I cooked the turkey (my first ever, mind you), the other leaders brought delicious sides, and the girls brought their healthy appetites. I'm always surprised by how much food they can throw down! Even when they weren't eating, however, they seemed to have a good time; and as much as I stressed about having space for everyone, it was kinda fun to dust off all my stemware and dinnerware for an evening.

Trash bag, green felt, & a roll of t.p.

Halloween for Eli = dressing up as a frog, watching crazy Bennett and all his crazy friends on sugar highs, dancing on stage at the Mr. David concert, playing with balloons, trying to lift pumpkins before we carve them

Halloween for Bennett = wearing a bag full of newspaper, (and consequently) waddling like a pregnant woman, TRICK or TREATING, dancing with friends, sniffing his bag full of candy on the ride home in eager anticipation of candy to come, loving the Lightning McQueen and Mater jack o' lanterns that Aunt Kristi made with him, reading Halloween books

Halloween for me = gluing felt to clothing and hats, scooping out pumpkin guts, holding sticky hands, repeating "Only one piece" to Bennett (and turning around to eat three or four myself)

Halloween for Stephen = surviving open enrollment, carrying the tired trick-or-treater over his shoulder for five blocks back to the car, scaring all the kids at the ward party with his Hagrid costume