November

This year I decided I've had enough.  I've decided to embrace my Canadian heritage and refuse to wait until Thanksgiving to start celebrating Christmas.  That's not enough time, people!  So, in true Canadian fashion, this year as soon as Halloween was behind us, we decided to make full use of the Christmas season.  Good thing I have a supportive husband.  And of course the kids are down!  

This was the first weekend in November. 

Is this a Christmas picture?

Why, yes! Yes it is!

We definitely don't spend all our time inside in the winter.  Not possible.  We would explode.  But there is a noticeable uptick in indoor pictures when the darkness is coming.  These guys are pretty great.  

Don't you think they're cute?

More "Laying On Esme."

Thomas is ready!

This year we decorated our outside trees too!  It made me very very happy.

We hung up ornaments on our birch tree too and it was the most magical thing I've ever seen! (This pic is actually from December, but there you have it.)

We spent Thanksgiving this year at Tracy's house again.  She's so gracious to include us in her holiday.  Paul was able to get overstaffed this year, so he could hang out with us all day.  It was nice.  

My contribution was a cranberry tart.  

Johnny again invited us to harvest one of his trees for our Christmas tree.  He was a little surprised how tall this "little" tree had grown when he wasn't looking.  We made a few adjustments and it was perfect for our tiny living room.

We were proud and grateful that our tree didn't fall over during the 7.1 earthquake that happened later that month!

I was sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast with Esme on my lap.  Ezra had just come over to sit beside us, so when the house started shaking I was able to put my arms around them both and just hold them.  I was grateful for that.  Paul (eventually) woke up and scurried down to get poor Thomas.  When he staggered out of our bedroom, Paul said, "Do you know where is not a great place to be during an earthquake?  Up on our loft!"  We didn't have any damage other than a little broken glass here and there.  It was really interesting to see how the kids reacted.  I was surprised that there were aftershocks for months.  Months and months.  We got to the point where we could hear one before it hit and know that it was coming.  What a crazy thing.