Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.  It is SO nice to live so close to our parents.  Holidays are so much more relaxing when you are driving 15 minutes max to visit family, sleeping in your own bed, and at least having the option of napping at home.  We had our Thanksgiving meal over at Scott's parents house with Jeff and Ashley, Brian and Sarah and my parents.  (Have I mentioned how nice it is when the co-in-laws are friends?  Oh, I have?  Ok, I'll try not to rub it in any more).  I actually didn't take any thanksgiving photos this year!  Shocking, I know.  I was kind of sick and just enjoyed hanging out without a camera attached to me.  Scott did take this one photo of me and Ashley and Sarah when we were out cutting down Mom and Dad A's Christmas tree.  Apparently, I need some hip sunglasses!  :)  I so missed having my sister here for Thanksgiving, but it is always fun having both of these wonderful ladies around!

After the excitement of thanksgiving, it was really nice to have a quiet family day on Sunday.  We had a great time going to Colby Farm to pick out our Christmas tree.  Although Scott and I can never seem to agree on a tree, and we seem to wander endlessly through the field of evergreens, there is something so fun about the experience.  It took us a little longer than usual this year, but we found the perfect tree for our house.  The boys had fun tromping through the snow looking for the best tree and, of course, the little Christmas hut at the end was a big hit.  Free hot chocolate and candy canes are sure to make any three year old happy.  They also have tons of cute little toys to play with, books by local authors for sale and a roaring fire in the fireplace!  It definitely got us in the Christmas spirit (not that I needed any help...the big snow storm in October pushed me over the edge and I've been listening to Christmas music since then!  Oops!).

 Camden refused to open his eyes...little bugger.

 Getting warm by the fire...

 Candy cane face...

 Our picture on the wall from two(?) years ago!

 Playing with the singing snowman and santa toys...

 Attempt at a family picture...

 The boys were so excited to see the tree up in our house!

I know this isn't a great picture, but I couldn't not post the brotherly love!

I am SO in love with our tree, our candles, our wood stove...the whole Christmas season.  And it's not even December yet!  I guess I'll have a long time to enjoy it!

Blessed

On this Thanksgiving day, and always, I'm thankful for...

Rosy Cheeks

We woke up to a winder wonderland this morning.  We got about 10 inches of wet, heavy snow and it is beautiful. 

 Just two days ago there wasn't a trace of winter, just crisp, cold fall complete with rosy cheeks and runny noses.  We went for a walk in the meadow behind our house and had fun throwing rocks in the river, running through the fields and soaking up the late-afternoon sun.

How blessed are we that this is out our backdoor?  Love.

Texas Forever

Ok, you can start making fun of me now.  Seriously, I'm crushed.  It's the end of an era.  Scott and I just finished our final episode of Friday Night Lights last night and I'm SO sad that it's over!  We had never seen the show when it was actually airing on television, but we had a number of friends recommend it and we decided to give it a try.  We were both immediately addicted and flew through all five seasons in just 2.5 months!  I feel like I know these people.  I mean, seriously, Coach and Tami are my heroes.  I LOVE them.  And the Riggins boys and Matt and Jules and Tyra and Landry and...

I have to say that I missed the original cast as they started graduating and moving on, yet I somehow made room in my heart for the new characters as well.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose.

I will miss you FNL.  You were so good to me!  

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Football

Saturday was the annual Proctor vs. Holderness football game and the boys had so much fun cheering on the team, playing with friends and taking in all of the excitement.  Camden also had fun going on hikes in the woods with Nan and Pop and Scott and I were actually able to watch some of the game (this is a rare occurance when you have kids to chase around).  Proctor won 47-0!!!  Yahoo!  Here are some pictures from our day...

 The "Keeper of the Spirit" watching the game (PA has all sorts of traditions surrounding this game)...

 Camden and Pop emerge from the woods...

 Cope is in love with Micah...

 That night the boys wanted to wear matching jammies and I just couldn't get over how cute they were.  Every night (and often during the days too) Camden wants to know what Micah is wearing and then asks to wear the same thing (or as similar as possible).  It's pretty precious!

 Brotherly love...

 Micah hasn't mastered the art of pretending to be asleep yet...

 Love these boys!

A Little Catch Up

A little random update from the last week and a half...
We had a wonderful surprise visit from our good friends Scott and Barb.  They are Basketball Couple #1 from Gordon, followed by Hayes and Kara...and we are #3.  :)  Yes, that's right, Barb played with me and Scott was on Scott's team and there was lots of basketball romance going on.  Anyways...Scott and Barb live in CT with their adorable little girls and got hit really hard by the October snow storm!  They lost power for over a week and headed up to NH to stay with Barb's brother in the Upper Valley.  We love having this NH connection because we often try to squeeze in a quick visit when they are in NH visiting family since a 45 minute drive is much easier with two kids than 3.5 hour drive!  They came down to see our new house and hang out and I got to meet their sweet little Karis for the first time!  It was a wonderful, spontaneous surprise and I hope they lose power more often so we can see them again soon!  (Just kidding, B...I know that was miserable for you guys!)

 Barb and Brooke...

 Sweet little Karis...

Scott's soccer season just came to a close and we're going to miss hanging out on the sidelines with friends!  Of course, we'll be running around the gym with friends as Scott starts basketball season on Monday, but we will miss the crisp fall air and snotty noses of little rosy cheeked toddlers.
Here is one of our new friends whose parents just started working at PA this year!

 Oh Camden...

 Micah and his new buddy, William...

 Kisses...

 Playing with leftover snow...

 LOVE this handmade sweater...

We gave Micah his first haircut last week.  Just a teeny-tiny trim in the back.  He kind of looked like he had a mullet and we felt like it was time.  Here is a before/after photo...Can you see the difference?

And here is Camden "shaving" in the tubby.  Don't worry, there isn't an actual razor blade attached to this razor!

Always an adventure trying to capture of picture of both boys together.  These two were both wearing their Franklin Goose shirts (thank you Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ashley!) and I could not for the life of me capture a good shot.  Oh well.  I'll survive.

And what would we do without Skype?  We have been missing Auntie and Cousin Clara (I'm just now realizing that it's kind of funny how we often refer to Clara as "Cousin Clara" seeing as she is the only cousin and the only Clara in our boys' lives!) and Uncle Dave so much since their move to North Carolina in August.  During this skype session, Auntie read the boys a book...they were enthralled and it made me miss her so much!  :(

Bam - how's that for a random update from the last week and a half???