November 30

Things that happened in the past 24 hours:

I dropped my iPhone in a pot of broth, likely killing it.

A GFI outlet in our kitchen shorted out, creating a small fire inside the wall.

The igniter in our oven went out - again.

So. My phone is in a bowl of rice as I lay hands on it and pray.

My electrician brother-in-law, Billy, is on his way over to repair the damaged outlet and run a new line to prevent it from happening again.

And Chris stopped by the appliance store to pick up another oven igniter. This is the third one in three years, so he's getting pretty good at replacing them. In fact, he last replaced it 9 months ago. He buys the part from a small, local business, so the shop owner was shocked when Chris came back for another one. His words were, "You must use your oven A LOT!" I suppose there's truth to that; since we don't have a microwave, we use our oven 2-3 and sometimes more times each day. 

This time, Chris had an assistant when he replaced the igniter.

Lily and Chris wore matching head lamps, and they were completely adorable.

Cutest little helper I've ever seen!

Checking things out.

Helping Daddy.

Almost done!

Those two had it fixed in no time at all. If only I could say the same for my phone!

November 29

When I was growing up, my family always celebrated Christmas with a trip to the Christmas tree farm. It was one of my favorite traditions, but now that there are grandbabies and multiple work schedules and so many more people in our family, it's too complicated to make the Christmas tree farm happen. Instead, the new tradition seems to be the Garden Glow at the Botanical Garden. Thanks to my parents, we have all been able to go as an extended family the past few years, and it is one of our favorite parts of the season now.

Tonight was the family trip, and everyone except Billy was able to be there. Mom is still recovering after her knee replacement surgery, so Chris and Dad took turns pushing her in a wheelchair.

She might have had the best seat in the house!

I just love Lily's excitement in this picture. Also, you can practically see Mom radiating joy from being at the Garden with all of her grandbabies.

Lily was thrilled with the whole thing.

She also loved decorating the snowmen.

The field of colored luminaries were a  new feature this year, and they were gorgeous!

The light tunnel is always a favorite.

All the kids got in the big snow globe, but Max didn't want to go out on the stage.

Playing chase inside a tree of lights.

These two are best friends, and I love it.

Peek-a-boo!

(It was not warm enough for long sleeves and no coat. I have no idea why my child eschewed the coat, hat, and mittens I brought for him.

There was a field of blue lights, and Lily immediately began singing "Let it Go". You know, from Frozen? She was pretending to be Elsa.

She stood up on a "stage" in front of the blue lights and sang her heart out. It was adorable.

Does this look familiar? 

You know I can't resist a good series, so we had to stop by here (the kids call it the "cheese slice") to recreate this picture:

Pretty fabulous, right? I wonder what next year will look like! (Hint: no more babies. Maybe Eli holding my hand, instead of being worn?)

Best friends.

Cutie pies!

All of their grandbabies are in this picture, they're just not all visible. (Max and Jace are hiding in the trees somewhere.)

Emily and Ryan! Can you believe he will be 19 soon???

We did this visit with out the BOB, which was liberating. Chris brought our Lillebaby, though, and Lily hopped up for snuggles whenever she was tired or cold. 

Lovely.

Taking a break.

I'm pretty sure this was my Mom's favorite part.

Do you blame her?

Like I said - best seat in the house!

Then we took a s'mores break.

By the end of the evening, Jace was worn out. Emily borrowed our Ergo, and up he went. What a happy little guy!

Chris and I ended our night under the mistletoe, with Eli under my coat, Lily on his back, and Daisy hiding somewhere outside of the frame.

They were too cold and tired to cooperate for this picture, but look at how happy they are!

Except for Eli. He was just done.

What a fun evening!

November 26

We got our tree set up, so I tried to take Christmas card photos.

The kids were terribly uncooperative, and it was nearly dark before we got started. These aren't keepers, but I'll share them anyway.

This is Lily's "so happy it's scary"' face.

And then just plain happy. This is her new Christmas outfit, and she is thrilled to be wearing it!

Daisy got a new Christmas outfit, too, and she felt beautiful.

Sweet girl. I actually really like this picture of her, except that it's so grainy and noisy and green and... well, she's cute.

Caleb was feeling suave in his new cardigan and bow tie!

Eli wanted nothing to do with pictures.

This was when I called it quits. Eli wouldn't even sit down for the picture. Two year olds (or nearly two year olds) are ridiculous.

Then we got out the kids' little trees that Grandma got for them a few years ago, and they were SO. EXCITED.

Enjoying the view.

Reading by Christmas light.

Lily is so in love with her tree!

It's a little too pink for me, though, so how about some black and whites?

I love this.

November 24

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year, and I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that we were able to keep things really low key. It was a fun evening!

Grandmother helped the kids decorate a gingerbread turkey, which was probably the highlight of their evening.

Daisy was so proud! 

(Even now as I type this nearly a month later, Eli is pointing at the scream shouting, "YUM! YUM! YUM, MOMMY!")

Chris and Eli both wore zip-neck sweaters with collared shirts, so I took a picture of my "matching" boys. Aren't they handsome?

We waited until well after dark to try to take a family photo, so this was the best we got.

The whole crew

After we ate, we played. Grandpa entertained the kids, and we enjoyed hanging out. It was so much fun!