Let the Festivities Begin

Our Thanksgiving was great. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor the first night and spent most of Thanksgiving with them. Both kids loved playing with Grandpa Taylor and his trains. Ethan put his toy Woody on the train and had him riding around the track. He was nervous to have Woody go through the tunnel at first, but after seeing Woody safe on the other side he thought it was great.

After Thanksgiving dinner, we made gingerbread cookies with Grandma (as it is a tradition) and got to try out her new train cookie cutters. Ethan put most of the hearts on by himself. The kids really liked to decorate Buzz and Woody gingerbread men using the standard gingerbread man shape. Ethan was pretty good at squeezing the frosting out of the bag. We didn't get any pictures of Buzz or Woody because they were devoured too quickly. Thanksgiving evening we went to Grandma and Grandpa Morrey's house for Thanksgiving dinner 2. Ethan and Brooklyn both loved playing with the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head from Toy Story, as well as the Spud Lightyear, Woody, and Jessie Potato Head pack.

At one point, Kyle was left tending the kids and decided it would be fun to jump on the city bus and go for a ride. We rode out to Smithfield, grabbed a treat at McDonald's, and caught the bus back home. Both kids had a fun time riding the bus, despite the near-record cold temperature.

We didn't do any early Black Friday shopping, but we did go see Tangled with all of the Morreys (while Grandma and Grandpa Taylor watched the kiddos). We all really loved the movie--definitely one to buy.

On Saturday, we went with the Taylors and saw Harry Potter, which we also really enjoyed.

Brooklyn is playing dress-up with Ethan a lot lately. They especially love Toy Story.

We usually try to put up our Christmas Tree after we get home from Thanksgiving. This year we were a week late getting it up, but now that it's up it's beginning to feel a lot more like Christmas. Ethan and Brooklyn had fun "helping" put the ornaments on the tree. Thank goodness for plastic ornaments.

The other day Ethan was very sad (we don't remember why). To express how sad he was, he ran into the office and drew this picture on the white board. He says it's a picture of him crying.

Ethan has been getting his (and Brooklyn's) Christmas lists together. Today he announced that he was going to ask Santa for a Toy Story 3 Ken with Ken's Dreamhouse. He says Brooklyn wants a Toy Story 3 Barbie.

And now it's time for another deep thought from Ethan Morrey:

"I have lots of toys. The only thing I need is lots more toys."