Max and Esme

The kids got to visit with six new puppies this evening at Great-Grandpa's house, courtesy of some visiting friends. They gave and received puppy love in equal measures.

The kids and I enjoyed a day off on Friday as we received about 8 inches of snow over the course of the afternoon. We spent the morning making gingerbread houses by the Christmas tree, and the afternoon making snow angels in the back yard and a kangaroo rat snow sculpture in the front. Friday evening we all put on our snow gear and walked the short mile to a friends' open house through the pristine streets of white. By Saturday morning the town crews had the roads down to bare and the small banks alongside were brown and slushy. But people's yards and bushes still looked lovely all weekend long. Pete tooks Max out on his cc-skis yesterday while Esme hopped along in her boots. I do have a couple of pictures and will aim to get them posted before the Christmas ones are due!

The kids and I made cut-out and gingerbread cookies yesterday, then had the neighbor girls over for some decorating. Colored icing and sprinkles were frequently licked from fingers and then dipped back into the bowl, leaving most of the cookies inedible from an adult perspective. Here's a picture of Max's masterpiece - Santa and Rudolph made from the left over gingerbread scraps. Mommy helped a little bit with the form and the baking, and all four kids helped to decorate it. And since Rob asked - here's a close up of Max's whale shaped tree-topper. He was inspired by the many fish and ocean inspired ornaments that we have on our tree which were mostly given to Peter over the years.

I was in London for a few days last week, leaving the kids in the care of their dad and their paternal grandparents. Max and Esme enjoyed the extra attention. We put up our Christmas tree on Sunday and the kids get excited about turning the lights on each evening when we arrive home. Max wrote out a plan for our tree decorating days which included: put up lights and decorations, hot cocoa, make a star, and Christmas cookies. We did the first two as a family, and Max created a paper whale to use a tree-topper this year. We've posponed the cookie making to this weekend's activity.

We upheld two Merrill traditions over the Thanksgiving break. The first tradition was honored on Saturday night when our family dinner consisted primarily of popcorn (with some gingerbread and cheese and apples thrown in) while viewing the original Star Wars movie on television. The kids thought that was a great dinner by the way. The second came on Sunday morning when we awoke to "the big surprise" - our first snowfall of the year. In this instance it was the kids informing the parents who were snug in bed that it was snowing and it was beautiful.

Peter and I were both able to attend the elementary school concert this morning. Each grade took their turn on the risers and the kids sang beautifully for a full house of proud parents, siblings and grandparents. Max's class got to stand in the first row of the 1st graders - '"cause weare the loudest class and so it's an honor." Many of the songs were about being Thankful - and I am every day for my beautiful children and our family.