eat sleep and farm

More lights in Seattle.  This is from the night we went and saw the gingerbread display.      Rachael the pig in Seattle.  Miles had NO idea why his family was so excited to get a picture on a pig.   The girls said that start was the REAL star of Bethlehem.  Or... a really giant diamond.   Found a Starbucks we've never been to.  Its actually more shocking that you'd think.      We declared this the night that Ethan needs to work on a more natural smile.     Or, to stop working on his smile altogether.  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  We left Seattle and drove to Renton to visit the Clam Lights.  This is the lake park where you've seen lots of pictures of us swimming during the summer.  We were unable to come last year, so this was officially Miles' first time.  And he loved it :)   My favorite part of Clam Lights is seeing the lights on the displays,  plus the city lights over on Mercer Island, plus the c

This was our first Christmas, just the 6 of us at home since the year we moved here in 2009. We missed our families, but really enjoyed the day as a family. We didn't invite anyone over, just decided it would be fun to be us. And it was delightful. We ate yummy food, skyped with family, watched several different Christmas movies, played outside, and just had fun being together. On Christmas Eve I posted this picture on social media and said,  "our Elf on the Shelf is cuter than yours." :)  Good Christmas morning to you!!  opening gifts from Papa & Nana  {I took pictures of them doing this since we didn't Skype with them until later}  I wrapped up one box with just packaging materials, knowing it would be a hit.  And it was.  Papa & Nana bought all the kids their own bath towel with their name!  opening their American Girl baby dolls :)  playing with their new necklace set. t

So, most of Saturday looked like the picture below. We started the day by sleeping in until around 9.  We ate breakfast, cleaned our rooms {ever notice how crazy cluttered bedrooms get on Christmas week?!} and then decided to give the kids a treasure hunt for their stocking stuffer gifts since we lost their stockings in our move.  We were so worried they'd be bummed but instead, they loved the hunt! By the time they were done we heard cheering and begging us to let them do that again next year. Who would've thought?!  I also love that stuffing stockings with toothbrushes, toothpaste, lip gloss and playing cards is still a major thrill to our kids.  At what age do they catch on and expect iPods? Ours will be sorely disappointed when that year comes.  Ethan got a new small lego set and had to put it together right away and of course, his shadow helped watched and tried to undo any productive building that was done :)  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  Afte