I can tell that the holiday season has arrived by....

The trees on the side of the highway start all looking like potential Christmas trees. But we ended up cutting down a tree from up in the forest by Skykomish instead. Caleb was really cute in his snowsuit. He was really excited to walk and play in the snow, until he realized that it was COLD. He definitely wanted his gloves to be sealed shut with the cuff of the snow suit. I had the thought run through my head to just duct tape the mitten on! Josh did wonderful! Although his contribution was minimal, he was so cute when we ended up waiting in the truck for daddy to come back with the tree.

Yep, Josh did reach a hungry point and Caleb a too cold to go any farther point, so the hero of a daddy hiked back to truck with us and then went back into the woods for a tree. And I think we have a good one too.



The tree is in the tree stand just waiting for the decorations. I haven't yet decided whether I should decorate it without Caleb and have his interest in the tree be unsatisfied and lead him to play with the tree for the next 3 weeks, OR if I should wait until Wednesday to decorate it with him and risk him thinking it is a toy or for climb for the next 3 weeks... It's a gamble either way isn't? I guess it comes down to time, energy, quantity and quality of fun, and picture opportunities. Given those criteria, I think that I'll wait until Wednesday.

The other big event for the weekend was Grandpa Dahl's birthday; which he was so generous in allowing his special day to turn into a family event. We saw the Lights of Christmas at Warm Beach, a festival of holiday lights that hopefully was beautiful enough to qualify as something special for a birthday. I felt that it was a wonderful was to kick off the holiday season. Our first stop was to see the Nativity ans tell Caleb about baby Jesus and why we are celebrating. "Jesus has a birthday, just like today is Papa's birthday" etc; I loved sharing the real reason for CHRISTmas. And Caleb understood BABY Jesus better this year because of his baby brother.

There were so many lights and so many activities, it was as if every light was lit by happiness and a truly enchanting experience. Caleb made the happiness contagious. He LOVED to ride the pony! He made Grandpa Dahl take him a second time. He was also quite bold in petting the donkey, rabbit, and other animals. We were also lucky enough to catch a session of storytelling; a perfect break to feed Josh and to get in to warm up a bit.

Personally, I had a delightful time. I hope that the rest of the family had a good time as well, and thank you for coming and making such a memorable experience. I have to also thank the Lord! I had prayed for a week that the weather would be nice, and what I meant by nice was not raining, not snowing and passable road conditions. The Lord was great, He not just answered my prayer but went one step farther and kept away any wind or breeze that would have bit right through our clothes. Instead it was a crisp clear night on which the sound of bells and music carried farther than expected, right into our hearts. So Praise the Lord!!! And here is the family photo:

Time for bed! Good night.